Kalutaliksuak - Kalutaliksuak
(R.A.I.G R021)

From Aural Innovations #38 (Jan 2008)

Kalutalkiksuak is (or was perhaps; the music was recorded back in 1992-93, remastered by Alisa Coral of Space Mirrors) a Russian improvisational trio that explores a deeply spacey but also very progressive style of music. Things kick off with keyboardist Vladamir Konovkin providing a weird retro 1950's sci-fi soundscape in the opening cut, They Shall Catch You Up For Sure, before it morphs quite organically into an angular King Crimson style jam with throbbing bass courtesy of Bath Gremlin and excellent guitar by Alexander Chuvakov while Konovkin's electronic soundscapes continue to shift and explode throughout. Awesome start to the album! While He Sits in Ice Cracking a Whip Around is built around the complex interplay of bass and guitar, with a cold electronic beat and off-kilter, alien funky keyboards brewing beneath, rising to the surface in spacey washes of sound. What Are Your Feet Eating takes a more low-key approach, with jazzy piano, but still retains the complexity and spaceiness of the previous pieces, but this time with uniquely rhythmic and moody vocals from Chuvakov. He also does some outstanding lead guitar work on this piece. They Usually Eat Humans is, as the title might suggest, quite dark, more experimental, with dissonant keyboards swirling around a plodding rhythm. Crow-Quill Clothing features a racing synth sequence and chunky bass while distorted guitar and synths wail and screech throughout it, like some kind of eerie and monstrous dialogue. The final 15-minute piece, Put This Sucking Into Her Hood, slows things down for an atmospheric (but still rhythmic) finale of churning synths, spacey textures, and noodling leads that follow their own eccentric directions, dipping and dancing around and with each other, meandering like rivers through space. While I wouldn't call this either space or rock in the traditional sense, it combines elements of both in a wholly fresh and original fashion that is sure to please both space rock fans and anyone into music that explores the outer spaces of creativity.

Check the band's web sites at: http://www.ru/kalutaliksuak.asp
Check out the record label site at: http://www.raig.ru

Reviewed by Jeff Fitzgerald

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