The Russian Linesman 'Monomyth V: The Return' Review

Artist:

The Russian Linesman

Title:

Monomyth IV: The Return

Label:

Loki Recordings

Released:

4^th September

As we approach the grand finale in this Monomyth series the pace quickens, and under his own admission this is by far his most dance orientated production to date. After the recent re-mixes by Nick Warren, Nicolas Rada and Patrick Prins it’s not overly surprising.

The release gets underway with ‘The Road Back’ which balances eerie and sweeping synths with a driving techno bassline. While Nottingham based poet Ben Norris returns once again to supply the dialogue, the epilogue of his tale that began with ‘The Belly of the Whale’ on Monomyth II.

There’s more of a light and sunny disposition about ‘Refusal of the Return’ where a long lost musical soul mate returns to an old song and gets caught up in youthful memories of the moment. This is followed by ‘The Magic Flight’ which takes a slightly darker turn both musically and with the tale by a school friend fleeing from an adversary. Although a typical four by four beat is employed this track leans more towards the chilled end of the spectrum.

Last but not least is ‘Rescue from Without’ where the synths are light and float along nicely with the pace of the beat. The narrative is a yarn of a lonely Swedish man ruminating over life’s hurdles on Christmas eve whilst buying fish in Hove.

Reviewed by Woodzee

Links

https://russianlinesman.bandcamp.com/

https://www.beatport.com/label/loki-recordings/15992

The Russian Linesman 'Monomyth IV - Apotheosis' Review

Artist: The Russian-Linesman

Title: Monomyth IV – Apotheosis

Label: Loki-Recordings

Released: 10^th July

The fourth instalment in the monomyth series where most often anonymous storytellers are merged into a musical collage of field recordings and electronic soundscapes. The concept of the monomyth or heroes journey is where the central character goes on a journey and against adversity, wins a victory and returns home a changed person.

“This EP starts with the darkest point of our adventure, the ordeal and the inevitable descent into the abyss. The only way now is upward. The rebirth of our heroes leads to their apotheosis, as they seize the sword and begin to enter the divine realm... from a certain point of view." – Russian Linesman

The adventure gets underway with ‘Ordeal’ the longest track of the E.P. at just over nine minutes long. The slow plodding beat and echoes of the narrative lead to passages of choral voices that provide a Gregorian chant feel to the piece. Whilst the tale is of being helped by those who have the least to offer whilst cold and disorientated.

The next track ‘Descent’ begins with a foreboding dark intro that soon unfurls into a light and melodic piece. The emphasis of the tale here is of comfort after sorrow and loss. This is followed by ‘Re-Birth’ which is a more gritty number with dark loops and piano stabs that bounce of the slow-house beat. Whilst the subject matter here placing the focus on coming out of a trauma re-born and re-juvenated.

The final piece of the jigsaw of this instalment is ‘Seizing the Sword’. Where indistinct background chatter and melodic electronica, provide the background for this tale of avoiding the publicity and admiration that comes with being a hero.

Reviewed by Woodzee

links

https://russianlinesman.bandcamp.com

https://www.beatport.com/label/loki-recordings/15992

Video from the re-mixes of the last instalment ‘Entering the Belly of the Whale’

Remix by Nick Warren & Nicolas Rada

The Russian Linesman 'Monomyth III - The Special World' Review

Artist:

The Russian Linesman

Title:

Monomyth III – The Special World

Label:

Loki Recordings

Released:

27^th March

The third instalment of six in the Monomyth series. Where each song is based on a relevant part of a heroes journey and is an artistic abstraction of the concept of the monomyth – a formula we are all familiar with in modern day books and films. In the Special World the idea is it’s the place people draw strength from at their lowest ebb, the anonymous story tellers provide four stories of longing, unfulfilled desires and navigating the abyss, reparation of life long friendships, while saying goodbye to the past.

The first track ‘Goddess’ begins with indistinct conversations that lead to melodic sequences and a tale of separation and I would hazard a guess that it’s by the Poet Ben Norris who featured on the last instalment. Whereas ‘Approaching the innermost cave’ has a more industrial intro, the main body of the piece is a lovely piece of downtempo with fitting vocal fx samples and the story telling arrives towards the end of the piece.

‘Atonement’ on the other hand weaves tones and sequences with a touched of delayed fx to the storytelling of the twists and turns of friendship from nursery through to high school and re-uniting as adults. The final piece ‘Dissolution’ sounds like a melodic music box played over an eerie downtempo underbelly to the storyteller.

Reviewed by Woodzee

Links

Beatport: https://www.beatport.com/label/loki-recordings/15992

Bandcamp: https://russianlinesman.bandcamp.com

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3sIH8lHWLGHJMenpRCSmMv

The Russian Linesman 'Monomyth II - The Road of Trials' Review

Artist:

The Russian Linesman

Title:

Monomyth II – The Road of Trials

Label:

Loki Recordings

Released:

24^th January

The second release of this six part series inspired by Joseph Campbells ‘A hero with a thousand faces’ which is an analysis of centuries of human storytelling, based around the anthropological theories of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, and this fascinating book provided the blueprint for this new Russian Linesman project – an artistic abstraction of the concept of the Monomyth – a formula we are all familiar with in modern day films and books.

In narratology and comparative mythology, the Monomyth, or the Hero's Journey, is the common template of a broad category of storytelling that involves a hero who goes on an adventure, and in a decisive crisis wins a victory, then comes home changed or transformed.

These productions layer recorded storytelling over collated instrumentation and field recordings. Throughout the series the storytellers often prefer to remain anonymous. However, this release contains two of his favourite poets Ben Norris and Malaika Keygode.

The opening track ‘The Belly of the Whale’ featuring Ben Norris is a light and airy piece of feel good electronica whilst Ben’s poetry juxtaposes between apology and positivity although the words are positive there’s a melancholic feel to his voice. This is followed by ‘Enemies’ featuring Malaika Keygode, where the atmospheric intro is followed by a chugging beat, whilst Malaika’s voice makes this piece reminiscent of Anne Clarke’s ‘Sleeper in Metropolis’ which in my opinion is no bad thing.

Now the anonymous take over the storyteller roles firstly with ‘Temptress’ a combination of laid back sequenced synths with a theme of fantasies and attraction. The finale ‘Dragon Battle’ could be described as a piece of laid back trip-hop, counterbalance with a tale of subduing a drunken man on a plane from opening the door in flight.

Reviewed by Woodzee

Links

Beatport: https://www.beatport.com/release/monomyth-i-the-departure/2740891

All Stores: https://lnkfi.re/Monomyth-I

The Russian Linesman 'Monomyth - The Departure' Review

Artist: The Russian Linesman

Title: Monomyth I – The Departure

Label: Loki Recordings

Released: 8^th November

This E.P. in this series takes you on a journey through field recordings, ambient electronica and vocals, dipping into a myriad of sub genres whilst weaving storytellers talk about their beginnings with tape to tape, thought processes of job rejections, jazz teachings and mis-spent youth. This really is one of those occasions where the story behind the project, will tell you far more about the project than I can and if you find that intriguing enough, then you may as well dip in and take a listen.

One of the electronic scene’s true mavericks returns to unveil the first in a remarkable new six part series of EPs, focused on the art of storytelling. As with his previous 2017 project (‘The Eysenck Suites I-IV) this “modern day composer” has been inspired by psychological theory in the creation of his latest enthralling musical collages. 

Joseph Campbell’s ‘A Hero with a Thousand Faces’ is an analysis of centuries of human storytelling, based around the anthropological theories of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, and this fascinating book provided the blueprint for the new Russian Linesman project – an artistic abstraction of the concept of the ‘Monomyth’ – a formula we are all familiar with in modern day films and books.

In narratology and comparative mythology, the ‘Monomyth’, or the Hero's Journey, is the common template of a broad category of storytelling that involves a hero who goes on an adventure, and in a decisive crisis wins a victory, then comes home changed or transformed.

Each song within the Russian Linesman’s ‘Monomyth’ episodes (the project will be released in its entirety over the next year at bi-monthly intervals) is named after the relevant part of the hero’s journey and has been accompanied by unique, complex compositions that combine a multitude of diverse collected instrumentation and field recordings to fit the mood of the storytelling. Most storytellers remain anonymous, retaining an abstract element to the process and allowing the listener’s curiosity to be uniquely aroused and be drawn into each different story as it unfolds.

“This project quickly developed a life of its own and all the individual stories twisted into a patchwork of yarns that tell an even greater story than I could have ever told on my own. In ‘Star Wars’, the droids make all the space opera weirdness accessible. My droids are my storytellers, my narrators. Placing some of the stranger musical moments within reach of the more casual listener. A hero is only as great as their villain. This project is a proper human interest story.” – Russian Linesman

Links
Beatport: https://www.beatport.com/label/loki-recordings/15992



All Stores:https://lnkfi.re/Monomyth-I