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Electronic Sound DECEMBER 2021 - by Isaak Lewis-Smith

SISSI RADA: NANODIAMOND

Featuring production credits from Brian Eno, Mouse On Mars' Andi Toma and guest vocals from Greek synth pioneer Lena Plantonos, this is the fourth album by Athens-born, Berlin-based harp[ist and electronic avanteur, Sissi Rada.

Collage-like, puckish and cinematic, these thoughtful, pastoral electronic tapestries bring to mind early 1980s avant/ambient duo Deux Filles, but Rada's mesmeric operatic singing and twinkling harp add a unique acoustic dimension. That's clear from the shuffling beats of the opener Karaburun Peninsula to the fragile-as-porcelain harp on Blueback Tomb - imagine a sort bof Hellenic Björk and you're getting halfway close.

But through imaginative composition and canny sequencing, Rada's sonic idiosyncrasies stand out, as on the sudden keyboard improvisation of 81948 (2000 OM69), which was apparently written while messing around on one of Eno's prized studio machines. Nanodiamond is an album that's really out there, but it's an abstract gem that's hugely intoxicating.