LOTOS PRITYAZHENYA

A more melodic and composed album than most of the mellow, ethnically inspired albums that Russian one man project Senmuth has created, 'Lotos Prityazhenya' sees Valery Av taking his now very familiar staple style, and adding some symphonic undertones to give the album a slightly fresh sound. However, as it stands; this album suffers from a very weak sense of album flow, as well as the dry issues that have plagued the greater deal of releases from this composer.

While many of the albums by Senmuth are either focused around Middle-Eastern or Indian culture exclusively, 'Lotos Prityazhenya' brings several cultures together in a soothing melange of sounds, even bringing some European-leaning styles such as the medieval madrigal, and the cello (or at least, a synthesized computer variation) to the table, making for an album that while very distinctly a Senmuth venture, has a little more variety to it than one might be used to from this artist.

Some very mellow electronic tones give the album an almost 'fairy tale' vibe to it, but while some tracks (particularly the oriental-tinged 'Сновидение [Стремлений]') are very soothing and do their designated function as well as one could hope for, many of the songs lack a memorable aspect to them, making for a somewhat shallow listening experience. However, as with all Senmuth albums, Valery Av has miraculously managed to throw in quite a few subtle details into the mix, so that one would be hard-pressed to find all of them after a single listen.

'Lotos Prityazhenya' is a soothing, atmospheric, and at times even pastoral venture from Senmuth, but it rarely exceeds the limits of mere ambient music, making it a pleasant album, but nothing more.

First of all "Lotos Prityazhenya" means "Lotus Attraction". The opener is " Introduction [to life]". Is one of the most melodic things ever made by Senmuth. The cello and cymbals arrangement is very nice and unusual for this artist. A very good track for less than three minutes of enjoyment.

"Nucleation [basis]" is a Senmuth's ambient track, but there's less Middle-East than usually, and the good acoustic guitar has a counterpart in the harp that adds a touch of celtic or medieval to the track. Very relaxing. It's like some light is come to wash out the normal darkness of Senmuth.

"Dreaming [quest]" starts with the same unusual instruments of the first track but with the addition of far eastern sounds. The first minute could be used as background in a Chinese restaurant, then it becomes a bit darker and it's like crossing the Himalaya up and down from China to India and back. A lovely track (I like Chinese restaurants).

"Purpose [again]" is the first track in the usual Senmuth's style even if a sort of brass sound gives the impression of an orchestral arrangement. It's not industrial metal and neither a folk-ancient-egyptian track. It's just on the dark side of Senmuth .

A keyboard and a guitar in Oldfield's style open "Aspiration [Ctrastey]". I think that Ctrastey" is a wrong transliteration of a Russian word which has the same root of Aspiration. This track lacks of melody as many of the Senmuth's tracks, but it's more evident in an album like this. Not a bad track anyway, specialli with the guitar in Mike Oldfield's style in the final.

"Feeling [Breathing]" opens with contrabass and celtic harp. I'm almost sure that they aren't real instrumnent but please let me write as if they were. This track has a feeling close to what I get from Tangerine Dream of the late Virgin period.

"Awakening [Bliss]" is back to the usual Senmuth, but on his ambient side.

"Blooming [Tree of Life]" is great. Until before the drums appear it's like listening to Phaedra. Then it returns into the Senmuth's realm but as on the second track, without the middle-eastern sounds. Very close to Tangerine Dream, anyway.

With "Finding [Hopes]" Senmuth is back to use some of the usual sounds. It's a good track but of the kind that's possible to find on dozens of his albums. Not a weak track itself but weaker in this album.

"Attraction [Parties]" is like the previous track a standard Senmuth's song. There are good guitar parts and the melodies when present are consistent enough, but the heavy percussions break the light of the previous track to restore the usual darkness.

"Dreaming [Seeker]" is opened by spacey sounds and percussions. The dreaming atmosphere that is evoked in the track's title is brought by square waves in Edgar Froese's style. It's effectively a follow-up to the previous "Dreaming", but unfortunately the sitar sends us back to the indo-ethnic ambience. I like this stuff, but on this album is a bit strident.

"Conclusion [cycle]" is progressive electronic. Another track that could stay on a TD album of the 80s, at least until the noisy guitar solo that's good but far from Edgar Froese's style. This album is not a masterpiece because it still lacks something, but I can say that's the best Senmuth's album that I have reviewed until now and I'm currently at 43.