Label: Muscut

エストニアにて音楽活動を展開、オンラインコミュニティラジオIDA Radioの設立メンバーでもあるRobert Nikolajevが2022年末に発表したソロカセット作[Transplant Rejection]。普段はレフトフィールドなハウスの脈で活動している人物ですが、本作はダークなアンビエントトラックのコレクションとして制作、リズムの要素を排除しメランコリックな抽象イメージを紡いだ全7曲。全体を支配するローファイテクスチャーに埋もれた女性ボーカルが怪しくて良い。





'Transplant Rejection’ is the second in a trilogy of cassette albums released via Muscut in the latter half of 2022. The work of Estonian artist and IDA Radio co-founder Robert Nikolajev, this collection of seven ‘almost’ dark ambient tracks embody the melancholy of autumn whilst hinting at the forthcoming eternal winter. A man with many hats, Nikolajev operates on the fringes of the leftfield house underground for labels such as Incienso, Collect-Call and Sad Fun as well as being one half of the sporadic DIMA DISK act with Ragnar Rahouja. Eschewing the more rhythmic side of his productions for this Muscut tape, Nikolajev taps into the fictional soundtrack atmospheres the label is known for and brings his own brand of wistful, introspective world-building by way of machine harmony to the now Tallinn based imprint.

There’s a lo-fi, grainy quality running throughout the collection, a kind of sepia-toned nostalgia that envelops the listener and disorientates any perception of time or place. Buried vocal fragments sit in the mix on ‘Stifled’ alongside decaying synthesiser drones whilst ‘DDM’ channels an edgy post-rock dirge with its use of sagged bass guitar. Overall, an inspired look into the more ‘at home’ side of this increasingly prolific Estonian artist.