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| Ear Polution Andrey Kiritchenko-Kniga Skazok There is a thriving electronic community in Ukraine and at the center of it is the Nexsound label. Andrey Kiritchenko is the one of the rising stars on the label and Ad Noiseam -- Germany's upstart one-man operation which is turning more and more heads with each release -- has the fortunate opportunity to release one of Kiritchenko's first full-length records under his own name. Unlike the more experimental work which he has done under the names of Nihil Est Excellence and Sidharta, Kniga Skazok is a precisely designed work of glitch-tinged ambience. The title of the record apparently references the idea of fairy tales transformed into music and these ten tracks are bedtime stories which contain no words, just pictures built from sound. Imagine Boards of Canada-style innocence and wonderment infused with the Germanic metronome of the click 'n' cut movement of Force Inc or Mille Plateaux. The rhythm of "Myth02" is a pair of hospital monitors, bleeping and chirping in some abstract time signature while tiny layers of fabric rustle in the background. Other elements sneak in like the woodland animals do when storytellers gather their audiences around the campfire. Shhh, children, listen. You can hear your hearts beat in time with the motion of the story; you can hear the tiny pitter-patter of your nervous systems as you subsume yourself into the mystery of the tale. "Sleeping Beauty," with its repetitive melodies and whispering hits of static and vinyl crackle, sounds like a collaboration between Thomas Brinkmann and Stefan Betke (of Pole), while "Airless" moves like vapor trails streaming across a broad expanse of dawn-fingered sky. These are songs for CGI fairies, perfectly rendered digital pixies which shiver in and out of the scene, unhindered by laws of physics. "Cheers, My Fairy" is filled with the sound of their tiny lace wings, chirping and ringing in the crisp, unhurried air. "Skazka" is the ambient sounds of the dragon's cave as our hero sneaks in past the slumbering beast, his passage through the maze of gold and precious jewels lit by the glittering reflection of dragon fire from the myriad towers of golden riches. I love records which ask you to bring the full force of your imagination to them; music which causes me to empty my head and dream is the drug which I crave. Andrey Kiritchenko's Kniga Shazok is a sublime slice of pure fantasy, a minimalist never-ending story which becomes infinite as I touch it. The precise compositions and delicate interplay between glitch, minimal techno, and ambient structures has endless possibilities, endless variations and avenues of exploration. "Siren" is a fierce creature, a stern tale of movement and shadows, rhythm and flickering light. It begins slowly, carefully sliding into your consciousness before multiplying frenetically, glowing and sparking with sunbeam dappled energy. For this track alone, the record is worth your time. The fact that "Siren" is surrounded by nine equally stunning works makes Kniga Skazok that much more masterful. Highly recommended. -Mark Teppo |
| MusicBoom Andrey Kiritchenko-Kniga Skazok Un digipack cromaticamente accattivante racchiude il debutto su Ad Noiseam di Andrey Kiritchenko, artista ukraino, dedito ad una scorrevole ed eterea forma di elettronica. "Kriga Skazok" è composta da dieci electro-song tutte simili nella struttura e nelle atmosfere. Una alternanza di noise's outbursts forma una impalpabile base ritmica sulla quale si va a sovrapporre un dilatato tappeto melodico, generato dalle keyboards, e una evenascente trama di samples. Le composizioni godono di un mood particolarmente rilassante e l'album scorre via piacevolmente, senza alterazioni o camabiamenti all'interno del 'climax' generato. Non è facile trovare un preciso target per la proposta di Kiritchenko; essa potrebbe interessare agli amanti della ambient più leggera, timidamente contaminata dall'elettronica, o a coloro che, seguondo la corrente più intimista e rilassante della scena electro europea, hanno trovato nel catalogo della Ad Noiseam già molte formazioni convincenti. "Kriga Skazok" è un lavoro gradevole e leggero, che propone delle electro-song forse troppo simili tra loro e sicuramente non originali, ma decisamente immediate e - nel complesso - interessanti. |
| Twilight-zone Andrey Kiritchenko-Kniga Skazok Extremely polished, this new album by Andrey Kiritchenko, a pleasant outlook on rare ambient abstractions and inspired electronic projections. Ethereal frenzy organic explorations characterized by creative micro-transmissions of blips, drones and noisescapes; sounds supported by variable and eclectic click' n' breaks beats, moderate dynamism and sparkling warm dawns. 10 tracks refined in every detail, a dazzling technique and an unreachable creativity. Multi-shaped probes cross protean synthetic spaces in "Kniga Skazok", guided by seductive basses and sinusoidal rhythms. Sidereal settings, created just to stabilize and guide the listener's trip, moderating one's tensions and developing stimulating perceptions. The author climbs on the highest steps of experimental avant-garde, directing frequencies and tones with perfect balance and a bright imagination, an impeccable contribution to the new electronica lovers. Andrey brings on Autechre and Beefcake's intuitions, upgrading and brightening tonalities, visions and executions; a satisfactory result. Unforgettable superimpositions - shining lightness. |
| matierebrute Andrey Kiritchenko-Kniga Skazok Andrey Kiritchenko est un serieux activiste de la scene electronique ukrainienne, avec ses nombreux projets (Nihil Est Excellence, Critikal, Sidhartha), ses collaborations avec de grands noms comme, entre autres, Kim Cascone, Andreas Berthling, Francisco Lopez, ou encore son implication dans le label Nexsound. Il signe sur Ad Noiseam son premier album sous son nom civil apres quelques apparitions comme sur un sampler du label Zeromoon. Le concept de cet album est de mettre un son sur les contes de notre enfance, ceux-la memes avec les fameux cliches de la princesse esseulee, de grand mechant loup et compagnie: A l'instar de ces histoires, les morceaux de Kniga Skazok (qui si je m'en refere a mes connaissances un peu rouillees en langues slaves voudrait tout simplement dire "le livre de contes":) sont dynamiques et agreables a ecouter, constitues des boucles rythmiques feutrees, fa§on clicks & cuts, de jeux de frequences precis et de fines melodies aux subtiles evolutions. Le tout m'apparait lumineux, calme et affichant une grande serenite, un peu a la fa§on d'un apres-midi d'ete ou la sieste a l'ombre se r©v¨le etre la meilleure activite. A noter que cinq nouveaux titres d'Andrey Kiritchentko suivis de remix de Brian Lavelle, Marcus Maeder, Scanner, 833-45, Kotra, Violet, The Moglass, Kim Cascone, Cray et Freiband sortiront en cd sous le nom de Bees & Honey chez Zeromoon, en Juillet 2003. YH |
| Angbase Andrey Kiritchenko-Kniga Skazok Andrey Kiritchenko has been making electronic music in his native Ukraine since the mid-90s. His Nexsound label has issued a handful of CDs and CDRs showcasing Ukrainian and international artists. "Kniga Skazok", a beautifully packaged CD on the German Ad Noiseam label is Kiritchenko's take on glitchy atmospheric music using rhythmic pops and clicks. Andrey's touch is a bit less stark than, say, Carsten Nicolai or Ryoji Ikeda- some swooshy background synth-like noises fill out the mix. The first four tracks are marred by some two-note "synth" melodies that sound a bit out of place next to the morse-code bleep beats and scratchy loops. The subsequent tracks, like "Put", which might be my favorite, keep the focus on the intricately textured echoed blips and glitches that hover over deep recurring bass tones. The bass tones are deep, rich and very clean, setting up twitchy 4/4 grooves over which the tracks develop. The best of these elegant tracks are on a level somewhere between Pan sonic and Richie Hawtin, but with a more "human" and less stridently minimal feel. |
| Ambientrance Andrey Kiritchenko-Kniga Skazok The premise of Kniga Skazok involves the fairy tale aspects of electronic music... I don't remember childhood stories being this edgily percussive! From Ukraine, Andrey Kiritchenko interweaves magically obscure essences with e-beats aplenty! The ethereal sweeps and buzzing atoms of Parable are dominated by thickly sputtering beats and crickety accompaniment. A bleeping dreamvortex spirals widely across Sleeping beauty, though who could nap amongst all those semi-rhythmic thumps, rough blurts and gritty scrapes... not to say there's not beauty in there. With its lopsided rhythm (like an off-balance dryer tumbling, as performed by static and bass...) Airless (9:36) emits shimmery vibes into a continual throbbing backdrop. Spunky though obtuse dance music for the fragmented, Put' snaps, crackles, pops and more, in its own fashion. In Siren, the call is that of a dense bass miasma heavily purring beneath a stucco-spattering of stippled bit-beats. rex (1:43) flutters and pans in buzzing shards strewn all about. Spastic thuds batter rivulets of bone-tickling lows in closing chapter, feja. This is my introduction to the art of Andrey Kiritchenko (readings indicate that his "other" sounds are even rougher?!). Here, his bedtime stories are shot up with heavy doses of broken rhythms... not a bad thing, just a little jarring when expecting "fairy tale" music! With experimental tones, textures, and of course, disjointed percussion, Kniga Skazok reinterprets fables in an entirely new way... wild! |
| Triggerfish Andrey Kiritchenko-Kniga Skazok Auch wenn man hierzulande nicht viel darüber weiß, so hat auch die Ukraine ihre eigene Electronica/Experimental Szene. Ihr bekanntester Vertreter und auch hierzulande im Besitz einer gewissen Populärität ist Andrey Kiritchenko. Nach der letzten Gemeinschaftsarbeit mit Andreas Berthling und Kim Cascone hat sich Kiritchenko für sein aktuelles Projekt wieder alleine an seinen Rechner gesetzt und sich der musikalischen Umsetzung des Themas "Märchen" gewidmet. Dass die akustische Beschreibung von Märchenwäldern, Schlössern und Prinzessinnen nicht in gothischem Kitsch enden muss, wird bereits im Eröffnungstrack Parable klargestellt: Schaben, Klicken, Kratzen, sirrende Töne und ein unaufdringlicher Basslauf, der alles zusammenhält. Wem die experimentelleren Veröffentlichungen auf Andre Vaz's Background Label im Ohr hängengeblieben sind, wird sich auch hier schnell heimisch fühlen. Dennoch ist Kniga Skazok unterm Strich kein Minimal Techno Album, sondern bewegt sich eher primär zwischen den Polen Click'n Cuts (Pneumatic/Airless, Put, Siren) und ambienten Tönen. Gemeinsam ist allen Nummern ihr wohltemperiertes Klangbild - wer nach warmen Soundlandschaften wie auf Oval's Genreklassiker "Systematisch" sucht, wird hier für den oftmals unterkühlten Charakter vieler Acts der Click Bewegung entschädigt. Und da das Auge mithört, präsentiert sich diese Veröffentlichung auch optisch sehr ansprechend auf gewohnt hohen Ad Noiseam Niveau. |
| Ultra WWW Magazine Andrey Kiritchenko-Kniga Skazok Classy new electronica by this Ukranian who combines original rhythms and pulses (which might remind you a bit of early Autechre / Higher Intelligence Agency electricity) with a spacey sense of estrangement which shuttles the old Soyoez straight to "Solaris"... It's an oldfashioned journey along familiar lines, but it's a pleasant one because there's so much cool details in the landscape... Mr. Kiritchenko, who has worked with Kim Cascone and Andreas Berthling, incidentally, has an original voice, and hence "Kniga Skazãk" is a welcome breath of fresh air in a genre that's suffered heavily from the IDM overkill of the past years (see also U0304). There's no bedroom would-be-artist's knobtwiddling here. More nervous than EU, and less nostalgic, but just as sensuous. (pv) |
| Nezzwerk Andrey Kiritchenko-Kniga Skazok andrey kiritchenko is an incredibly prolific musician, known not only for the work under his own name, but also for his nihil est excellence and sidhartha projects. kniga skazok is a tricky work; the idea hidden in the title is most alluring one, referencing similar continuity in previously released 00:00; the technical details are most exquisite, further improving on the blend of refined microsound with deep melodic touch. in other words, all the details that made 00:00 such a success are in place, but the moment you relax and try to grasp the atmosphere of the album, it dissolves, fails to grab you. at some point, after a track or two, the music and the mood seem to drift apart, the beats and the melodies are separated more and more, disconnected, loosing (and losing) the grip on the listener. perhaps it is the perceived simplistic nature of 00:00 that allowed it to maintain a hypnotic feel throughout the album; abandoning it in favor of technicalities is an all-too-familiar step that many musicians take during their evolution. somewhere along these line a visceral, physical nature of the sound has been lost. 00:00 for me became one of those examples of glitch that I always look for, possessing angularity and precision of rigid beats, the tension of fractured noises and pauses, and the overall feeling of depth and space, the cinematic darkness that is immediately captivating. kniga skazok is a lot more of a "musicians music," especially viewed in context of his earlier work; the details, the "craft" attains the significance that in reality is outside the realm of art that I am interested in. I might be a bit overzealous, being overly conscious in my attempts of being objective; come to think of it, kniga skazok is still a lot closer to my ideal of "aestheticized" glitch than dozens of other "renowned" efforts in this direction. from this perspective, this album definitely deserves your attention. |
| Phosphor Andrey Kiritchenko-Kniga Skazok One of Ukraine`s most active electronic musicians must be Charkov based Andrey Kiritchenko. He regularly releases own work and participates in electronic music collaborations with other electronic musicians all over the world. Although strongly based in electronic music the projects he is involved in have a diverse character, and range from experimental and micro-sound to atmospheric and ambient. One of his recent releases is based on the fairy tale Kniga Skazok. Not only is it his longest production to date, it?s also one of his most accessible. This release has strong ambient influences, and arrangements are more subtle and worked over. Most of the material has been produced by the artist himself. It?s obvious that arrangements and sound of Kniga Skazok are strongly computer based. The instruments used here, well to what extent can still be spoken of instruments in the classic sense of meaning, if they are mainly software based, force the composer to certain solutions. When putting together loops and beats and sounds from a variety of software instruments a certain skilfulness and handiness is needed to be able to create a coherent song. Andrey Kiritchenko succeeds very well in this. The complexity and diversity of what is achieved with a relatively simple software based set-up is impressive. Whatever simple means may be used, Andrey Kiritchenko succeeds in drawing your attention from beginning to end. Each track has a lively structure. A pulsating and, often more or less randomly, evolving base line along with rhythmic drum sounds with added rhythmic content formed by clicks, ticks, glitches and bleeps and beautiful ambient structures and fills, form the basis of almost all the compositions on this full length CD. Often clicks and ticks are circling through the stereo field, giving the sound a very contemporary feeling. The album starts with the track Parable which opens strong with a catchy rhythm, but seems a bit to loose it?s focus towards the end. In the following tracks the rhythmic parts are much more diffuse and built up out of different subtle beats that often seem to exist apart from each other and which give the songs a layered character. In a very clever way beats and sounds are added and extracted. Often songs, like the 4th track, Pnue matic/airless, with Hassel esque brassy and revolving background fills, bass lines and structure, obtain a very ambient character. There?s also a lot of question and answer play between the various bass and drum/percussion sounds. And for instance in track 6, Cheers, My Fairy, drum samples are used together with a pulsating base of string and bell textures. Towards the end of the record emphasis is more strongly put on rhythm. Track 7, Siren, is 2/4 rhythmically based. And track 8, Skazka/svetlo has loosely arranged rhythmic structures. All in all this record is a good example of what can be achieved with the since a few years available software based and modular synthesis. It?s a fine and tasteful blend of sonic and rhythmic experiment combined with ambient and esoteric sounds. |
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