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review by Brian Voerding Reflections of Time opens with an ear pressed to the pavement as a pitter-patter of resonant raindrops fall, listening to the breaths of a factory, the rise and fall of its chest, expelling smoke. A deliberate, ponderous sense is pervasive, and sets an immediate tone for the rest of the record. This is Volodin's "The Flower is Growing Up", the first of four theme-heavy compositions. Through the interplay of controlled drone and bits of random noise, backed by strings, a soprano melody and swirling noise, he vividly constructs the calm and anxious helplessness surrounding birth. Welcome to life. The second theme, "Circles", comprised of three compositions nearly identical in length, is Volodin's self-described representation of useless information assaulting a mind from all directions. Anxious, scatter-brained symphonies of beeps and blips poke heads out of corners as metal music samples roar by at random intervals. Sampled voices rise above shimmering, resonant tones and deep synthesizer drones. "Circles, Part III", echoing, incomprehensible voices and deep roars flashing across channels. It is reminiscent of a trip through an airport, where an information overload dulls the senses and unexpected bouts of silence don't create predictable relief, but rather a sense of loneliness and isolation. The track pushes hurriedly through abandoned apartment building doors, encountering screams, distant music, voices speaking and impatient pounding. The enrapturing "The Way to Star" is a cycical, epic masterpiece. It debuts an atmosphere of meditative calm, rich in silence and space, filled lightly with twinkling wind chimes and bubbling brooks. String drones, slightly de-tuned, swell patiently in the background before assuming dominance in the composition. Then, bird samples that would have brought a smile to Messiaen's face and a quirky flute solo and an ingratiating high-pitched tone, rising from a whisper to a wail and the bird calls become more and more agitated and then, again, a sudden fall to near silence. The flute is back as a biting wind whipping outside a poorly-insulated house in the dead of winter. Now, complete silence. The composition returns to the wind chimes and the water. The flute has returned as well. The bubbling water is now rain, and the flute's song is distant. After an extended melody, the voice of a restless crowd rises above industrial whines. Again, the chimes and the water return, except now to a different source, with doors clicking shut and a wild violin and percussion snapping and snarling. In the final, sixteen-minute section of Reflections of Time, entitled "The Music of My Memory", Volodin allows the listener a three-part glimpse into his life. The piece, described as "My feelings - My remembrance - Small pieces of my small world", is an intriguing sound collage, balancing calm moments with overdriven conduits of rushing noise. Volodin refuses to relinquish control, directing transitions from vignette to vignette, moving on as he becomes ready. Reflections of Time is a beautiful, breathtaking piece of art that reveals a mature composer driven to peak after peak of inspiration. This is electroacoustic music at its finest, rich both in invaluable lessons that any aspiring composer should absorb and in spinning captivating musical landscapes that any listener will easily become enveloped in. |
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