Review: Kiras (karolis.navasinskas@gmail.com)

I run into Svaixt for the first time. I didn't even know whose project this is (I know now, after browsing through the booklet) nor what are other releases of his, but it's even more interesting this way. Field recording is always a rather strange and at the same time controversial thing - it seems that everyone can do it, but can they? Not everyone does it and who does it not necessarily mean that they're doing it interesting enough.
I've got a rather unusual orange release. My first amazement was overall packaging - nice fabric pouch with the artwork. It's closed with the button like a small backpack. Interesting container, but where should I put it? The package is not such because of itself - black/white booklet with photos and descriptions from the journey is in it. Stories about the far-away corners of the world where I've never been and most likely will never be are naive, not publicist. On the other hand it is genuine, as if an ordinary man would talk to another ordinary person.
The inlay of the tape itself is simple - folded photo and that's it - the booklet gets all the attention. By the way, the tape itself is orange too and that's weird, having in mind the usual aesthetic of the label.
This album is a compilation of field recordings, done while traveling to Nepal. It's a country somewhere above India. We always bring photos and videos to friends and relatives from our trips. It's so strange to think that you can bring them simply... sounds. That is possible and you can do it in an interesting way. That's what Svaixt has done. He brought reminiscences not only for himself, but also edited these audible souvenirs to a public report. This release is rather close to me because lately I myself am feeling a very strong desire to travel. Just at the moment I lack time and money, but most of all, courage, so with my heart full of "envy" I press "play".
Tape starts from the hypnotizing synth sound. Background is filled with ringing handbells and chimes of cozy village life. It seems as if the stone was left and forgotten on one of the keys or someone forgot to release the horn of a car. But you get used to that sound and from irritating one it becomes just a natural part of the whole picture.
After this track ends, the one with repetitive clang of handbell starts. The background is once again full of movement - chattering, twittering of birds, dog barking, but the foreground is fulfilled with the calm dinging of handbell. Later on background sound becomes more active - shouting, whistling, sounds of some sport game, clapping and who knows what. The life goes on and the handbell lives its own life. Someone begins to talk and they say something so close that it appears that it is you whom these words were told in unknown language and I'll never know what was said there. I just have a feeling that it was something very mundane and not spiritual like most of us would like to think. The side ends.
B side starts a little more tumultuously with a ritual or festival happening. Uproar resembles music, but it is performed by the natives and not the musician. Musician in this record is a silent observer and mute narrator. I remember what I saw in various movies, how I imagine monks, living their own lives for years and years, chanting and praying. Men and women, living their own lives without any need for tourists, but we are so curious and photos are so majestic...
The following sounds bring freshness of the wind. I hear a lonely leafed tree on the big and beautiful hill. Kids are playing all around it and the life goes so slowly. Sounds of the tree are so soft and calming. For the first time I've listened to this tape with a strong hangover, I guess completely drunk, but even in the morning this particular track with the soft rustling of the wind, was the one that impressed me most, slowly sedating, purifying and drowning in unconscious euphoria. It's like any summer in Lithuania when you are lying under the tree on a wonderful day in your childhood and no worries in your head. It's so wonderful to feel the perfect calmness when it's not too hot and not too cold, and be in absolute harmony with the universe. This moment lasts a little longer and it's good because the ambience is much more pleasant than the racket of people. By the way, is there some sort of bells ringing in the background or is it in my head already?
The final "song" is something between the roaring waterfall and wind smashing the microphone. I guess it's the latter one, recorded in a huge space. Some droney sound, noise or whatever is present, but I have no idea if it is added later, as a soundtrack, or it's the wind, playing with some sort of crockery or other surfaces. I don't know if I feel such image as a sunny and majestic or a sinister one with the army of clouds by the horizon. Anyways, short peek to a truly impressive journey ends here. It lasts not that long, but it's enough.
Do you need this record is a very difficult question and a matter of taste. If you like originality and weirdness, don't doubt for too long. If you are seeking for music or more traditional "noise", perhaps you should skip this sound picture. But the release is special. This is ambient in its true meaning - sounds that surrounds us or at least sounds that would surround us at some particular moment while travelling around the world. That's what I want and dream about. And if you want something very much, you are always moving towards your goal in your thoughts, actions or energy. This is how wishes and dreams are accomplished. They do not descend from heavens, but realizes through efforts, inspired by eagerness.


Format: CS
Released: 2012
Label: terror
Editiona: 100