Ilya Monosov
Like the best bit of bacon wrapped around the best cut of beef pinned with a handcut toothpick, these four sets of collage arrive pressed to vinyl--eliminating the potential confusion about how many multiple media players have been running. Grunts and gurggles hump circuit-bent glitches in the way an inhuman claw might select a fannypack from the racks of Forever XXI. The fact is: only one hand is needed to clap on a drum machine. DJ Ilya Monosov & the 21st Century Punks are too rhythmic to call noise, too chaotic to call music. This four-track 12-inch is nothing like Nurse With Wound while sounding like an American counterpart. Akin to Plunderphonics without obvious gags. Best guess, this is what spying Martians hear coming from Earth.
Utterances into a dictophone from a backdoor man hiding in the closet as the husband arrives home. The tales plod along in whispers, accompanied by defined guitar interplay, punctuated piano and snappy drums. Nearly every accent of guitar seems present. Fragile flamenco plucks, fuzz-to-the-front fumblings onto smooth lyrics of a detective attempting to resolve his own crimes. Vocals and acoustic guitar were recorded by Greg Weeks. The arrangements, instrumentation and production were lovingly handled by Jonathan Wilson. Ilya Monosov is a member of Shining Path and Monosov/Swirnoff duo. While those musics were often meant to be visceral and joyous, Sailor Man presents whispers from one person to another, ruminative meditations on loss of places and people.