THE WORLD'S OUT-OF-PLACE ARTEFACTS II

'The World's Out Of Place Artefacts II' - Senmuth (5/10)

The second part of a tetralogy Senmuth released in the latter months of 2010, 'The World's Out Of Place Artefacts II' continues the Russian project's instrumental journey with something that's quite a bit more complex than the folky ramblings of the first installment. While keeping with the apparent theme of short ethno-ambient records that the series established with the first, the musical style is developed to incorporate more of a dense, varied soundscapes, resulting in a slightly better work than the first.

While the first album was quite mellow by comparison, 'Artefacts II' adopts a much wider array of sounds, ranging from the electronic, to sludge metal, to the ethno-ambient soundscapes, which are still quite prevalent here. While the majority of the sound here is synthesized through a computer, the music here simply works better than the first 'Artefacts', if even only for the fact that the electronics feel less contrived and awkward than the lifeless folk emulation instruments that the more folk-derived music relied so heavily upon.

The album shines it's brightest when Senmuth fuses these genres together as one, using the textures of the electronica to back up the hypnotic tribal percussion and lead electric guitars (being the only live instrument I can confirm as being as such on the record). However, many moments on the album still feel quite listless, and the moments of inspiration on 'The World's Out Of Place Artefacts II' are still quite far and between, instead settling for a somewhat forgettable patchwork of music.

The second part of 'The World's Out Of Place Artefacts' certainly does not feel out of place when compared to the rest of Senmuth's discography; and while it may be closer to what Senmuth usually does with his music than the first installment, it is slightly more effective than the first.

Taking inspiration from the artefacts aou-of-place is someting that Senmuth has done quite often in his metaphysical journey, so the 3rd and 4th albums of this tetralogy are just compilations. This second volume is surely better than the first. The opener "The Lost History Of the Earth" showas already an improvement. The ethnic percussions are not too pervasive and the alternance of flute and guitar is near to psychedelia. This track has an unusual (for Senmuth) 60s acid feel.

"Echo Ellora" belongs to the dark ambient bein of this artist. A spacey and dreamy start on which the usual Indian stuff arrives with some discretion. Ellora caves are a place in India on which the echo creates naturally reverbs and harmonies. This track is very mystic.

"Mohenjo Daro" is a location in the actual Pakistan. It's an archeological site where there was a mysterious metroplis, very big for the epoch and with incredible solutions in terms of water engineering. The mystery is about how and why it has been destroyed and abandoned. There are signs of distruction in concentric circles, like it happens with an atomic explosion in the air. The music is very dark and seems more inspired to the actual life than to the death of the city. If you are already in Senmuth this track doesn't add much to what we already know. Industrial metal alternate with indo-ethnic parts.

"Graveyard of dead languages" doesn't give enough information about a possible place or artefact, but it's a good track. There's plenty of tracks like this since Swadisthana, but it's enjoyable enough.

The "Temple of Inscriptions" is in the central American site of Palenque, famous for its "astronaut". This track is chaotic, with noises and heavy percussions dominating over a subtle keyboard background. When the percussions stop what remains is an electronic drone.

"Tiwanaku: Gate of the Sun" is a nice track as always is when Senmuth goes back to his main instrument: his guitar. The correct transcription should be "Tiahuanaco", another very famous place on the Titikaka Lake in Bolivia. Look to a photo of the Gate of the Sun while listening, It can give you some sensations. This is often the key to appreciate Senmuth's music.

"Codes Mixtecs"are a philological enigma. Basing on the general distinction between languages and dialects we should consider 50 different Mixtec languages. The track is not bad, and the solution of fading out sooooo slowly is quite original.

"Puzzles Olmec Heads" is opened by percussions only. It's a tribal moment. The Olmec puzzles are the base of a lot of literature and videogames, including Indiana Jones and Lara Croft. Musically it's not too different from the usual Senmuth, but is a good track also this.

"The Chronicles of Montesinos" closes the album. Fernando de Montesinos was a dominican monk who wrote a history of the old peruvian kingdoms. As a closer I would have preferred a most incisive track, but there are two more albums of artefatcs so it's not really a closer.

As for the majority of Senmuth's albume, 3 stars.