Philipp Gorbachev

Silver Album (Cómeme)

17/20

Marketed as the ‘first Russian dance album’ (a claim it’s pretty much impossible to verify or refute, so we’ll just go with it for now), Philipp Gorbachev’s debut LP is a cacophonous riot of stomping post-EBM rhythms slung under poetic but indecipherable Russian gibberish and whining, skyward synthesis.

Featuring input from Paul Leary of Butthole Surfers, John Stanier of Helmet / Battles fame, and Ostgut Ton’s Tobias Freund, it’s a record that manages to successfully coalesce these disparate worlds into a concise musical (and subtly political) statement while still being explicitly fun in its execution. Opener Arrest Me – Песня Для Арестантов (that second bit translates to ‘Song For Prisoners’) is dedicated to the world’s incarcerated population, and it stomps around with a suitably defiant frustration that remains throughout the record. Stanier’s contribution on Europa, easily (and predictably) the most unhinged track here, sees his trademark barrelling, relentless drumming acting as grounding for Gorbachev’s childlike yelps and buried, prodding keys. Brief respite comes in the form of the beatless Silver Symphony Серебряная Симфония, but it’s a far from relaxing listen. Dark and heavy strings sit ominously over a percolating bassline, veering into a short refrain that echoes the equally brief melody found in Arrest Me…, before converging back into a paranoid tension that hangs in the air until everything fades away. Finishing with the compressed worm-holing pump of What Do You Need – Что Тебе Надо (…What Do You Want), Silver Album is a record built from a concise palette that succeeds in its widescreen, punkish ambitions with a rare sincerity and humour.

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soundcloud.com/philippgorbachev

Words: Steven Dores