ProgressiveRockBr: Petroglyphs
Ole Lukkøye – Petroglyphs
Ole Lukkøye is a musical project
based in St. Petersburg, Russia. It developed around Boris Bardash (music,
lyrics, programming, keyboards, voice, guitars, percussion), in close
collaboration with Frol (bassoon, percussion, jaleika, samples, dramatic
voice), Vladimir Konovalov (electro contra-bass, double bass, backing vocals),
Yuri Lukiyanchik (percussion, drums, jembe, darrabuk, tom-toms, vocal), and
Andrey Lavrinenko (bass, djembe, percussion); also having participation of many
guest musicians (see below). Ole Lukkøye was born officially with
the release of their debut album “Zapara” (1993). Since 1994, the
band has been touring around Europe, gathering many fans on their way. Their
extensive discography includes both studio and live albums. The highlights go
for the album “The Crystal Crow-Bar” (2000, Klangbad),
recorded and produced by Johen Irmler (of German group “Faust”); and for
the DVD “Fairy Tales” (2010, Trail Records)
– a collection of live performances from 1990 to 2001, with cooperation of visual artist Sergey
Kuznetsov. The most recent release of Ole Lukkøye is “Petroglyphs”
(2010, Trail Records),
an album that celebrates the band's 20-year anniversary,
containing their best hits plus some exclusive tracks. To improve sound
quality, the record was mastered and edited by George Dugan at I-Height Studio,
New York (2009), and then released in a collectible digipack edition,
produced and designed by Alexander Tsalikhin and Vlad Milyavsky. Boris Bardash
is an experienced musician whose interests involve Philosophy, Ethnography, and
Archaeology. His main influences come from Psychedelic Music, Trip-Hop,
Electronica, Ambient, Ethnical music (Turkish, Middle-Eastern, Far-Eastern,
Polynesian, Afro-American), Jazz, Progressive and Krautrock. Difficult to
categorize, the music of Ole Lukkøye has been tagged “folklore
from nowhere”. The sonority is like a diversified blend of “King Crimson”,
“Brian Eno”, “Dead Can Dance”, “Japan”, “Massive Attack”,
“Portishead”, “Cocteau Twins”, “Radiohead”, “Ash Ra
Tempel”, “Popol Vuh”, “Faust”, “Björk”, and “Irfan”.
The music is based on a double-layered rhythmic session that combines
electronic beats and loops with traditional ethnic instruments collected from
all over the world. Both layers are held in place by an amazing pulsing bass. Over
this electro-acoustic rhythmic section, a multitude of musicians play
contemporary and traditional instruments, producing dreamy and introspective
melodies that alternate with somber male vocals of ritualistic accent, or with
female vocals reminiscent of distant exotic cultures. The music is both
pan-geographical and trans-temporal, evoking images of ample landscapes, dried
deserts, and far horizons reaching distant Nepalese mountains under a starlet
sky. At the same time frantic and relaxing, the music of Ole Lukkøye
has the transcendental quality of transporting one from the modern cities of
the 21st century back to the primeval roots of human civilization, lost in
pre-historical ages and in forgotten immaculate lands. “Petroglyphs”
features 10 tracks that make a good résumé of Ole Lukkøye's
powerful and mesmerizing music. My favorites are those songs that show their
most tribal-folkloric side: the opening “Zapara” (a mysterious
Turkish-Arabian song with pulsing bass and dark vocals that have the age of the
Earth, reminiscent of “Dead Can Dance” and “Irfan”); “Ankara
Karachi” (with a rhythm evocative of a caravan crossing the desert);
and also those influenced by Krautrock – like “Melting” (with an
astounding effect caused by hypnotic keys, psychedelic bass, and windy vocals)
and “White Stone” (an Indian ritualistic ceremony) – which will
make happy the fans of “Ash Ra Tempel”, “Popol Vuh”, and “Faust”.
I also liked “Children” (with lively Afro-Brazilian drums and
innocent vocals) and “Sleepy Herbs” (with bamboo-sounds
reminiscent of some monsoon-bathed undiscovered land). For those more apt for a
dance, the songs with a predominance of samplers, Electronic, and Trip-hop are “Became
a Sky” and the long “Zagoralos” (12:24), an experimental
blend of “Eno” with savage electro-acoustic dancing beats and oriental
female chanting. The last two tracks represent the apex of the Electronic trend
of Ole Lukkøye: “Horse-Tiger” (unreleased 2002
version) is a Funk-psychedelic track with Nepalese trumpets and Shamanic
vocals; while “Free-Warriors” is a hectic track with abusive use
of samplers and strange vocals. The unique blend of modern-ancient music
presented by Ole Lukkøye will certainly impact a large audience. Some
will regard it as excellent rhythmic music for dancing; others, as a way of
ascend toward a higher spiritual level.
Ole Lukkøye is highly recommended
for lovers of Electronic and Ethnical Music, Trip-hop, and Electronic-oriented
Progressive Rock. Band members and collaborators involved in Ole Lukkøye
are:
Boris Bardash – Keyboards, Voice, Guitars, Percussion, Music, Lyrics, Buben, Programming, Samples;
Frol – Bassoon, Snake Flute, Cow Horn, Trumpet, Ocarina, Jaleika, Percussion, Samples, Dramatic Voice;
Andrey Lavrinenko – Bass Guitar, Djembe, Percussion;
Vladimir Konovalov – Electric Double Bass, Backing Vocal (tr. 8, 10);
Yuri Lukyanchik – Percussion, Drums, Jembe, Darrabuk, Tom-toms (tr. 10).
Guests Musicians:
Tatyana SWA Kalmykova – Vocal;
Georgy Starikov – Electric & Acoustic Guitars (tr. 1, 2);
Peter Akimov – Cello (tr. 1, 2);
Oleg Shar – Big Djembe, Darabouka, Congas, Vibraslap, Percussion (tr. 3);
Igor Kaim – Banjo (tr. 3);
Ekaterina Sidorova “Cat” – Percussion (tr. 1)
Comments by Marcelo Trotta
ProgressiveRockBr (Brasil), 03/16/2011