WARM THINGS

Happy55 is a Russian group formed in Voronezh in 2007 by pianist and composer Yaroslav Borisov and drummer Alexander Bityutskih, with the line-up completed by Nikita Bondarenko (electronics) and Gennady Chukhlov (clarinet). They describe their music as chamber electronic and acoustic avant-garde, and consider their major influences to be Sergei Prokofiev, Igor Stravinsky, Charles Ives, Trilok Gurtu, King Crimson, Can, Autechre and Herbie Nichols, so one can already feel what the band sounds like.

This album is taken from the first part of a session which took place in St. Petersburg in 2016, and has been released on the French- English label Bruce's Fingers. It is based strongly on Borisov's piano, which can be delicate and easy to listen to, or just striking some discordance which makes the listener a little uneasy. Also, the gentleness can also give way to some harsh and rough staccato attacks. The rest of the band may be making their presence felt by not playing at all, adding to the melody, or playing at odds, but always somehow maintaining an affinity to the main approach. It really does sound as if Can, Art Zoyd and King Crimson have sat down and had a discussion, and then come up with a piano-led approach instead of guitar, also adding some industrial noise elements into it, which can take it in different directions. The use of a clarinet provides warmth to what is sometimes quite a bleak approach. I only wish that they had included more of the session, as at just 28 minutes long these four songs really whet the appetite for more. Avant prog/RIO aficionados need look no further, and I know I've said it before but there is great music coming out of Russia that really needs further investigation.

The Russian combo Happy 55 has been evolving with every new album since 2008, and the band's third release was their best and richest yet, despite its sadly truncated length. The big difference here is all the quirky electronic textures provided by newcomer Nikita Bondarenko, adding unexpected depth and variety to the previously unplugged ensemble.

Their aesthetic hadn't changed: it's still the same Avant-Prog classical chamber music, driven by a restless interaction between the piano and clarinet. But the extra synthetics totally changed the dynamic of their style, for the better in my opinion, although orthodox highbrows might disagree. Think of how Brian Eno subverted the glam-rock of early Roxy Music with his primitive VCS3 squiggles; then translate that sound to an instrumental classical/jazz setting.

That burst of industrial noise introducing the album opener "Big Etude" might have been a stray edit from an old Pere Ubu LP, circa 1978. And the unpronounceable "MKRKSMS" ends the album on an unadorned 4/4 rhythm not far removed from actual rock 'n' roll, albeit filtered through an appreciation of Béla Bartók.

Unfortunately, the proposed full-length album was shortchanged when three tracks were rashly excised by anxious publishers, leaving behind a barely 28-minute EP. It's a shame we'll never hear the longer work as originally intended (see the recent "Precise Time" EP for the missing 17-minutes). But I would argue that the abbreviated length actually helps listeners by presenting some challenging music in smaller homeopathic doses.

With so much quality music coming out of Russia these days, it would be easy to overlook a low-profile quartet from the backwater metropolis of Voronezh, some 500 miles south of Moscow. Sometimes, it's the artists who don't call any attention to themselves who leave the strongest impression.

Even if added to progarchies as a full release, this is a 4 tracks album which scores about 28 minutes only, so I think it should be conesidered an EP. Well, it's a detail.

Respect to Precise Time, which is the other Happy55 album that I have, courtesy of the band, it's a bit more challenging. Because of the clarinet, the sound has similarities with the Spanish OCTOBER EQUUS, but it's more jazz oriented, especially when the piano leads. Let's also say that October Equus don't use clariet, but keyboards.

Particualrily in the piano parts the listener can find both classical and jazz music, but it's in the classical side that the band offers its best. The title track in particular is full of good ideas and every single note seem to have been carefully placed in the right moment.

Putting a cover of the hungarian composer Bela BARTOK says a lot about the band and their influences. I don't know the original, but I guess the noisy free jazz section in the middle is a band's idea. When the main theme is reprised only few seconds remain before the end of the track that in my opinion comed too early. This final is so good that I would have let it go for some minutes more. It's like being on diet: you have room for more of that stuff but it's already finished.

Happy55 is a must for who likes RIO and chamber rock.