As we continue into 2021 with both hope and trepidation, we welcome our 19th release for the label in POLARIS from Ukranian duo GAMARDAH FUNGUS.
Hailing from Dnipro, Ukraine, and comprised of sound artist Igor Yalivec and guitar player Sergey Yagoda, Gamardah Fungus’ decade long body of work focuses on the interaction of modular synthesisers and processed guitars with field recordings and complex sound objects, which form musical and electroacoustic meditations on human perception of space, environment and ethnography, steeped in Zen philosophy, metaphysics and spiritual contemplation of the Universe.
Their twelfth full length release and first for Golden Ratio Frequencies, POLARIS, is one such meditation in the form of two side long pieces of sonic driftwood, floating in deep inner-stellar ambience across the seas of time, space and matter.
Named after the pole star Polaris, the brightest star in our skies, located in the Ursa Minor constellation, and just as travellers looked to the shining beacon in the night sky as an anchor point for their worldly navigations, these two long-form expeditions serve as a guidepost for inner exploration, an aural dristhi point for focus and balance.
Performed as a live session in a private studio in Ukraine, these recordings capture the duos gentle interplay of electric and acoustic guitars, modular synthesis, tape manipulation and theremin to create a delicate bath of drone, shimmer and echo, acting as an aural flotation tank for the mind, body and spirit that welcomes the listener to be held in an enigmatic and meditative state of homeostasis.
Recalling shades of Eno & Fripp’s 1970’s ambient collaborations, or the more mellower side of early Cluster, these midnight devotions beg to be utilised for the attainment of zen like states of calm and melancholic serenity.
Dedicated to the memory of Vlad Lemm, a close friend of the duo who unexpectedly passed in 2019, with Polaris, Gamardah Fungus look to the stars for those who have transcended this mortal coil, a fitting eulogy in contemplation and wonder to the vastness of space, the unknown beyond and indeed the human spirit.
Physical copies will be available on limited edition professionally dubbed c40 cassette, with on-body print, double-sided, full colour, two-page inlay and screen-printed Golden Ratio spiral acetate.
credits
released April 5, 2021
Music performed and recorded in Dnipro, Ukraine 2019.
Igor Yalivec - Eurorack Modular Synthesiser, Theramin, Tape Recorder
Sergey Yagoda - Guitars, Effects Board, Objects
We dedicate this album to the memory of our friend Vlad Lemm, who suddenly passed away in 2019. We hope your soul has found a place in the vastness of the universe and now shines with the Polaris in the sky.
TRANCE INDUCERS, STRESS REDUCERS, SONIC MEDITATIONS, SUN SALUTATIONS, DEEP VIBRATIONS, AND DRONE EMANATIONS; WITH THE INTENTION OF MIND BODY AND SOUL RE-CALIBRATION THROUGH AURAL MIND EXPANSION
This entire album is staggeringly good, but my favourite is Slowly Coming Together, which does indeed seem to slowly distill all that is Jilk into one track. Amazing work, and wonderful to come across through the subscription library. swansither
Modular synths sparkle amidst piano, vibes, and other organic instruments stringing together constellations of sound. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 22, 2023
Seriously good. Dark, low dub with spectral textures and dead-of-night eeriness. Ade has turned shadows into melodies and those melodies into corporeal entities. Stunning. Michael Stanton