Dasha Rush - Sleepstep: Sonar Poems For My Sleepless Friends [Raster Noton 158 Promo]

Released in early March via the great Raster-Noton imprint is "Sleepstep: Sonar Poems For My Sleepless Friends", a sixteen track piece dedicated to those suffering from insomnia already announced on these pages earlier this year that's revealing a new, previously unheard of side in Dasha Rush's work. Better known for her Techno productions that've moved dancefloor crowds over the past decade "Sleepstep" sees the Russian producer explore deeper realms of dark'ish Ambient tones, ominous Electronica, threatening Advanced Electro and more dreamy, kinda subaquaticly floating beauty to be found in tracks like the sweet Deep Listening experience "Sleep Ballade", a rhythmic yet beatless lullaby for ambient ravers and musical connaisseurs. With "Antares" electronic music starts to float like an endless ocean of dreams, "Abandoned Beauties And Beasts" brings in dangerously buzzing Death Electro with a nervous twist, "Lumiere Avant Midi" serves calm, ever repetetive and - in a positive sense - sleep-inducing beauty and so does the droney, string-heavy (Neo)Classical Ambient approach of "Sail Away To Her" which touches the borders of abstract opera in terms of the use of angelic vocals that, in parts, evoke memories of Cosmic Baby's legendary Techno Opera "Futura". "Lucy In The Sky, Lost Diamonds" combines swinging, elastic Electronica grooves with Dasha Rush's distant, blurred vocals, an uberly seductive abuse of bass and a melodic main motif, "Fog, Dogma And Bread" brings Drone thunder and brooding atmospheres whilst machine-generated sounds are wandering through abandoned  Post-Industrial factory sites and "A Minute After The War" perfectly depicts the heavenly relief after a devastating conflict of nations has come to an end using calm Piano Ambient tones before "100 Hearts" serves a pretty abstract, yet super thrilling view on technoid beat structures for late night sets in large warehouse parties - possibly the most remarkable track featured on the great effort that "Sleepstep: Sonar Poems For My Sleepless Friends" is. More melodic ambience is to be found in the shimmering "Micro Universe"and the closing tune outer space finally revives the subaquatic Ambient flow for Drexciyans and other deep space creatures. Nice one.