Sjtjekn - Noon universe (and some comments on the magic of radio)

Noon Universe by Sjtjekn explores the concept of "Russia" (according to one/the only project member). The album is clearly inspired by the movie Stalker by Tarkovsky (if you haven't seen it you have to do it because it is, in my opinion, one of the greatest films ever made). I read about the Sjtjekn project before I heard the music. That might have been a bad thing, because I came equipped with a load of expectations as I started to listen and that might have limited my openness to what I've heard. I expected something like William Basinski's beautifully executed mash-up of found sounds, snippets of muzak, on Shortwave music. It really sounds like the Tarkovsky film (I haven't heard The River, an album that is said to be a "fuller" realization of what he tries to do here). The music is grainy and spectral, looped melodies (or something like it) appear somewhere in the background but in the forefront there is a swirl of sounds, crackle and hiss. You end up feeling tossed out in the landscape of Stalker; desolated, dreamy, alien.

There's something about shortwave radio that I find quite thrilling. The possibility to come across sounds the origin of which you have no idea (M talked about a similar (?) fascination with the use of radio in science-fiction, in Aliens, for example). I was immensly fascinated by The Conet Project, a 4-album odyssey of sound consisting of shortwave radio signals/codes. I listen to some tracks now and then and it always has an effect on me. Basinski used short wave radio sounds, too, on his album. The album was made in 1982 and first released in 1997. Even though Basinski has processed his found sounds the feeling of found sound has not disappeared. Shortwave music captures what Stalker conjured as well: the confrontation with the unknown, the unknown as something we cannot leave in peace. The Unknown: digging into ourselves. Sounds that drill their way into the consciousness of the listener (på svenska: ljud som molar, engelsk översättning?).

Sjtjekn is "at least" one member from Testbild!, beyond that, I know little about the project except what I've read here. Noon Universe is the sound of rain, machines, forgotten melodies, birds, water. Voices. After listening to it the first time, I had a vague feeling of disappointment. Maybe Sjtjeken is too fond of its concept (spoken parts from Solaris and Stalker are included)? Too eager to bring together the kind of nature-meets-rust aesthetic that Tarkovsky is a master of exploring? But now I am more positive. You just have to let go of some of the Tarkovsky images and listen to the music with an open mind. It's....pop! Tarvovsky pop twinkling with invention. In the Jet set junta interview, Petter Herbertsson says:

"Vissa passager på skivan är helt improviserade, medan andra är strikt komponerade. Alla melodier skrevs för att låta så ryska som möjligt, eller snarare min personliga version av ryska melodier. Jag frågade en emailkompis som heter Dimitry (som även hjälpte mig med de ryska titlarna på skivan) om han tyckte att musiken lät rysk, men den frågan svarade han aldrig på, och jag ville inte tjata."