Review from Staal Plaat "VITAL WEEKLY" (#426)

Gultskra Artikler, guess I'll never remember this name. It's the same guy who has made some music as Stud. I've heard some of that music released by Kikapu and it was more melodic and rhythmic than this, short miniatures in an idm vs isan way.

The music is quite different now, no explicit melodies, but rather scratched atmospheres, treated field recordings, cut-ups..., but the sensibility is similar. The attention to the details and small things is now well settled within the tracks and music itself, not only in the length or the form.

One track is remixed by some Kiyoshi Ono, it's done in almost the same way as the other music. A bit more edgy, but gentle nevertheless, like some Osso Bucco music.

Review from Sutemos

Do you still remeber the Intelligent Toys track by Stud A Pop Up Will Popup (it could be hardly be left unnoticed). It was performed by Alexey Devyanin (aka Stud) who is from the distand lands of Syberia. There a several mp3 releases on Kikapu, Kahvi or Acediamusic net labels in his discography. But he still enjoys hiding, creating new projects. That is why in 2003 he started working with Alexey Glazachev under the name of Gultskra Artikler. These guys have made couple of releases on Audioplate net label: Gruppa Turistov and Gololed. Now Gultskra Artikler is presenting its newest creation - mini album called Golova.

It was released in the end of 2003 in the form of limited CDR on Japanese SAAG label which is founded by ambient artist Sabi (he sould be familiar to some of you from the single Four Thousand Years which was released on Monotonik). I am now looking at the huge discography of Stud and I start thinking that this album is one the first real works of this talented Russian artist.

This mini album consists of four tracks which are pretty different but have one feature common - the music is just backgrounds without rhythms, without clear abstractions. It somehow reminds me of the soundtrack of the Japanese horror movie. The album of Gultskra Artikler is started by a title song Golova and it is the best track of this release for me. Those well hidden Japanese monologues add some uncommon charm to the release (it makes me shake when i hear them together with the shadow music). It seems like in the 2004 everything that has some features of Japanese culture is sounding really cool, isn't it so? Yes, it is a thing of fashion for now. But this track is different in some way. Cyclic, mathematically calculated but very unclear track. It would be to rough to call it ambient - it is more like exprimental music. Very sweet experimental music.

Second track is called Polon Kotel Sna and it is way too abstract for me. Totally different sounds are being connected in a chaotic way and you sometimes even start to think that they play on their own and there is a lot of empty space in between. It is beautiful and depressing at the same time... The third track - Krug - was a pleasant surprise for me. Although a lot of abstract elements can be found in this track but few elements of it connect all the details together and turn it to the uniform body. Very pleasant synths and a rare female monologue. The album ends up with the Golova remix by Kiyoshi Ono but he does not seem to succeed in repeating the glory of the original track. A lot of crackle and a low trip to the noise pole. A little bit eccentric remix which is a bit out of the overall concept of the album. We are moving slowly against the total agony.