Album Review: The Phantom String – Teapoy
The Phantom String is the multi-stylistic project of Olaf Kujat. The music released under this name is hard to categorize. It paints a surreal sonic world with touches of ambient, classical, electronica, jazz and pop. The closest non-musical analogy would be the cinematic universe of David Lynch. The new album "Teapoy" continues in this vein, inviting the listeners on an almost hour-long journey.
The record starts with "Ornament I. (Cartouche)", a short but memorable intro. The clavinet-like timbres instantly sound both familiar and mysterious, setting the tone for the whole record. "Dream Veiled in Vapour" starts off with warm synth chords and continues with relaxed jazzy drum part and a hypnotizing vocal performance switching between spoken word and trance-like singing. Distant chords echo in the background, feeling like a cross between angel vocies and analog synth pads. We are in a mysterious place. But what is this place? Who invited us here? We're yet to discover.
"Chaiselongue's" first sounds are extremely intriguing. If robots could cry, they would probably sound like this. Rainy pads and transparent electric piano make the sonic picture more recognizable but no less enigmatic. The drumming adds a hint of jazz again. When the singing started, I instantly felt goosebumps travelling down my hands and spine. The track has more to offer: cinematic brass, an intriguing solo and low hums that sound like a soft, fluffy version of car engines running.
"Ornament II. (Arabeske)" brings back the pluck sounds echoing in a spacious and almost empty room. This time they are joined by a lonely flute and low synth textures. Both dissolve by the end of the song, leaving us wondering.
"Rubin" introduces a hint of Trip-hop or early 90s New Age with its curious rhythmic part. The voices are whispering and the textures are constantly changing and shifting, inducing a drunken, trance-like state in the listeners.
"Carillon D'Argento" is beautifully misleading. Its main sound is almost toylike – maybe a music box. But the way the harmless instrument sounds in the track's context creates an atmosphere of a horror film. The effect is achieved both by the part itself and by the cold and unfriendly textures clouding around it.
"Secrets Of A Long-Lost Idol" is no less scary. It is extremely minimalistic and leaves a lot of room to breathe for all the instruments. Every small detail becomes gigantic in such context. Each shadow grows, each little fantasy turns into a monster. It is one of the most effective tracks on the album, if we may use this word.
"Ornament III. (Mandala)" is a moment of relief that appears just in time. It is good karma that comes after horror, darkness and pain. The world has a million colours, and the track is a perfect way to remind us about serenity, sunshine and warmth after a few minutes of coldness, anxiety and fright.
"Bronze Mask" is still calm and introspective, but it hints at darker places, both inside our soul and in the world outside it. The textures gradually grow in size until they are ready to swallow every micron of silence. Then they become quiet again. And then they grow again. Everything comes in cycles, and emotions too.
"Wooden Mask" creates an unlikely combination of timbres with a few layers of percussion, a few layers of synths and a touch of piano and flute. The track will appeal to fans of Peter Gabriel's "Passions".
"Gallery Of Tapestries" introduces a touch of pop (we would even say schlaeger) just when we least expected it! The piano hints at classic French chanson, but everything is deceptive, misleading, illusionary. It's curious that the textures that appear on this comparatively listener-friendly track are some of the darkest on the album.
"Ornament IV. (Rosette)" reminded us of the music of Eduard Artemiev, famous for his work for Andrey Tarkovsky's films. The melodies felt like sprinkles of sunlight coming through a little hole in the roof of a dark secluded cell.
"Comme Reine Et Roi" is the second moment of pop bliss that comes unexpectedly, growing from an unlikely mix of elements echoing the ones we've heard on "Dream Veiled in Vapour".
"Oscuramento" is another alternative pop tune that no one expected to discover at the very end of the album. The drum machine and neon-tinged synths hint at classic French electronic music, Italo disco and Scandinavian greats like Röyksopp.
"Ornament V. (Spiral)" ends the album with a journey through space time, much like the ending of "2001: A Space Odyssey". It erased all the words I had in my mouth and most of the thoughts I had in my head. In this particular case I have nothing to add to the music.
The album as a whole is a true gem that stands on its own. It's a transformative experience, if you listen to the record from start to finish. But every track totally works on its own. I am planning to play a few of them in my DJ sets and I already expect jaws dropping at the floor. Because this music mostly sounds like nothing else broght to us by thousands of years of human civilization. Do I need to recommend the album any more than that? Please do yourself a favour and listen to "Teapoy". After that life will never be the same again.
The record starts with "Ornament I. (Cartouche)", a short but memorable intro. The clavinet-like timbres instantly sound both familiar and mysterious, setting the tone for the whole record. "Dream Veiled in Vapour" starts off with warm synth chords and continues with relaxed jazzy drum part and a hypnotizing vocal performance switching between spoken word and trance-like singing. Distant chords echo in the background, feeling like a cross between angel vocies and analog synth pads. We are in a mysterious place. But what is this place? Who invited us here? We're yet to discover.
"Chaiselongue's" first sounds are extremely intriguing. If robots could cry, they would probably sound like this. Rainy pads and transparent electric piano make the sonic picture more recognizable but no less enigmatic. The drumming adds a hint of jazz again. When the singing started, I instantly felt goosebumps travelling down my hands and spine. The track has more to offer: cinematic brass, an intriguing solo and low hums that sound like a soft, fluffy version of car engines running.
"Ornament II. (Arabeske)" brings back the pluck sounds echoing in a spacious and almost empty room. This time they are joined by a lonely flute and low synth textures. Both dissolve by the end of the song, leaving us wondering.
"Rubin" introduces a hint of Trip-hop or early 90s New Age with its curious rhythmic part. The voices are whispering and the textures are constantly changing and shifting, inducing a drunken, trance-like state in the listeners.
"Carillon D'Argento" is beautifully misleading. Its main sound is almost toylike – maybe a music box. But the way the harmless instrument sounds in the track's context creates an atmosphere of a horror film. The effect is achieved both by the part itself and by the cold and unfriendly textures clouding around it.
"Secrets Of A Long-Lost Idol" is no less scary. It is extremely minimalistic and leaves a lot of room to breathe for all the instruments. Every small detail becomes gigantic in such context. Each shadow grows, each little fantasy turns into a monster. It is one of the most effective tracks on the album, if we may use this word.
"Ornament III. (Mandala)" is a moment of relief that appears just in time. It is good karma that comes after horror, darkness and pain. The world has a million colours, and the track is a perfect way to remind us about serenity, sunshine and warmth after a few minutes of coldness, anxiety and fright.
"Bronze Mask" is still calm and introspective, but it hints at darker places, both inside our soul and in the world outside it. The textures gradually grow in size until they are ready to swallow every micron of silence. Then they become quiet again. And then they grow again. Everything comes in cycles, and emotions too.
"Wooden Mask" creates an unlikely combination of timbres with a few layers of percussion, a few layers of synths and a touch of piano and flute. The track will appeal to fans of Peter Gabriel's "Passions".
"Gallery Of Tapestries" introduces a touch of pop (we would even say schlaeger) just when we least expected it! The piano hints at classic French chanson, but everything is deceptive, misleading, illusionary. It's curious that the textures that appear on this comparatively listener-friendly track are some of the darkest on the album.
"Ornament IV. (Rosette)" reminded us of the music of Eduard Artemiev, famous for his work for Andrey Tarkovsky's films. The melodies felt like sprinkles of sunlight coming through a little hole in the roof of a dark secluded cell.
"Comme Reine Et Roi" is the second moment of pop bliss that comes unexpectedly, growing from an unlikely mix of elements echoing the ones we've heard on "Dream Veiled in Vapour".
"Oscuramento" is another alternative pop tune that no one expected to discover at the very end of the album. The drum machine and neon-tinged synths hint at classic French electronic music, Italo disco and Scandinavian greats like Röyksopp.
"Ornament V. (Spiral)" ends the album with a journey through space time, much like the ending of "2001: A Space Odyssey". It erased all the words I had in my mouth and most of the thoughts I had in my head. In this particular case I have nothing to add to the music.
The album as a whole is a true gem that stands on its own. It's a transformative experience, if you listen to the record from start to finish. But every track totally works on its own. I am planning to play a few of them in my DJ sets and I already expect jaws dropping at the floor. Because this music mostly sounds like nothing else broght to us by thousands of years of human civilization. Do I need to recommend the album any more than that? Please do yourself a favour and listen to "Teapoy". After that life will never be the same again.