INCANTATIONS - album RADA & TERNOVNIK 2006

Chuyala ptitsa (The Bird Felt It) mp3 Kholodno (plach) (Cold (a lament) mp3 Seroglazka (The Grey-Eyed) mp3 Uletaja (Fly Away) LIVE! 2007/ with Sergey Letov (saxophone) mp3 Video - LIVE SHOW 2007 (St.PETERSBURG) "Snowed by Grief" (37mb) "Flying Away" (46mb) about INCANTATIONS -Bei IncantationsAlternativmusik.de and Gothic Beauty Magazine http://www.gothicbeauty.com - The following CD Review, written by Carolee, is now published in Issue #25 of Gothic Beauty Magazine. Leaning heavily on the crutch of comparison to explain the indescribable: if Thrill Kill Kult, Gitane Demone, In Gowan Ring, and an experimental jazz band met with a gloomy reverb-y bass and a prog-rock guitar, you'd have something like Rada & Ternovnik. Despite or because of its lo-fi feel, it's pretty good gothy/atmospheric rock, though Rada's high operatic flights tremble on the edge of decency and she's steadier with the slinkier, softer vocals. "Incantations" opens buzzing with high drama and descends with bass and noirish saxophone, which returns in cabaret style rather well at points. While the lyrics need a Russian listener for full appreciation, emotions are still heady and passionate, flung by moods as disparate as the tender pings of the harp and a psychedelic guitar. It's kind of like a weird post-Christian Death project, but in Russian. (Carolee) ===

RADA & TERNOVNIK (Rada & The Blackthorn) INCANTATIONS

'Incantations' is a difficult studio opus (the recording took nearly a year), appealing to the archaic stratum of human consciousness, belonging to the times when people were not divided by various countries, languages and religions. The songs dwell upon senses and sensations common to all of us - upon love, death, pain, pleasure. That is why the songs combine various musical instruments of different cultures: Tibetan ritual trumpet, Australian didgeridoo, South Indian kanjira, Russian wind instruments - 'rozhok', 'kalyuka' and other folk pipes and trumpets, sax, flute, bass guitar, rock drums. A didgeridoo calls with a sax, undertone singing intertwine with a Russian horn, and a Tibetan bone pipe moans in a Russian folk song. This is an exploration of mystic undercurrents of old Russian folk chants, on which the songs are based. But the lyrics are contemporary, written by Rada, the lead singer. The vocalist and bandleader Rada, author of all the songs, is a leading performer of a Russian indie-scene since 1991. She is distinguished by unusually powerful and clear voice and the deep lyricism of her poetry. After many experiments with trip-hop sound, dark folk and neoclassical albums, using exotic instrumentation (indian folk instruments et al), "Rada & Ternovnik" arrived at a unique synthesis of archaic world traditions and the modern post-rock sound. Her distinctive voice combine folk intonations and specific folk overtones with classical opera singing techniques, low wheezing timbres with coloratura soprano. Her singing is often compared to Diamanda Galas and Ima Sumak. 'Incantations' present an unusual form of musical and poetic shamanism; here Tibetan and Celtic tunes meet Russian folk melodies, here Slavic poetry meet Japanese aesthetics. An embryo, a soul in a maze of dreams and melodies is depicted on the cover (created by a Moscow astist Anton Ochirov). Thus the listener dwells through the labyrinth, facing the archetypes and archaic sounds, that wake the primal image of the world.
'Incantations' is a caleidoscope of the archaic and the eternal, of world music and psychedelic rock, of dark folk motifs and avant jazz tunes, a soundscape yet complex but simple and plain.

track 1 A ne byt vetram \ Govorila, govorila (Let No Winds Blow \ She Said, She Said)
The first song (as well as the album itself) starts with a sound of dungchen (a Tibetan ritual trumpet). The song is based upon Russian ritual and lyric chants. It's a sad story of people parting. Here folk melodics meets powerful post-rock sound and psychedelic guitar riffs.

track 2 Chuyala ptitsa (The Bird Felt It)
The song is based upon Russian wedding chants, usually sung by girlfriends of the bride: a girl, leaving for the groom's house, is likened to a bird flying away. A back vocal throat singing part is sung by Dmitry Globa. A Vladimir horn (a type of Slavic 'rozhok', a trumpet carved from a single piece of wood) in the beginning of the piece is played by Sergey Starostin (also played with Inna Zhelannaya & The Farlanders).

track 3 Zmeyi (Snakes)
Inspired by a Russian folk spell 'against a firesnake seducing a widow'. The song somehow continues the spell. The rhythmic structure is created by a standard rock rhythm section together with a kanjira (a South Indian frame drum) and an Australian didgeridoo.

track 4 Knyaginya (Princess)
The song about a Princess, who gave her heart to the wind, let her children leave away, and stayed alone with her sadness. An unusual and sentimental sound of Sergey Letov's sax (played with TriO, Sainkho Namchylak) calls with Vladimir Anchevsky's psychedelic guitar. Folk mythology of the lyrics meet retro-jazz sax improvisations and impressive post-rock guitar solos.

track 5 Na ozerakh lyod (Ice on the Lakes)
The ballad about a chilly morning and water spirits. Celtic harp and didgeridoo meet Rada & Ternovnik's harsh post-rock sound. It is a contemporary spell.

track 6 Wetreno (Windy)
Sergey Letov's flute and sax, Celtic harp and acoustic guitar create a soundscape of a windy Autumn day.
The lyrics might be too laconic: "windy, too windy".

track 7 Kholodno (plach) (Cold (a lament)
Inspired by a tape with folk laments recorded during a folklore expedition. Rada was impressed with a lament sung by an old woman, her voice changing from ultrasonic vibes to wheezing low pitches. The song wasn't "written" as usual, it appeared undeliberately and could be compared to "the stream of onsciousness". 'Cold' attributes not to the weather, but to the state of a dying soul. A Tibetan kanling (or kandung, a bone pipe made of human thigh) is played in the piece. A sound of kanling is used by the yogis during the Chod ritual, when a practicioner calls the hungry spirits to feast upon his flesh. A guitar solo in the middle of the piece is played by an electric bow.

track 8 Goryem zaporoshena (Snowed by Grief)
An energetic folk-rock song. Kalyukas (Russian wooden trumpets) are played by Sergey Starostin.

track 9 Lipkiye paltsy (Sticky Fingers)
Acoustic dark folk piece. Russian acoustic guitars meet South Indian kanjira. A song about winter sadness.

track 10 Trawa (Grass)
Another contemporary spell, a spell 'against pain'. "Oh my pain don't wait for me", says the refrain. This song fully demonstrates Rada's wonderful three and a half octave voice, combining specific folk and jazz intonations with the bel canto techniques. Avant-jazz sax and agile singing meet modern incantations.

track 11 Uletaya (Flying Away)
Based upon Dogun's poems about the yellow autumn leaves, living away their last moments before falling down. The song has a complicated prog-rock structure. Sergey Starostin's paired flutes create the counterpoint for the piece.

track 12 Solntse yasno (The Sun Shines Clear)
The Sun is depicted as a beautiful girl, walking the Skies and watching down on the Earth. Here low and high vocal parts symbolize the Sky and the Earth. In the final part of the piece there's a call between Sergey Letov's flute and Sergey Starostin's horn.

track 13 Seroglazka (The Grey-Eyed)
The only song in major key. A fairy tale about a typical Russian folk hero - a girl with a third eye, that stays open while the other two sleep. The song is accompanied by a nearly medieval Celtic harp.

The disc also contains two live videos.

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