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Radx - Calm Vortex (from Reverse Acceleration of Dragons, 12th Isle 2025)

Reviews 396: Radx

I have written about X.Y.R. somewhat extensively here on The Sun Lounge, and in reading those posts, it is clear that I really admire the music of Vladimir Karpov. X.Y.R.’s transportive amalgams of psychedelic ambient, ritualistic kosmische, and fantasy fourth world create a sort of sonic safe harbor for me…a place of spiritual serenity and mysterious magic that I can return to again and again whenever I need a place for balance, calm, or imaginative introspection. So given that the first half of 2025 was a relatively quiet period for the artist, I was immensely excited to learn Karpov released a new album on 12th Isle during the latter part of the year, where he worked in a somewhat rare collaboration with Vlad Dobrovolski under the name Radx.

Karpov's creative companion here—Vlad Dobrovolski—is himself a longtime explorer of experimental ambience, out-there sound collage, avant jazz, exotic world music, and modern new age, who has been involved in a wide range of solo and cooperative works…things like his multi-part Natursymphony series, his improvisational quartet Kurvenschreiber, or his efforts with Ilya Sadovsky as Piam. And perhaps most relevantly to the current discussion, he has put out music on 12th Isle (among other labels) as part of his S A D project together with Vasily Stepanov. So him and Karpov are quite at home together on 12th Isle—with the latter artist having also reissued X.Y.R.’s El Dorado there back in 2017—and with their Reverse Acceleration of Dragons LP as Radx, they have contributed another stellar release to the label’s ever expanding and increasingly captivating catalog of forward thinking and left-of-center ambient albums.

Sonically, Reverse Acceleration of Dragons circulates a balanced center-point between the work of both Karpov and Dobrovolski…while at times spreading out into surprising territories of heavenly radiance and wondrous melodic warmth. Vintage synthesizers and etheric electronics create multi-hued layers of mystifying haze that flux and flow while field recordings add naturalistic tone and texture. Sequencer star-trails dance in a dreamworld where brushstrokes of guitar paint the mix in majestic colors of both sunshine and melancholia, and exotic environments of forest, fog, and sea are evoked via sorcerous weavings of sample and soundscape. The album finds inspiration in the work of Kim Cascone…founder of the legendary experimental chillout label Silent…and I sense definite connections to Heavenly Music Corporation, and especially his collaborative Unidentified Floating Ambience compilation with Don Falcone and Paul Neyrinck. As well, the album takes further conceptual inspiration—and its dragon based title—from the literature of Michael Swanwick.

Radx - Reverse Acceleration of Dragons (12th Isle, 2025) On the A-side, “Calm Vortex” opens with chord swells constructed from deep sea ambience and harmonious organ hum, with popping bubbles and submarine sparkles adding color to the stereo spectrum. A sampled voice describes island exploration under echo while sunstrokes of acoustic guitar wander into a gentle journey of transcendence…these soft solar solos and threads of tremolo picked filigree. Sandy snare taps sit under subsuming reverberation to form a semblance of a rhythm, and eventually aqueous synth voices sing through it all…the vibe radiant and resplendent. “Ovgo’s Etheric Mind” comes next, with its hazing layers of tonal buzz, and vibrato-effected laser waves descending and decaying. Rumbling and pulsing basslines refuse to conform, and naturalistic tonalities with a lulling aura intermingle with bleeping blooping textures from some futuristic beyond. Lofi rustles and scrapes dominate the background, and swells of somber subsonics carry Formanta arps that incandesce like strands of glowing gemstones…though it’s as if everything is seen through a faded and fuzzy filter…like degraded filmstock, or like the warping effect of a half-forgotten memory.

The last track on the A-side…and perhaps the highlight of the album (at least for me)…is “Heavenly Shepherd of SIlence,” in which gentle percolations of synthesis and bubbling arp patterns dance and dazzle amidst insect buzz and looping bird chatter. Feelings of joyous ebullience and wistful wonder intertwine, and flutey tones blow into the mix to create something that sounds like a slightly more 2nd wave post-rock interpretation of Ishinohana, with hints of Hatchback as well. And eventually, further sequential structure of towering size and scope push the song towards the infinite expanses of a forever blue sky. Tremolo-picked guitar patterns add a further sense of epic scope and forlorn fantasy, and my mind connects to prime era Yume Bitsu and also Explosions in the Sky. There is that same sort of emotional catharsis achieved here, but Radx still retain their connections to meditative minimalism and ambient introversion, with the track never exploding into a cliched climax, and instead riding astral currents of soul-soothing serenity, wherein syncopated synths sparkle like outer-dimensional crystals and beauteous guitars waver under dream-layers of delay that ebb and flow like some ocean of luminous light.

The B-side starts with the epic “Gaia Hypothesis” and chime strands sparkling around spiritual sirens as they sing from some faraway fantasy island. Exotic electronics evoke both electrified coconuts knocking against each other as well as clipped pan-pipe sequences, and a delirium sway develops with equatorial atmospherics wafting and wavering like a tropical mirage. Of all the tracks, the vibe here most closely evokes the work of X.Y.R., with an organic daydream dub throb that’s not too far of from something you might find on Tourist perhaps…but everything is taken even further towards a celestial seaside dreamworld, wherein psychotropic synth leads play sunburnt squelch solos that blend and blur into the balmy background ether. And the whole thing seems to flow to a rhythm while simultaneously hovering in place…like infinite motion as eternal stasis…a hallucinatory island groove stuck forever in time. The closing track is “Liminal Space” with its mellotronic orchestrations and chirping wavefronts of insectoid sound. Starless sequences join mutating animal calls, old school cinematic fx, ringing bells, and symphonic shadows as an almost Carpenter-esque bass arp prowls through the layers of sonic mysterium, and everything slowly pulses…almost as if breathing. Decaying delay repetitions and cello bow strokes billow into the void, and bug-sourced buzz and birdsong are manipulated into an abstract body of psychedelic static, with wild winds phasing in counterpoint, and alien liquids dropping onto hyper-elastic surfaces.

(images from my personal copy)

Radx - Gaia Hypothesis (from Reverse Acceleration of Dragons, 12th Isle 2025)

The coolest thing in #otakon2018 is this Fallout van! Just look at all the awesome deco and merch it has! The booth also sells chem replicas such as #mentats and #radx #Fallout #vaulttec #newcaliforniarepublic #falloutvan #falloutfanatic #vaultboy #chems

#otakon2018 #mentats #radx #fallout #vaulttec #newcaliforniarepublic #falloutvan #falloutfanatic #vaultboy #chems

Big Daddy

Watching "Big Daddy." Classic! "That's a shitload of piss!" It is on RADX.

#Big Daddy #RADX #Adam Sandler #Cole and Dylan Sprouse #Cole Sprouse #Dylan Sprouse

Boundless with Paul “Turbo” Trebilcock

Simon and Turbo are out to conquer the world's most extreme competitions: 7-day ultra marathons, 32 mile open ocean paddle-boarding contests and cliffside bicycle races are just the beginning.

Photos & Words by Paul Trebilcock

Cram, race, recover that's how I have spent eight months of each of the last few years, and have just begun another. This is my third season traveling this beautiful planet racing in some of the toughest endurance races we can find. I guess you could say I'm good at a bunch of sports: running, biking, paddling but I'm working on mastering the art of suffering. All this in the guise of a docudrama that follows a few athletes in these pursuits.

I am flying out of Toronto on an evening 8 hour flight to Europe. I am trying to squeeze in a few hours of sleep before hitting yet another city where we will arrive 5 hours into the future. It's noon by the time we get to the hotel loading and unloading a boatload of bags. Nine people, camera and race gear, we have a lot to take care of. As our producer sometimes says "it's like herding cats".

We arrive at a quaint European hotel room for a shower and quick lay down, before we're out the door to find a good spot to lunch and start the hectic shooting schedule. On this particular day we hit the harbour area for some pre-race interviews and some beauty shots. After a late dinner we rush back to the hotel to hit the sack to grab a good night' sleep. We get up the next day to take another two flights with a three hour layover to a more remote part of the world. The majority of these races are held in remote areas.

Not everyone gets to see areas like these. This particular one has a population of just over 5 thousand people, colourful wood framed houses perched on a rugged rocky oceanside landscape. I am one of the fortunate ones who gets to see these remote areas of the earth. We will now spend a few days getting pre-race shooting, gear checks and try to rest and eat when we can.

It's race day. For a multi-day races there are always guidelines for gear most of which is done at home, but last minute checks have to be done and documented, pre race interviews, a few butterflies and then hit the start line. In a stage race it's all about pacing yourself, you can get caught in the moment and push a little too hard which can cause troubles in the days to follow. We are definitely competitive but at the end of the day it's about delivering content for a good show.

After the stage we end at the camp, fuel up, do some interviews to recap the day's events, then hang with the other participants and make new friends. These races attract a wide variety of people from all walks of life, usually with common interests. I'm a people person; I love this part of the race. Time to hit the hay and get ready for another stage tomorrow. Stage races can last anywhere from 2 to 7 days. This particular one is 3.

We finish the race and attend the post race events and continue the interview process. We'll spend a day or two after to gather the final footage we need and then recovery begins.

We spend the 36 hours on the return home with several flights and layovers, sometimes this can be tougher than the race. I get home, return to my lovely wife and two awesome girls and return to my day job this time for two weeks. We then begin the process again. Time to cram for the next race. We'll continue this for 10 episodes this year.

Paul "Turbo" Trebilcock is a host on the television show "Boundless" which can be found on the "Esquire" network in the U.S and "RadX" in Canada. Take a first look at BOUNDLESS, premiering Sept. 25th here: http://esq.tv/1Gknd6v and follow along 140 characters at a time on his Twitter @Brooklyn_North