#Ilya Kasharokov

[thesunlounge]

Reviews 381: Forgiveness

Forgiveness is the Moscow-based collaboration of Alexander Kalinin and Ilya Kasharokov, and with their self-titled debut on Not Not Fun, the duo have produced an inward gazing suite of old skool ambient, chill-out, proto techno, and trip hop constructed from sampler, synth, guitar, and field recordings. The result is an intoxicating head haze of broken balearica—and a soundtrack for futuristic Soviet sunrises and beaches of alien origin; for slow motion night cruises down coastal highways and for visages of melting skies; for city streets soaked in rain and a haze of neon noir; for dystopian skylines merging with sea and cloud; and for seedy adventures into the depths of the dark.

Forgiveness - Прощение (Not Not Fun, 2022) In “Бытие (Being)” wah wah waves wash to shore and edge-sanded bass pulses surround echoing clacks while romantic guitar plucks reflect in the moonlight, with soft noir flecks caught in spiderwebs of tape delay. “Ноябрь (November)” comes to life on menacing bass lines that almost seem to growl with animalistic intent, while ping ponging layers of slapback delirium refuse to align. Slowly, a low slung groove moves into focus, pulling the body into a sumptuous late night swing, with synth bass thumping, primitive rhythm boxes snapping and cracking on the beat, and crazed synth echoes blasting all across the spectrum while space guitars wail in the distance…blending at times with the dissonance of the electronics to create ghostly howls and subdued screams that merge with the heady hazes of the night. 

“Трезвый (Sober)” begins with a trip hop beat stutter—this slow and spacious cut up groove flowing beneath melting keys and sub bass mutations. Claps pitter, patter, and pop across the sky, G-funk spectres pan across the mix evoking faded remembrances of block party dream days, and everything is pitched down to a dopamine drug crawl…the vibe tweaked out, ultra-stoned, and completely at odds with the title. “Рандеву (Rendez​-​vous)” ends the side in further lazy hip-hop remembrances, as kick, clap, and heroin funk bass move in slow motion between jangling ripples and golden soul vocals that warble under a fog of wow and flutter. Phaser and flangers whoosh and whorl while ska strokes climb shimmering stairways of light, and tambourines and shakers further entice the body into island dub hypnosis…the whole thing not unlike some long lost Ruf Dug remix of A Vision of Panorama.

The B-side opens with “Аббис Адеба (Abbis Adeba)” and its mystical sequencing and exotic polyrhythmic world percussions evoking faraway deserts on exoplanetary systems. Sickly synths spray alien vapors and filtering arpeggiations bath the mix in hues of otherworldly neon as the bass lines grow increasingly insectoid, all before everything fades to nothingness. “Восход (Rise)” is aglow in the light of a thousand balearic sunsets, with tremolo guitars flowing in from panoramic horizons and shimmering pads riding harmonious bass waves from the edges of infinity. Echoing shakers stretch out over the surface of shimmering oceans, bongos beat hippie beachside beats, and toms smash and bash bombastically while balmy currents of fuzz guitar bathe the soul in a warming glow of psychedelic sound. 

“Болото (Marsh)” follows this chill-out meditation with charging disco kicks, wiggling technoid basslines buried under layers of industrial filtering, and subaquatic synthesizer scientifics, as airs of Detroit strongly suffuse the spectrum. Spaghetti western guitars anachronously echo across the mix while futurespace electronics filter into wildly unrecognizable forms, with everything held together by rigidly claustrophobic displays of machine drum madness. “Исход (Outcome)” closes the tape with calming cave clatters, sanded soundbaths, and beaming voices obscured by layers of pinging computronics. And as twinkles of metal merge with trace smears of clean guitar romance, everything coalesces for a moment of mystical fourth world dub…as if the musical transmissions of UNKNOWN ME have been given a soft studio rework treatment by Basic Channel.

(images from my personal copy)