Gert Emmens - An Artists Stroke (2013)

Electronic music-encyclopedia. For his album “The Nearest Faraway Place, Volume 2” Gert Emmens was allowed to use one of Yuri’s paintings on the cover. Gert is an admirer of Yuri’s work and so, in cooperation with Artemi, an idea was born to create a concept album based on the paintings of his father. Dutchman Emmens always brings us electronic music of high quality: it is warm, melodically and played well.

“Cossack Temperament” opens the album in a great way because of the strong sequences, fine Mellotronstrings and a solo that resembles the sound of a Theremin. The sequences get fuller and fuller, after which a quiet intermezzo follows. In the second part of the track the sequences are masterful. In “The Long Walk Towards The Black Sea” Gert describes a walk of 1.000 (!) km. that Yuri undertook to reach the Black Sea. As a kind of relaxation, he painted there. Also he stopped underway to paint. This piece is kind of lighter, in comparison to the other compositions. The solo here is great. Gert always differs from other electronic musicians in the retro-electronic music because his music always contains more melody and tension. Yet for the most part anyway he stays within the paths of the Berlin School and that is clever. The German Lambert has this too in his music. And “Paintings-The Spirituality Behind It” sounds like a Lambert-track, musically and sequencer-wise. The fat solo sounds almost like Vangelis. Also in “Darkness Upfolds” this kind of solo can be heard. In the beginning the sequencer pattern sounds like a marimba, something we heard often in the electronic music of the early nineties. The cd closes with the atmospheric “Yuri Pugachov-In Memoriam”. Here the antique drum boxes of Gert are included.

Tracklist:

1. Cossack Temperament
2. The Long Walk (Towards the Black Sea)
3. Paintings (The Themes)
4. Paintings (The Spirituality Behind It)
5. The Leningrad Years
6. Darkness Unfolds
7. Yuri Pugachov (In Memoriam)