On this lengthy double-CD album, Coh's Ivan Pavlov deviates from his usual electronic synthesis and pulsing rhythm glide to instead set about on an electro-acoustic study of four different stringed instruments: guitar, saz, oud and piano (piano being percussion on strings, but yeah).

Having released much of his work through Raster-Noton, the Mego label and Coil's Eskaton imprint, there's an established sound we've come to expect of Pavlov. The distinctively brusque, often noisy approach to sculpting audio that dominates much of his early/mid ‘00s albums is largely absent throughout Strings and instead, the focus is given to the titular acoustic and electric instruments. Guitar and piano contend for prominence as the dynamic center of these pieces, but the space and austerity of the compositions never place them in anything that resembles traditional framing. The result is quite unlike any work originating from either contemporary electronic music or the older academic and improv traditions in electroacoustic music.

Thanks to the beautiful, typically elaborate Raster-Noton packaging combined with Pavlov's most detailed and adventurous foray into electronic/acoustic composition to date, Strings will likely stand as his 'auteur' album for some time. To top this he'd have to create whole new genres of sound, as Strings is less than a half step away from the genuinely unknown. Advanced, beguiling, beautiful, original stuff.