Margenrot returns to the Russian label Klammklang Tapes with a fascinating new release entitled Obkhod, now available as a limited edition cassette with sticker pack designed by the artist Vasya Kondrashov. The project is the work of the avant-garde Russian-Armenian musician Lusia Kazaryan-Topchyan, whose debut, Zangezur, appeared on the label back in 2018. We are told that the album title is a transliteration that means to “pass by.” It seems to suggest unobtrusiveness when moving through potentially hostile territory and a personal maneuver in which the facade of the trickster is invoked as an aid in such passage.
As such, Obkhod is a continual creation that finds Kazaryan-Topchyan intrepidly navigating complex psycho-emotional-geographies with her unique sonic intelligence. The artist’s interest in traditional Armenian music continues to drive a passionate narrative on the new work, even as her travels take her deeper into densely rhythmic and threateningly Industrial territories. Throughout, Margenrot’s deft handling of these multiple signifiers and cultural identities yields complex and emotionally resonant results.
