Andrey Kiritchenko: True Delusion
Nexsound

By its own admission, Ukraine-based Nexsound issues immersive 'environmental' music (the rather more peculiar description 'indocile ambient' is also offered) that's ideally suited for private listening. It's a description that generally fits True Delusion, an electroacoustic outing by Nexsound founder and co-runner Andrey Kiritchenko, though 'environmental' more accurately refers to its generous inclusion of field elements rather than any wallpaper-like ambiance. He initially conceived the project as a vehicle for exploring minimalist harmonic overtones with acoustic guitar but, as the work developed, broadened the focus to include piano. The four guitar pieces offer dynamically contrasting variations on a common theme, specifically minimal guitar plucks and strums accompanied by field elements (rustling noises predominantly, plus cricket chirps and insect thrum) and whistling drones. “Scope of my Perception” engages most as its lulling acoustic guitar playing 'breathes' in a manner that matches the body's rhythms. In “Agravic Illusion,” the most peaceful of the four piano settings, soft smears rise and fall like gentle lapping waves accompanied by elegant piano accents and motifs. There's a Satie-like simplicity to Kiritchenko's approach, even if the merging of piano with electronics can't help but recall Vrioon and Insen, the recent Alva Noto-Ryuichi Sakamoto collaborations, and the Taylor Deupree-Kenneth Kirschner outing Post_Piano. Admittedly, True Delusion's pieces can be reduced to a formula—meditative, minimalistic acoustic guitar and piano ‘scapes (the recording curiously split into 'side a' and 'side b' halves)—but Kiritchenko shapes them into soothing settings of distinctive and subtle character.

September 2005