Roricat is a Russian duo, coming from the very north of Siberia , consisting of Eugene T on guitars and machines and Julica Rorica on (scarce) voices and magic (?). Presented here are fourteen tracks on seventy-one minutes, so there’s plenty of room for everyone to get into this album. The digipack contains some (cool) illustrative images of the coldness this release somehow exhales (desolate snowy landscapes), except for the cover itself, which I can’t find to be related with the music.

Their work is somehow hard to grasp at first hearings, as the album merges a distinct amount of aesthetics, ranging from the progressive ambient style of Blue 6’s delicate beat, the minimal and dirty rhythm of She Dives With Fireflies, the noisy Washu Theme, the lush synth use on Perverted Magic User and the spatial eeriness of the title-track.

Most notable is Ice-Cold Blood, perhaps the best offering on Uki Uki. This is, I believe, Roricat at its best – a very intelligent and well thought-out song revolving around a neat trip-hop feeling and very appealing guitar riffing with lots of electro sounds layered in the background. “Helica” reminds me a lot of Coil’s dance tracks, while Hive, alongside the aforementioned Ice-Cold Blood, is an outstanding song, finally to present Julica’s voices at the very end. Even though firmed in the electronic camp, the Russians seem to be surprisingly capable of generating a very organic and human feeling throughout the album. Just take, for instance, the closing track Homeworld, which actually gyrates around a quasi-melancholic water-flowing sample.

Uki Uki is a very accomplished release, another one by the first-rate label that is HORUS CyclicDaemon. Very evocative, imaginative and diverse in its approach, the Russian duo experiments, distorts, plays and never ceases to find itself creating unique songs. It takes a while until everything has been figured out but, it will, eventually, be worthwhile.

Luís Oliveira