Anthony Morra again..."The Tsar of Love and Techno"

I thought the 'Constellations' novel of Anthony Morra was very striking and I immediately ordered his other book, "The Tsar of Love and Techno" from the Library. I was again impressed by the quality of the writing, although I should add that there were times in reading the book when I began to feel that the development was somewhat tedious.
     The book is almost a novel, but the title page says "Stories." There are nine stories, with different first person narrators, and they are loosely linked together by an 1843 painting--"Empty Pasture in Afternoon"--by an obscure Russian painter. In a rather cutesy fashion the first four stories are labeled 'Side A,' the last four 'Side B,' and the fifth 'Intermission.' The settings of the stories range from Leningrad 1937, Kirovsk--a mining centre inside the Arctic circle 1937 to 2013, Grozny in Chechnya in 2003, the Chechen Highlands 2000, and St. Petersburg 2011-2013. The final chapter, 'The End' is set in outer space, year unknown, and--frankly--it did very little for me.
      In many respects the construction of the book--with its time shifting--resembles the technique Morra uses in 'Constellations.' And it also reflects his intense interest in events in Chechnya.
In the initial story a failed portrait painter is engaged by the Stalin regime to erase political dissidents from official images and art works, beginning with his disgraced brother. When an antique painting of a field with a dacha appears on his desk he begins to draw his brother in the pictures he censors. This picture is then one of the threads that join together the cast of characters in the other stories--a legendary ballerina, her granddaughter, a retired gangster, a soldier imprisoned in a well in Chechnya--and a mix-tape of techno music also plays a role in more than one story.
As with 'Constellations' there is a long list of background sources (Morra mentions ten books) and it is clear that a great deal of research went into the writing of these stories.
     The New York Times reviewer  mentioned a number of what he called 'missteps' but goes on to say:
" ....these missteps barely register in the wake of a book this ambitious and fearless, one that offers so much to enjoy and admire." My view too...