Oh, Infraction... thank god for labels that continue to dig deep and present us with obscure, original and refreshing ambient music. There, that's all I need to say on this one, right?...
Ask any record-store that stocks a half-decent ambient collection (at least in the US), and the shop-owner will pay their respect to the quality of releases that Infraction stand behind. The label that brought us Parks, Offthesky & Pleq, Drape, Celer and many more, now unearth this Russian Cosmonaut inspired release by The National Pool.
Harkening back to a time when the 'USSR' was an industrial power-house - when, "Our moon stations made their incredible flights! The atomic icebreaker was put into operation and the construction of the world's largest nuclear power plants is successfully happening", the release is like a half-speed black-and-white news video of the great successes and celebrations of the Russian people.
I can see the Cosmonauts boarding their aircraft, and the people waving their flags from the lookout deck. I picture the space shuttle leaving the Earth's orbit as the Cosmonauts looked at each other in disbelief, realizing the gravitas of their situation and the fact a whole nation is behind them - caught within a tin-can hurtling into pitch black nothingness.
No wonder they needed a relaxation tape...
So far, it sounds like a clear ambient cliché - and you're probably expecting space samples, radio interceptions and Russian distress signals. Whilst the release isn't devoid of these things, it goes several steps further in providing sometimes melancholic piano moments in Net Rain, and Gas inspired textures in Brick Cloud - Area 2, rounding out an incredible release that paints a truly vivid picture of a moment in time, all through the porthole of a USSR Cosmonaut, thousands of feet up in the air.
