Bad Sector - "Kosmodrom" [2005]

Artist: Bad Sector

Title: Космодром

Genre: Dark Ambient, Industrial

Country: Italy

Release date: 2006 (2xCD reissue 2013)

Track List:

1. Energiya
2. Telemetry
3. June 16, 1963
4. Baikonur
5. Extravehicular
6. Vjezna
7. Orbiter
8. Beacon
9. April 12, 1961
10. Kosmos

Bonus CD:

1. Oktober 4, 1957
2. Extravehicular 2
3. Cosmos 69
4. Plesetsk
5. Almaz
6. Zvezdi
7. Kapustin Yar
8. Чайка
9. Extravehicular 3

On Cosmonauts' Day, I'm posting this conceptual work by Massimo Magrini, dedicated to the works of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and their practical applications that ultimately led to the first human spaceflight on April 12, 1961 (the case where you can use the words "rocket science" unironically). Parts of it were recorded in Moscow and St. Petersburg using the old Soviet ANS synthesizers (those were already mentioned on my blog several times in connection to the history of Russian/Soviet synthpop). I'd bet that Massimo's music is better known here than at his home in Italy, partially because of this release too :)

When it comes to sound, "Kosmodrom" doesn't offer many surprises to the fans of Bad Sector. Like Massimo's other releases, it's better described as sound engineering (a field that Massimo possesses a scientific degree in) rather than music, and it's intended to be the modern (post-)industrial music in its pure form. However, you aren't going to hear any harsh noise on there; it's "nerdy" cosmic ambient for the most part, with some occasional elements of rhythmic noise. This 2xCD edition was released by Loki-Found, a German label specialized in dark/cosmic ambient, in 2013, and it's partially available as a free listen on Bandcamp. Of course, you also can download it from dark-world.ru or elsewhere, especially considering that Massimo himself has nothing against musical piracy and admits being a pirate himself :3