by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Olivine Window is no ordinary album. Its origins lie in the Soviet spy satellite Cаяём1 (which translates roughly into English as ‘We speak as one’). This craft, launched in 1983, went missing and was thought to have ditched into the Laptev Sea – though no evidence was found to reinforce this claim.

The details were kept secret until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1988, at which point amateur radio enthusiasts started picking up a new transmission whose frequency was compromising that of other similar, high frequency stations.

This pioneering release collects recordings attributed to the station renamed Sareem1, then SareemOne. They have been restored, corrected and prepared for digital release by Mach V and Andy Gillham, of Echaskech, who have assigned each track a name from the ENIGMA logs where most of the recordings can be found.

The recordings are available digitally, or on cassette – while you can read the full story of the project here:

What’s the music like?

Compelling – and almost entirely weightless. The six compositions have no percussion or meaningful bass, meaning they exist as the original transmissions did – in mid-air. The melodies are extended to the point where each progression has a slow inevitability about it, slow enough to operate as a deep, ambient melody.

The wide-open panorama is established with Losing Nils, which has an air of melancholy, while The BCDE looks upwards to a more fragmented, heavily synthesized melody played over the top.

As the album progresses so the pieces become more substantial, with each maintaining a similar textural blueprint while varying in style. 3TIGHTGAPS has a slide guitar feel, its white noise and slow vibrato both uplifting and incredibly calming. There are hints of percussion in a slightly bassier interference, which also makes itself known in the thrumming introduction to Sol’s Goodbye. This flickers like a flame against broad background strokes, high in the treble range and carefully marshalled.

Between them the last two tracks last over 26 minutes, yet remain compelling to the close listener. Olivine Window itself has hints of the human voice and a diverse range of timbres, though its watery textures remain as a support throughout. Mastaba looks wider still, its textures akin to a massive intro for a shoegaze song, guitar-like sounds rippling over sustained notes. Rich chords and sonorous white noise combine to make the audio equivalent of cotton wool.

Does it all work?

It does. This is very deep ambient music, ideally produced and matching its cover art, which is the striking, immersive Day of Radiance Quilt by Susannah Eisenbraun

Is it recommended?

Yes, without hesitation. The fascinating back story demands to be read, and is more than matched by a soundtrack that does wonders for the mind.

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