Rozmainsky & Mikhaylov Project: Adventures at the Babooinumfest 2017

Having previously encountered, and after getting under its skin, quite enjoyed the RMP album For The Light, the project have now released the live document, Adventures At The Babooinumfest 2017, where all the songs bar one were recorded on stage at any one of the three festivals from which this album takes its name. Here the duo are joined by Yurii Groiser on drums and Leonid Perevalov on clarinet and bass clarinet to bulk out the sound and it has to be said that the quartet gel quite wonderfully. As live recordings go, this is honest fair that immediately takes you into what feels like a small, intimate venue with sweaty walls and appreciative punters. That in itself helps build the atmosphere and the likes of “My Soul Melteth For The Heaviness� thrives in this bristling setting. The sparser and less insistent moments, like “A Dedication To The Floydian Sun�, however, feel constrained by their confines and rather than expanding upon the interesting studio idea presented on For The Light, the live version is somewhat stifled. It’s an issue that raises its head throughout this set, with the band’s chosen avant, symphonic, psychedelic rock and improvisational music even more remote than it can be in the studio.

Time proved key in unlocking RMP previously but even sticking with this release for a few weeks now I haven’t been able to break down the austere walls it builds. The small audience have other ideas and greet each track with a genuine enthusiasm, proving that they undoubtedly got much more from being there than I do from the recordings.

With Rozmainsky handling synths and electric piano and Mikhaylov, bass and electric guitar, the curve ball is thrown by the latter being credited with also playing ‘screwdriver’. However, without seeing any visuals, I’d suggest from listening to “A Flower In The Smoke� that it is actually an electric drill being spun at varying velocities to provide certain notes. Something I’d describe as interesting, if hardly all that exciting.

After enjoying For The Light, I have to say that this latest RMP album just hasn’t managed to hit the spot for me. The performances are strong but the end results fail to truly engage.

Track Listing
1. A Dedication to the Floydian Sun
2. A Flower in the Smoke
3. Coming of the Troubled Waters
4. The Thing in The Light
5. My Soul Melteth for Heaviness
6. A Dedication to the Babooinumfest
7. A Flower Withered
8. Return of the Troubled Waters
9. The Light of Things
10. And a Heaviness Fell from My Soul
11. Forsake Me Not

Added: March 18th 2019
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Adventures at the Babooinumfest 2017 @ bandcamp
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Language: english

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