Nev Lilit: Adorable Ruin
Moloton
Sonja Tofik & Mar-llena: Vilar i dina spår
Moloton
Available in digital and vinyl formats (200 physical copies apiece), Adorable Ruin and Vilar i dina spår present two stylistically contrasting sets from Stockholm-based Moloton, the first a compelling exercise in industrial-electronic sound design by Nev Lilit, the second a song-based set of folk-ambient instrumentals from Sonja Tofik and Marlena Lampinen.
In pairing a three-part composition with a long, single-movement piece, Adorable Ruin, Siri Jennefelt's second release under her Nev Lilit moniker, lends itself particularly well to a vinyl presentation. Weighing in at slightly longer than thirty minutes, it's a modest release in duration terms, but her powerful material nevertheless makes a strong impression. Electronics seethe and warble during the title track's opening part “New Wound,” the material gradually building in intensity as synthetic elements snarl and heavy drums strike. “Abra” follows without interruption, the foreboding ambiance perpetuated when muffled rumblings and metallic scrapings portend catastrophic events of some indeterminate kind, after which “Liquid Eve” raises the bar to a toxic level when sickly, siren-like emissions emerge. On the second side, “Cave” patiently maps out its strategy by first positioning elements throughout its threatening landscape and then unleashing its first series of pummeling strikes five minutes into the twelve-minute run. Waves of industrial grinding, hammering, and ammo-firing mercilessly ensue, the image conjured one of lethal weaponry and devastation. Bleak though they may be, the two works aren't static dronescapes but instead structured compositions that advance through dramatic stages, and consequently Jennefelt puts considerable distance between herself and her industrial-electronic brethren by bringing a marked musicality to the material. Adorable Ruin turns out to be an apt title for the release, given the degree to which her admittedly disturbing portraits of societal collapse and desolation prove absorbing as opposed to alienating.
First issued in 2017 as a limited cassette-only release, Vilar i dina spår, Tofik and Lampinen's first collaborative outing, now re-appears in a remastered vinyl form. Like Adorable Ruin, Vilar i dina spår is a concise half-hour in length, though in this case the material, seven productions in total, is song-length and also less harrowing and dystopic in tone. Moods vary, but in general they might be classified as melancholy ambient meditations exuding the slightly woozy quality one associates with tape releases. Whereas mystical evocations such as “Lumi” and “Syöjä” invite comparison to Popul Vuh, the peaceful scene-painting “Uin kaukana” drifts down its synthesizer-rich river in a state of dream-like entrancement. “Monrepos,” on the other hand, conjures a nighttime vision of anxious explorers tentatively making their way through an unfamiliar nature setting, alert to every insect and animal noise suddenly emerging around them. Much of the material soothes, be it the plaintive, ever-so-delicate reverie “I din famn, äntligen fri,” with its hushed melding of ambient hiss and stately church organ melodies, though there are occasions when darkness creeps in to destabilize the prevailing sense of calm (“Yksinäinen vuori”). Of the Moloton releases, Vilar i dina spår is clearly the quieter and more understated of the two, though that doesn't make it any less memorable or deserving of recommendation.August 2018