Antony Kalugin - Marshmallow Moondust (2020) [Hi-Res]

It was first day of July, the world was a dark place - we were all in lockdown, it was on this day that I discovered the beauty of the VSTi Korg Legacy Collection, I dug into it and it became the main inspiration for this entire album.
While there was a gap between Karfagen recordings due to Covid-19 I decided to make a "one man" record and when the first track was written I decided to record real guitars, I have played the guitar since school though it was far from a professional level so it was a new challenge for me in these troubled times - shall I dare to do it! from the very beginning my dear friend Will Mackie was enthusiastic about this idea as he thought that my way of delivering the melodies would compliment the inter-play with the keyboards superbly.
Feeling brave I phoned my friends at "O!" studio here in Kharkiv and they kindly agreed to provide some real guitar gems, so my journey began, I practised and recorded almost every single day.
It was a Gibson Les Paul that together with the Friedman Buxom Betty amplifier that took my breath away! what a beautiful rich mellow tone! it was a surprise and revelation to
use an old cheap Soviet Czech bass "Music Master" that gave a late 60s - early 70s VIE (vocal instrumental ensemble) feeling in places.
I recorded the drums using Groove Agent without any patterns and with everything played by my fingers usually when I do demo tracks for my musicians I record drums this way so I hope by now I`d be quite skilled at it ))
There are some parts and passages where I thought live flute and sax were needed but after various conversations with Will we decided to continue the concept of the "One Man" record in all aspects, whilst they are not "real" in many ways they bring a special warmth and charm to the compositions, I hope you agree.
I added some vocalizations as an instrument and we are pleased it`s blended perfectly with the overall sound helping to bring more power and atmosphere, I've placed some Choir Ensemble lines that helped to shape both the character and mood of the album.
Once again it was Will`s idea to call the album "Marshmallow Moondust" a lovely and unusual play on words.
I explained the main concept to Igor Sokolskiy and within a few weeks I had two fabulous paintings, it`s a sort of adventure of "Little Prince of Light" in the land of
"Scorpions" it`s a 2020 mark on the iron scorpion side - it`s a play on the disaster
of this particular year, which despite all of this life does go on as there`s always a ray of light that will guide you and lead you out of the darkness!
Writing this I`m far from knowing the albums destiny which is in your hands dear listeners... But one thing I can say for sure - I really enjoyed making it, sincerely and truthfully I have done my very best to share this feeling, I hope you can feel it too, Will absolutely fell in Love with it as well, when speaking with him by phone as we do all the time he said that this is the only album from my whole discography that he can`t resist listening to every night, to me it`s the highest praise I can get.