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Artemi Pugachov
he music on the latest album by Gert Emmens is inspired by
the life and work of Yuri Pugachov (www.pugachov.ru) - a late
Russian painter that happens to be my father. Of course I am biased
when writing this review, as this project means really a lot to me.
I would like to thank Gert for this wonderful endeavor and I
must say the results have surpassed my expectations. I will try to
only describe the music itself here, without referring too much to
the subject matter so as to not become too subjective when judging
this album's merits.
"Cossack Temperament" describes the period of my father's
childhood and adolescence, as well as certain character traits.
After a very brief atmospheric intro, a wonderful melodic sequence
starts, accompanied by mournful mellotron strings. A typical
theremin-like lead line is heard in what sounds like a classic
Emmens track. There's a hymn-like quality to the music, which is
full of life, joy and at the same time is somewhat melancholic. A
brief atmospheric section is a welcomed change. After that, an even
more effective sequencer section appears, that combines the floating
quality of Gert's pads and atmospheres with assertiveness of
the multiple pulsations. It's tense and easy-going, anguished and
relaxed, melancholic and bright. The track closes with yet another
section dominated by fat cascading sequences and Gert's
trademark (very earthly, not cosmic) minimoog soloing. I loved this
track.
"The Long Walk (Towards the Black Sea)" reflects a period of
traveling for my dad, when he literally walked by feet the whole
eastern coast of the Black Sea, from Batumi (now in Georgia) to
southern Crimea, painting landscapes mainly. A marching rhythm
serves as the basis for this track's first part, helped by a
one-note bass sequence and lots of classic analog sounds (including
some trademark mellotron patches). There's also a nice melodic
sensibility in this track that sets it apart from many other current
EM works. It has that nature-inspired romanticism you don't
encounter often nowadays. An excellent atmospheric section follows.
I must say that Gert's ambient parts have never sounded as
full and deep as on this album. He has really refined his
sound-sculpting and atmosphere-creating abilities to perfection.
Then a majestic galloping sequence / pad combination that just takes
your breath away! It grips you with its beauty and doesn't let go. I
was not born when my father did his "little journey" but listening
to this track I can vividly imagine how exciting it might have been
for him, how many beautiful places he saw and painted, how many
people met and how many miles he walked. A shadowy world of clanging
ambient textures and mellotron choir wraps up this wonderful track
as the journey finally reaches its end.
"Paintings - The Themes" is the longest track at just under
17 minutes. It's straight into business this time, with great
melodic sequencing ("Gert style") and mourn ful pads. Fat,
symphonic synthesizer textures ala Vangelis make an
appearance, giving an epic quality to the track. From beneath the
blanket of impeccably constructed sequencer pulsations a harmonica
lead line appears, reinforcing the Vangelis analogy. The
sequences are lilting, passionate, assertive, lively. And there are
really lots of them here. A four-note melodic theme welcomes the
coming of a brief atmospheric section after which an assertive bass
sequence appears. This section, with its excellent, rolling
sequences and symphonic string chords is easily one of the EM
highlights from 2012. Overall, the track is the crowning jewel of
the album, although all tracks were great so far. It finally
climaxes into a melange of dramatic pads and symphonic textures
before fading out. "Paintings - The Spirituality Behind It"
strikes a darker note with it's thick fog of atmospheric textures
and a steady bass drum pulse, before complex melodic sequencing
takes us to familiar territory but w ith a different twist on
Gert's typical sequencer music. On this track, the trademark
harmonica lead makes a triumphant return in a much more subdued and
melancholic setting. The track ends with dramatic pads and
synthesized atmospheres enveloping you. "The Leningrad Years"
starts with a great atmospheric intro by Cadenced Heaven.
Reflecting my father's most productive and best-known period, the
music has a fittingly busy and uplifting vibe to it. Then an analog
goodness of a sequence by Ruud Heij appears, well in the
style of Emmens / Heij collaborations. After a rhythm starts,
in comes what I can only describe as Gert's best ever soloing.
The excellent use of modulation wheel gives the lead line a kind of
depth, subtlety, grandeur and emotion that are just indescribable. A
nice use of oboe reminds us on great Russian classical traditions.
And the roll calling between the oboe and synth was an excellent
idea. On the other hand, Gert's most unusual and experimental
ideas found their way on the following track, "Darkness Unfolds".
After an atmospheric intro, a strange bubbling sequence appears and
a metallic rhythm drives forward the track that is chock-full of
melancholic pads and reflective symphonic solos. It's still
Emmens style but seen through a dark window that leads to the
otherworld. After a brief section of dark sounds, a whirlpool of
uplifting sequence picks us up and takes us to an unknown territory
filled with sweet chord progressions and soft analog rhythms. This
is probably the best section of the album. The track ends with a
chilly atmospheric part with what sounds like a telephone ringing
and distant choirs. "Yuri Pugachov - In Memoriam" is a short
tribute that is uplifting and gentle.
With tears in my eyes and a strange, pleasant sensation inside, I
finish this review. I have seen this album criticized slightly for
not bringing anything new to Gert Emmens sound but I have to
disagree. First of all, there are lots of new interesting sounds on
"An Artist's Stroke". Secondly, it's quite different in mood
to his previous efforts - more personal, emotional and atmospheric.
Even the chord progression (one of Gert's trademarks) is
often quite different from what we're used to hear. There are no
weak or strong tracks on this album, because "An Artist's Stroke"
is a complete journey. I've said it many times, but I am afraid I'll
have to repeat it here: this is Gert Emmens' best album, with
or without bias. I wonder if my father can hear this music, from
wherever he is now... I think, yes.
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Sylvain Lupari - Synth &
Sequences
Inspired by the life
and works of the Russian painter Yuri Pugachov, from whom one
of the paintings (The Garden in Toulouse) decorated the front
artwork of The Nearest Faraway Place Vol. 2, An Artist’s Stroke
unfolds in 6 musical paintings of which the beauty equals the most
beautiful creations of Gert Emmens. The Dutch synthesist has
dug at the bottom of his emotions to deliver us a superb album where
his sequences and synths, unique to his poetic universe, weave the
main lines of an album to rhythms floating in the breaths and lines
of synth as harmonious as misty.
Divided into 3 segments "Cossack Temperament" goes out of the
limbos with an oblong breath of a nasal synth which loses its
threatening character in the voices of a cosmic choir. The rhythm
begins with sequences which skip into fine undulations, drawing a
rhythm emerging beneath nice foggy synth pads. These flickering
sequences harmonize their indecision to undulate like snips of
scissors in space and bind at sober percussions, structuring a
rhythm oscillating into the layers of a synth to angelic vocalizes.
An atmospheric passage smothers this first rhythmic flight with the
ephemera threatening lines of the introduction. This time they
darken the horizon of a heavy ochre veil which lowers one's guard
and let go a sinuous bass line which awakens sleepy sequences in
layers of ether. They skip in deep oscillating loops, dissipating
morphic clouds which draw a bewitching melody as abstract as
discreet before that the rhythm takes back its rights with some
furious sequences which bo unce and pound in a linear whirlwind. A
lively tempo that percussions harpoon of incisive strikings and that
a synth dresses of a strange serenade to nasal solos. This structure
of "Cossack Temperament" is the skeleton of the titles which
compose An Artist’s Stroke, where the intros and atmospheric
passages engender some evolutionary rhythms which progress and float
like planes carried by winds. Choirs wandering within electronic
tones, threatening sequence which gallops slowly around hesitating
chords and fleeting synth lines; the intro of "The Long Walk (Towards
the Black Sea)" is as much scheming as fascinating. The
percussions fall and go astray into sequences which skip finely
under a synth injected by an iridescent fog. The rhythm fluid but
delicate, "The Long Walk (Towards the Black Sea)" hangs on to
a bass line to a slow gallop, shaping a strange sensual blues of
which the cosmic environment makes it simply unreal. The chords of
an e-guitar add a surprising and fascinating d imension of a western
where we imagine a cowboy roamed in a plain full of living monoliths.
The rhythm kicks back after a rather long atmospheric moment. Hardly
more fluid it gallops in a plain with a fog as harmonious as
symphonic, drawing a superb floating tempo which supports its
delicacy into fine percussions of which the metallic jingles resound
in a foggy angelic choral.
With its long structure to unpredictable outcomes "Paintings-The
Themes" is one of An Artist’s Stroke’s jewels. An apathic
sequential line pierces the dark introductory veil. Its keys waddle,
leading sweet carillons which espouse the slow tempo and sparkle
beneath a dense cloud of a synth to hybrid tones where some nice
angelic voices roam in ethereal mists. A bass line emerges from it
and makes dance its notes beneath the gyrating eye of a synth to
threatening waves, while slowly the rhythm takes the shape of oblong
oscillating curves to wave under the spells of a synth with musical
solos. The sequences are isolating to dance in solo, bringing "Paintings-The
Themes" towards a brief atmospheric passage where thunders and
cosmic tones prepare the entrance of a heavier bass line. Its agile
notes pulsate frantically on a long intro before bursting with
sequences which the alternate strikings dance beneath rippling synth
layers. These sequences which skip in lanes of mist are the core of
Gert Emmens' works. They shape a soft melodic rhythm on "Paintings-The
Spirituality behind It", dancing a spiral ballet which gives
itself to a superb synth with celestial harmonies. Sequences
flickering with velocity pop out from the introductory fog of
"The Leningrad Years". Like the wings of dragonflies they dance
of a stationary movement before being harpooned by a beautiful line
of percussions, bringing "The Leningrad Years" towards a
tempo made languid. A rhythm which increases its intensity after a
brief sequences solo where the harmonies and breezes of the synths
move us closer to the melodic rhythms of Tangerine Dream and
its Paul Haslinger era. Always agile the sequences beat of
their frenzied wings a tempo which wanders in the thin filets of a
melancholic synth whereas that slowly the musical painting of "Darkness
Unfolds" opens in an ambience tinged with nostalgia before
espousing a rhythmic curve slightly more livened up, plunging this
very beautiful title to drea my nuances towards a kind of cosmic
blues rocked by a superb synth to harmonies as contemplative as dark.
"Yuri Pugachov-In Memoriam" closes with a beautiful
electronic ballad inspired by shadows and lights, rhythms and
ambiences which embroider the wonderful universe of An Artist’s
Stroke, one of Gert Emmens' beautiful albums, otherwise
his best, and undoubtedly one of the jewels of 2012.
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