- The Bassiani resident's outstanding debut LP draws skilfully from classic '90s dance music.
- Sometimes a piece of music becomes inseparable from its place and time; saturated with significance, even, because of the circumstance of its creation and consumption. Ostati, an album by Gigi Jikia, AKA HVL, is one such record. Jikia is a resident DJ at Georgia's Bassiani, which even before its raid and temporary closure by Tbilisi city authorities this year was celebrated internationally thanks to its reputation as a sanctuary for Georgian youth, a place of quiet social revolution and an exemplar of the value of club culture beyond escapism and socialising. Jikia seems happy to encourage these associations. The label describes the record as "a document of the sound of Tbilisi... [which] spells out a space where dim lights and mysterious corners provide a playground for wild ideas to dart around in the dark."
Ostati is a great record on its own merits. It's a beautiful, balmy collection of electro-techno with impeccable influences. Its 303s sing and gurgle through hovering chords in ways resembling the ecstatic pinnacles of AFX in "Analogue Bubblebath 1" and Underground Resistance's "Final Frontier" (see "Sallow Myth"). Other times the acid floats through its own reverb in a way that recalls Tin Man. There's 1991-2 UK rave breakbeat as filtered via Shed and Martyn ("Shesavali"). Throughout, there's the "home-listening techno" warmth of Warp's Artificial Intelligence series. There are great billows of Basic Channel radiance that seem to stream off surfaces out into the distance, adding to the sense of huge, indeterminate space. On "Askinkila," there's Drexciyan electro percussion that feels like you're tapping into a cybernetic signal that was going on before the track started and will carry on long after it's finished.
If that all sounds a bit tasteful, well, it is. Ostati translates as "a master of one's craft," and five years into putting out records, Jikia clearly knows his machines inside-out. Everything is poised and perfectly placed. The synth leads are velvety, soft to the touch. But it's certainly not just analgesic, nor is it lazy repetition of well-worn formulas. Every bar brings something new, even if subliminally, and any time you do just find yourself drifting off into a merely comfortable state, that's the exact moment a new element will drop in and delight you. It's a record made with care and patience, and it treats you, the listener or dancer, with care and patience, too.
Lista de títulos01. Shesavali
02. Sallow Myth
03. დაისი
04. Under Libra
05. Askinkila
06. Sinister Sea
07. Continuum
08. აისი
09. Futuro
10. When Rivers Flow