Grounded Rectangle by Ambidextrous

Ambidextrous, aka Nick Zavriev, musician, popularizer of rare electronics, journalist and producer all in one, has dropped a release that is completely out of character for him. His latest album with the Mestnost label is titled Grounded Rectangle and it draws heavily on the krautrock style. Completely out of the blue, Nick turns away from the soft and melodious tracks and immerses himself in the mathematical monotony elevated by the Germans to its own separate style in the early 70s, which, like all trends that originate in Germany, is characterized by the uncompromising logic, well-defined structure and prevalence of reason over sensation.

What makes this release unique is not just its one-of-a-kind sound, but also the tremendous amount of effort put into it and the countless hours spent in the studio recording it. A combination of typical rock instruments with a synth playing in the background and a pulsating “motor” rhythm is common for this type of style; that is why most of the krautrock “scores” are recorded literally by hand. For example, you can hear the drums of Sergey Ledovsky in the track Reluctance Abuse.

At one time or another, Ledovsky played in the majority of Moscow-based indie bands from Silence Kit to NRKTK. He also participated in the Ambidextrous Live Band project. These days, Sergey is playing drums in the Californian dream-pop band Halou. Getting back to Ambidextrous and his latest album, it is interesting to note that Maestro, the Soviet synthesizer, which Nick is especially fond of, makes an appearance in most of his tracks.

“I still can’t believe that it’s been 9 years since the Marathon Machine track came out. I started composing it while watching broadcast of the London Olympics marathon. I became fascinated with the idea that running can also be described as a monotonous repetitive process that can easily be translated into the language of music,” shares Nick.

This style with its hypnotizing squareness could appeal to both the psychedelics lovers and the fans of electronic sound. If people could just look past the usual nods towards Kraftwerk and Faust, to an unbiased ear in 2023 it would seem like LCD Soundsystem has made a comeback.

mestnostrecords.com