Textura

«We reviewed a couple of Stanislav Vdovin releases a while back (December 24 and Rapid and Tired, both on Rat Hole) but these Occasion EPs have little in common with the ambient-techno stylings of those earlier outings. Second Variety, credited to Vdovin but featuring Olga Shaydullina's piano, and et_cetera, credited to both Shaydullina and Vdovin, are ambient releases of the micro-sound and electro-acoustic sort, the kind of material one might expect to hear on ROOM40 or Line.

Vdovin's Second Variety (the title drawn from a Philip K. Dick short story first published in 1953) uses Shaydullina's piano parts as raw material for a heavily processed, eleven-minute drone setting of shadowy whirrs and whistles. Atmospheric and even a little bit spooky, the piece purrs softly while faint traces of intruders and distant rumble generate a subtle undercurrent of threat. It's as pure a headphones listen as could be imagined, as without it many of the piece's nuances would go undetected. Vdovin sustains the unwavering mood convincingly throughout before letting the piece vanish like so much cigarette smoke.»

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FdW, Vital Weekly #734

«The second release is by Vdovin solo and just over ten minutes. This is basically just one piece of one drone, which is slowly being filtered. A nice piece for sure, but somehow I am thinking: why this piece? Why not longer? Why not more pieces? Now it seems to me as a bit short and somehow eludes why this should be released as such. Which is a pity since its a nice piece indeed, if nothing new under the you know what.»