Fescal - Two Winter Poems Album

Stop! Alert! If you are the person that cannot activate your imagination, this album is not for you. Better stop reading this review and find yourself a better entertainment.

But if you classify yourself as the one that lets his thoughts to drift in wide directions from time to time, I am sure you will not be disappointed with the material that South Korean fella under the code-name Fescal presents through his new mini-EP which came out of the doors of an extremely productive label Dronarivm records during the end of the last year.

If you are familiar with drone ambient genre, than you will definitely agree with my statement that this music is all about the small and even minor things, every single detail is very important in the image creation process, every detail can reveal a storm of emotions. A material doesn't have to shine with its complexity, because the radiance is also a matter of inner energy and the ability of the listener to dive into the lake of minimalism.

That's why, when I think about the concentration on details, I mean 'Two Winter Poems' by Fescal. The conceptual idea of this album is built on two very famous poems by Alexandr Pushkin, while the artist tries to create a kind of a soundtrack for them. The details start to pop up right from the packaging and I am sure that the guy invested a lot of time in the design itself. To give an idea, "an illustration by Mark Coates, a small plastic bag containing bush twigs from which Korean traditional tea can be made, one small 9.5 x 9.5.cm polaroid photo of a statue of Alexandr Pushkin and a small age-old folk page booklet along with a few extra whatchamacallits thrown in for good measure. Each box contains something unique and individual" (taken from official press release). All those small items really contribute their emotional impulse to the listening process, creating a kind of a preface atmosphere.

Keeping this preface in mind, I dive into the very special meditative experience that flows out of my speakers. The first composition is called "Winter Morning" and morning for sure it is. What is so significant to all drone ambient albums around, presents here as well. A clear droning loop fills the air constantly drifting over and over again creating a basement for the sound manipulation. This wide organ-kind loop raises memories of an extremely cold but quiet morning, when the air vibrates of its freshness and one can even feel a slow breath of a sleeping nature all around and gentle bites of a sharp gust; all the feelings and emotions are covered with snow, lying untouched and frozen somewhere beneath. Here the concentration of the small details is much more important, because this is tones and half-tones - the players that Fescal is operating with. Slow hidden melody rolls over the basic drone creating some areas of tension in this composition.

The same techniques a transformed into "Winter Evening", but colored with much darker colors. If the first track seemed to be painted with milky white and light blue tones, the second one is kept inside dark blue and grey pallet. Admiring the beauty of visual minimalism that is so significant to Russian winter, the author succeeds to transfer this admiration into one solid piece of sound minimalism. All the elements are bound together with the beauty of sleepy nature, with the hum of the wind playing inside the winter forest, with the depth of the frozen river slowly running its waters under the thick layer of ice, with the angry snow storm that conquers the world around and drives small humans to hide inside their houses.

Don't be afraid to explore the world of your imagination, spread the wings of your unconscious and let the memories to drive you into the world of snow and ice seen through the prism of 'Two Winter Poems'.

"This little package is a joy to own and to peruse" - Two Winter Poems is a multi-media treasure in a box: an instrumental CD3″ inspired by the poems of Pushkin, the printed poems on delicate sheets, a Polaroid photo of Pushkin’s statue, a tiny winter painting, a fresh bag of Korean tea (you’ll need a strainer) and in my case, some pocket candy. Brew the tea, read the poems and their stories, play the music, watch the snow.

When Pushkin was in exile, he longed for his ancestral home, taking small comfort in the sights and sounds of nature, especially the extended winter. Through the frost the greenish fir-trees are exposed; and under ice, a river glitters. Pushkin recognizes the beauty that lies beneath his own personal conditions: the constancy of the seasons and the promise what what is frozen will not always be so. In like fashion, Fescal’s tracks form sedimentary layers of sound: surface drones with triumphant strings and chimes moving beneath the surface like sluggish winter fish. Pushkin contemplates the snow; Fescal contemplates Pushkin; we contemplate Fescal. And yet, Pushkin and snow are entry points for the listener as well. The poet has seen too much and may be hurt beyond healing, but he holds onto the possibility of solace. ”Sing me of the tomtit hatching safe beyond the ocean blue … let us drink for grief, let’s drown it”, he writes in “Winter Evening”, which is also the sadder of Fescal’s two tracks. Glacial tonics travel through the speakers like vodka through an old man’s bones.

In “Winter Morning”, Pushkin pens similar words: ”Sliding on the morning snow, dear friend, we’ll let our worries go”. Companionship and nature combine to form a poultice for the ailing soul. Both poems are written in the second person; whatever conditions he is facing, the venerable Russian is not facing them alone. This sweet blessing, this invaluable courtesy extends to the recipient of this package as well. Whether one orders the package from Russia or Korea, one receives it as a present. Food, drink, music, poetry, and art combine to provide a twinkling of encouragement, a reminder that we are not alone in the midst of cold and frost. Around the world, others are facing the same troubles, hoping to find an extra log for the fire and to share their warmth.

It’s heartening to see Pushkin statues appearing throughout the world (12 countries at last count); his life may have been short, but it was extremely well-lived. This tribute, which honors his life and words, is a beautiful contribution to his legacy - Acloserlisten (12/2/13:R.Allen).

"Simply stunning, Fescal’s miniatures raise maximum goosebumps." - South Korean multimedia artist Fescal has been inspired by two poems by Alexander Pushkin in the creation of two, ten-minute tape pieces remindful of warm colloquy deep in the midst of a cold, Muscovy winter. The phased briskness of “Winter Morning” wells up like church bells pealing overtop primeval forest, bugling across the surface of the “snow below the bluish skies, like a majestic carpet,” reaching the ears of distant, isolated homesteads where they’re gathering kindling to start a fire in the family hearth.

As befits the night, “Winter Evening” is more spectral in tone, as if being conducted by the billowing drapes of the Northern Lights, though the poem describes a blizzard pounding at the window latches. Despite their delicacy, both have the rough hewn texture of the thatched roofed hut in which Pushkin sat, evoked by the low fidelity of his machinery. Simply stunning, Fescal’s miniatures raise maximum goosebumps - Igloo Magazine (2/213:S.Fruitman).

In recent years, Fescal, drone writer living in South Korea have announced elaborate works in the binding. This is a presentation of the specification box that contains a variety of decorations! "Beautiful drone recording" with the theme of poetry and two of Winter Evening Winter Morning by Alexander Pushkin Russian writer of literature. The box contains various goodies, and various other things like tea (yes, ready to drink with a strainer after boiling for 30 minutes) age-old booklet with photos, flowers, plants have all gone into the release! limited to 100 - Mediations (6/2/13: Tatewaki).

Two Winter Poems comes to us by way of composer Fescal and Russian imprint Dronarivm. The classically trained creator's real name isn't identified, though it's known that he's English-born, currently resides north of Seoul, South Korea, and has issued material on Time Released Sound and Twice Removed Records, among others. Three dimensions of the release warrant discussion: the music itself, the subject matter, and the presentation.

The subject matter is, without question, inspired and original, with Fescal drawing inspiration from the literature of Russian writer Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837), specifically the poems “Winter Morning” and “Winter Evening.” The first regards the snow-covered outdoors as a majestic wonderland waiting to be explored, even while viewed from within the comfort of a warm home, while the latter finds the poet sheltered within, protected from the gusty blizzard growling outside the frail hut. Both the day's passage from light to dark and the season's changes parallel the miracle that is life's cycles - a miracle which inspired both Pushkin and, two hundred years later, Fescal.

Musically, the release consists of two long-form drones based on the poems. As far as drones go, the two are ultra-rich in detail and dimension and amply reward close listening. “Winter Morning” uses droning organ chord as the nucleus around which muffled voices and additional musical elements swell into a polyphonic mass that subtly advances and recedes. Within that whole, one glimpses vocal ululations seemingly struggling to reach the surface, a detail that gives the piece a somewhat plaintive character that “Winter Evening” embraces more fervently. With all of the elements shimmering so gently, the impression formed is of light fading and, perhaps, of life fading away, too. In fact, it would be more accurate to characterize “Winter Evening” as an ambient soundscape than drone, given its vaporous drift and ethereal quality.

"As splendid as the music itself is, it's matched by the presentation" - The three-inch disc arrives within a tiny box, accompanied inside by two image cards, one a watercolour illustration by Mark Coates and the other a winter photograph by Sergey Klochev of a Pushkin statue, a tiny booklet containing the texts for the poems (in Russian and English) and historical background, and even a small bag containing bush twigs of Korean traditional tea. Supplementing the disc with the literary and presentation dimensions helps make Fescal's already memorable outing all the more so. In these downloads times, Two Winter Poems is one of those releases that makes a powerful argument on behalf of the physical release - Textura (2/2/13:R.Schepper).

Although this mini-disc release is only two tracks and just over 20 minutes long, Korea-based composer Fescal fills it with vividly detailed drones. The tracks are inspired by a pair of Alexandr Pushkin poems. “Winter Morning” arrives with a base drone formed out of a processed organ chord (with, quite honestly, a touch of the bagpipe to it) and a drifty vocal loop. At times they pair nicely; at others they feel almost in conflict, and this creates an interesting dynamic as the piece moves along. “Winter Evening” comes across as the warmer and lighter of the two, and is easier to connect with. There’s a simpler grace to it and a more distinct harmony of elements. The contrast is pleasing.Two Winter Poems is a work of very straight-up drone; its shifts arrive lazily and make just enough difference to nudge itself into a place that’s just subtly different. Changes in tone and texture slide in under the radar before making themselves noticeable. The movement, or lack thereof, is appropriately hypnotic, yet a focused listen reveals a fair amount of work going on. There are points where the sound rises in tone to border on a near-feedback squeal, but it never crosses the line into being an unpleasant noise. For the quick hit this release is, that one slight shrug for me as a listener doesn’t detract from an interesting ride.

"Kudos also to Fescal for committing to a unique bit of packaging" - Each of the limited-edition physical discs comes with an illustration by artist Mark Coates, a small plastic bag containing bush twigs from which Korean traditional tea can be made (I haven’t made mine yet, but I will), a small photo of a statue of Pushkin and an old small age-old folk page booklet, plus some unique “extra whatchamacallits” thrown in for good measure. (Mine had candy and shiny metallic leafs.) This all comes in a small, well-made box, and truly adds a personal touch - Hypnagogue (1/2/13:J.Shanahan).

Relaxed blend of drones and overlap each other like it in response to harmonic, musical instruments, such as a variety of synth-guitar-strings, drone of feedback, such as noise-crunch sound effects come together, "beauty and psychedelic and acid drone-experimental sound-sensitive mixed". Are waging drone and trippy track with a feeling of drunkenness, the drone track with a dramatic grandeur for over 10 minutes together, such as in the psychedelic folk music - Linus Records (9/2/13)

Mysterious British composer, but steadily moved to Korea, Fescal continues his explorations in sound in between time and space through sound idea of two poems by Alexander Pushkin.

Published in a limited edition cd-r 3 "from the Russian label specializing Dronarivm," Two Winter Poems "consists of two tracks, each lasting from just over ten minutes, with impressionistic sensibility worthy of the delicate artwork, draw a magical soundscape winter.

That is not, however Fescal of drone-music crystallized in a frozen isolationism, but living material modulated in order to capture the changing atmospheric echoes and changes in light of a winter day. "Winter Morning" and "Winter Evening" are the two moments in which the work is organized, which reflects the short period of time in a monolith solemn sound, "dazzling in the ascending phase in the first movement and placid fade in the second" - Music won't save you (10/2/13:R.Russo).

This is a 3-inch CD limited edition released on the Russian label Dronarivm that comes in a small box with two cards with a watercolor illustration by Mark Coates and the other a winter photography by Sergey Klochev a statue of Pushkin, also a small booklet containing the texts of the poems in Russian and English, accompanied by a pair of candy and small bright metal leafs, alongwith a small bag containing bush twigs of Korean traditional tea. This is the work of an English artist who lives in Korea and has released several albums on independent labels. 'Two Winter Poems' contains two tracks over 26 minutes that are based on two poems by the Russian writer Alexander Pushkin. 'Winter Morning' is a shroud of drones that contains different layers based on organ and something like a flute which I guess can be of Korean origin. This track reminds me of the work of Rapoon (aka Robin Storey).'Winter Evening' is also found in the continuous ambient loops placid that conjure-up Celer beautiful soundscapes - Loop.cl (10/03/13;G.Escudero)