Sashash Ulz – Ornamentika

Sashash Ulz

Ornamentika

Hooker Vision, 2012

(limited edition tape of 100 copies)

Sashash Ulz is probably the most famous musician from Karelia, Russia. His tapes were released on all key labels: Digitalis, SicSic, Sweat Lodge Guru, Full of Nothing and Hooker Vision. Perhaps his "secret of success" is in prolificacy - Schultz's music is full of ideas like uranium that is enriched by isotopes. It is unknown, when saturation to critical mass will happen, but meanwhile Sasha has no intention to slow down playing also with his girlfriend Lena in the project Dva Zagorodnyh Doma, which last tape was released by ukrainian Quasipop records. His work varies from folk and lo-fi to ambient and drone. I'm interested in the last, of course, most of all. On the one hand, there is nothing complicated about writing drone. The most people think so, and, unfortunately, it's for nothing. Drone - is not just a low-frequency hum - frequencies have to build some kind of harmony to become drones. Sounds should interfere, interact, play harmonics of each other. Otherwise, there will be no magic, just a headache. Fortunately, unlike many "dronsters" Sasha knows a thing, creating a truly fluid and deep stream of sound, even doing it with a pinch of lo-fi. Though, sound quality is not an obstacle here, because it was attested long time ago, that there is nothing better than combination of drone with slight noise. In addition to this, tape's background noise fits perfectly here.

Sasha really weaves ornaments on this tape, strictly reporting back for such a great name for appropriate drone tape. Firstly, music is not just continuous stream of sinusoids here, it is intertwined of hosts different sounds. Secondly, all this music-knitting is warm and soft, like grandma's sweater and it's a pleasure to wear it on. Sometimes, even in the middle of summer, you want to dress your favorite clothes so much, that you start wait for some opportunity, whether it be night star observations with a telescope in the field or hiking days somewhere in the mountains. Fog covers you completely, but here is no place for worries, because in a backpack you have very soft and reliable sweater. With such thing you can forget about runny nose or sore throat, what about mosquitoes, they can just in vainly attempts try to push their skinny proboscises through the fleece! And this record is not less valuable - it really warms, relaxes and fits great to air molecules in the room. And while the sound waves are inviting oxygen atoms for a slow dance, we enjoy tea with cookies with this wonderful music.

label page

listen at bandcamp / download