Igor Grigoriev
Solo View
Wednesday 17th of September 2008
By Jamie S
Solo View is the manic work of Russian born avant-garde composer Igor Grigoriev. If you dare risk stepping into the mind's eye of this classically trained free-improv merchant, you're in for ride - not so much a ride as a dismantling of the nervous system.
Originally inspired by Jazz legend Charlie Parker and classical virtuoso J S Bach, Grigoriev has been involved in leftfield improvisation and avant-garde acoustics. He has led such bands as Roof and Asphalt, but as the title of the album suggests, he has found a vehicle for his own brain splitting ventures. The final 8-track project is an exploration into altered states of consciousness, psyched-out dysphoria and schizophrenic improvisation.
On first impressions the compositions seem to have no central focus or structure. 'Dollar E' is enough to send any acid-freak over the edge of oblivion with its ice sheet of titanic swirls and space age jiggery pokery.
Its unfocused streams of consciousness seem to appear as some practical joke played on the unsuspecting listener (victim). But beneath the bludgeoning nightmare of ungrammatical psychedelia, there are nuances of melody and subtlety. 'After a Long Day' snatches the melodic core of The Police's 'Message in a Bottle' and transmogrifies it into an ethereal collage of peripheral sound warpage.
The hallucinogenic soundscapes bleed out of every pore of this album and it's hard to swallow the whole pill at once. 'Whatever Parker Wants' descends into jazz-fusion madness with atonal wandering guitar phrases and gurgles of static noise, which seem to have emanated from the outer- reaches of another dimension.
This album is certainly one hell of a trip. It's really hard what to make of it. In the eyes of some it could be regarded as an avant-garde masterpiece.
Others may claim it to be one hell of a cracking joke. Whatever it is, it's not easy-listening. Some adventurous explorers may find some solace in the rare excursions into melody, but on the whole, it is bloody mental!
Official Rating
We rated this record 2 out of 5.
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