In 1961, Polish writer Stanisław Lem wrote the novel ‘Solaris’. That book was such an amazingly dystopian thrilling piece of literature that it triggered Boris Nirenburg to make a movie from it in 1969 which probably – in combination with the book – triggered Andrej Tarkovski to create a remake. And THAT Solaris movie forms the inspiration for this sampler album. And, like the sampler based on Philip K. Dick that I wrote about just a few weeks ago, it’s been released by Unexplained Sounds Group, which is working on a nice series of dystopian literature-inspired music.
Like the Dick album, we find many artists of known and lesser-known origin. Mark Hjorthoy and Psychophysicist (Adi Newton) are two names we also saw at the Dick album and hearing those tracks explains why they were invited again. Another big name we see on here is 400 Lonely Things, who seem to have fully returned after their hiatus from 2012 to 2020. In March, they released their latest full album on U.S.G. after two releases on Cold Spring. Of all the other artists, I admit, I know none. So it was one big exploration, which, as you know, I like. However, there was also a problem with this album in that aspect.
Problem, you said? All their artists focused really well on the subject, so even though there were a lot of differences between the tracks, the atmosphere was well captured and translated. With a little bit of fantasy, it could have been written by one artist with a very varied palette of sounds. Of course, there are differences between all the tracks. But if you let your mind be directed by a movie like this, and beneath the surface, it connects with other Tarkovsky movies, such as Stalker, you’re guided towards an ambience with technological influences, and you’ll hear pads and sounds with arpeggiators and bleak notes. A few exceptions still are the highly dissonant track by Mario Lino Stancati and the melodic approach by Michael Bonaventure.
But wait, there is more! This project also gave rise to a book featuring stories and essays, which is available through U.S.G. The book includes stories by Andrew Coulthard, Chris J. Karr, Chris McAuley, Glynn Owen Barrass, J. Edwin Buja, Michael F. Housel, Sarah Walker, and Simon Bleaken, as well as essays by Lorenzo Lasagna and Stefano Santoli. If you are a listener AND a reader, best you pick up the combo package. I’m curious how this dystopian journey by Unexplained Sounds continues.
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