These seemingly abstract and jazzy improvisations of the Viennese instrumental quartet, Tupolev, penetrate the walls of my kitchen mixing in with the sounds of falling snow and slowly stewing dinner. With Peter Holy on the vibrant grand piano, Alexandr Vatagin on the upright bass and cello, Lukas Scholler behind the electronics, and David Schweighart on the drums, Tower of Sparks rises in the air with the vapors of warm Sunday mornings, walking the melodic scale of keys, strings and lively beats. Recorded without metronomes, the groups create music relying solely on each other, breathing in unison the rubber band of rhythms and notes. This is the second full length release from Tupolev, following Memories Of Björn Bolssen released in 2008 by Valeot as well. Celebrating the label's 10th release, Alexandr Vatagin continues to deliver exceptional music to discerning ears and minds. The 28 minutes across eight tracks present a truly refreshing and rare treat. The album cover art is also worth mentioning here: it depicts an old photograph of people swimming near the waterfalls, with that 70's, rusty, window pane filter. Also check out the debut Tupolev EP released by 12rec in April of 2005. You can download the latter for free from archive.org