Aesthesys is an instrumental outfit based in Moscow, Russia. Founded by Nik Koniwzski as a one-man project back in 2007. Over time it has evolved into an ensemble performing post-rock with ambient and neoclassical influences, becoming a quartet by the end of 2011.
In recent years they have worked with Jamie Ward (Maybeshewill, Dark Dark Horse) and Ian Shepherd (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Deep Purple, King Crimson) and the current lineup consists of Sasha Coudray (bass guitar), Artem Taganov (drums), Eldar Ferzaliev (guitar), Victor Krabovich (guitar, keyboards) and Nik Koniwzski (violin, keyboards, guitar).
They have a rather brilliant new album, Achromata, coming out on April 3rd, 2018. The LP vinyl version will be released July 7th, 2018 in a limited edition on Narshardaa Records. Pre-orders are available HERE. Ahead of that, we asked the main man Nik to pick the records that have influenced him most.
Kayo Dot — Choirs of the Eye
The very first release under this moniker was my entry point to the holy church of Tobydriverianism, so despite the fact that Toby himself moved away from the somewhat conventional metal sound as a composer, I love this record very much.
Son Lux — Lanterns
I discovered Ryan Lott and his projects slightly more than a year ago, but that was a huge influence on me ever since. The way this music is build and how different elements from absolutely strange sonic fields work together in an exceptional harmony makes me think Ryan and his colleagues sold their souls to the devil himself.
Rosetta — The Anaesthete
This record is partially the reason why our latest album is much heavier and high-energy based than all the previous works. I was a fan of Rosetta even before The Anaesthete, but that album had a profound effect on how I viewed the heavy sound from the compositional stand-point. This is freaking classic.
The Voices — A Glimpse into the Absurd
I discovered works of Paolo not a long time ago, but that’s by the far the most original stuff I’ve heard in a while. He uses only his voice to create this strange music that sounds completely out of space and time. I think that’s the closest one may get to the alien music (I bet Alpha Centaurians would be into any sort of Scelsi-like experiments). Paolo pushes the boundaries here and that’s extremely cool.
Kayo Dot — Plastic House on Base of Sky
PHoBoS is the latest KD release to date, and this sonic journey is something that shakes me emotionally every time I listen to it. Ironically, it’s hard for me to listen to music I love the most frequently in the last few years, so when I find myself ready for another PHoBoS run, I try my best to make it count, listening to it carefully and attentively, so it’s not in my daily playlist for that reason.
dälek — Absence
And I gotta bring up these guys. I believe dälek were the first artists to make me widen my listening preferences back when I was predominantly into a specific set of genres. I’d say they’ve popped my hip-hop cherry, as after this album I came to realise that my creative philosophy is clearly outdated and I have to rethink a lot of things about music and creativity. And they’re still among the few artists whose lyrics have a great impact on me every time I listen to them.
