Aralkum, by Galya Bisengalieva

Aralkum

by Galya Bisengalieva

supported by

karlab7 I traveled quite a bit in Central Asia in the mid 1990s and remember reading about the shrinking of the Aral Sea even then. The fact that this is a huge and very visible ecological disaster that has happened in my lifetime is beyond sobering. I appreciate this tribute (dirge?) for the large and beautiful body of water that once was.

zarquin A very atmospheric album, .. Very disquieting and slightly unsettled.. Favorite track: Kokaral.

Ben Harris I wish I knew more about classical music so I could make better comparisons, but this very much reminded me of a handful of ambient albums such as Emeralds' "Allegory of Allergies", or Kali Malone's "The Sacrificial Code", or Alessandro Cortini's "Forse 3" only with the benefit of Galya's incredible string playing! I envision the entire album being an apt soundtrack for a deliberately slow piece of animated pittura metafisica. Favorite track: Moynaq.

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12"

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12" Vinyl
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1.	Aralkum 06:39	buy track
2.	Moynaq 08:11	buy track
3.	Kantubek 03:27	buy track
4.	Barsa-Kelmes 04:40	buy track
5.	Zhalanash 05:33	buy track
6.	Kokaral 05:02	buy track

about

THE SHRINKING OF THE ARAL SEA HAS BEEN CALLED ONE OF THE WORST ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS ON THE PLANET.

SITUATED IN CENTRAL ASIA, IT WAS ONCE THE FOURTH LARGEST LAKE IN THE WORLD, BUT THE RIVERS THAT FED THE ARAL WERE DIVERTED BY SOVIET IRRIGATION PROJECTS FROM THE 1960S. IT HAS BEEN DISAPPEARING EVER SINCE.

BY 1997, IT HAD DIMINISHED TO TEN PERCENT OF ITS ORIGINAL SIZE, AND SATELLITE IMAGES CAPTURED BY NASA IN AUGUST OF 2014 REVEALED THAT – FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MODERN HISTORY – THE EASTERN BASIN OF THE ARAL SEA HAD DRIED UP COMPLETELY, A REGION NOW KNOWN AS THE ARALKUM DESERT.

AS THE ARAL SEA DRIED UP, FISHERIES AND THE COMMUNITIES THAT DEPENDED ON THEM COLLAPSED. THE INCREASINGLY SALTY WATER BECAME POLLUTED WITH FERTILISERS AND PESTICIDES. THE DUST BLOWING FROM THE EXPOSED LAKEBED, CONTAMINATED WITH AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS, BECAME A PUBLIC HEALTH HAZARD. THE SALTY DUST BLEW OFF THE LAKEBED AND SETTLED ONTO FIELDS, DEGRADING THE SOIL. CROPLANDS WERE FLUSHED WITH INCREASINGLY LARGER VOLUMES OF RIVER WATER. THE LOSS OF THE MITIGATING INFLUENCE OF SUCH A LARGE BODY OF WATER MADE WINTERS COLDER, AND SUMMERS HOTTER AND DRIER.

IN A LAST-DITCH EFFORT TO SAVE THE LAKE, KAZAKHSTAN CONSTRUCTED THE KOKARAL DAM, SEPARATING THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN PARTS. THE DAM, SPANNING ACROSS 12 KILOMETRES, SEPARATES THE TWO BODIES OF WATER AND PREVENTS A DOWNWARD OUTFLOW. THANKS TO THE KOKARAL, FISHERIES IN THE NORTH HAVE REBOUNDED, IN SPITE OF IT LIMITING THE FLOW INTO THE SOUTH. WATER LEVELS RECOVERED NOTABLY BETWEEN 2005 AND 2006, WITH MINUTE IMPROVEMENTS RECORDED THROUGHOUT THE REMAINDER OF THE TIME PERIOD.

THE ALBUM IS SPLIT INTO THREE PARTS:
PRE-DISASTER, CALAMITY, FUTURE.

RECORDED AT NOMAD MUSIC PRODUCTIONS
PRODUCED BY ROBERT AMES, BEN CORRIGAN
MIXED BY ROBERT SOMA-LEWIS AT AMBIENT WORKS
MASTERED BY DENIS BLACKHAM AT SKYE MASTERING

CONTRABASS FLUTE PERFORMED BY PASHA MANSUROV

DESIGN BY XIAOFEISTUDIO
AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY NASA

credits

released September 4, 2020

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about

Galya Bisengalieva London, UK

Galya's music is deep and atmospheric. The Kazakh-British composer and violinist centres unyielding drones as she weaves across genres like folk, ambient, classical, and electronic music. She made her first two records, EP ONE & TWO, on her own NOMAD Music Productions. In 2020 she released Aralkum on One Little Independent Records.

“Galya…a powerful force in new and primordial music” The Quietus ... more

discography

Polygon

Oct 2023
Hold Your Breath: The Ice Dive

Jul 2022
Aralkum Aralas

Oct 2021
Aralkum

Sep 2020
Brother

Nov 2019
EP TWO

Jun 2019
EP ONE

Nov 2018

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