As far as the theoretical framework of collaborations are concerned, Critikal is one of the most intersting due to its strict logic and consequent performance. And this carries over to the music as well. Critikal is the bonding of four renowned noise-experimentalists and the main condition is, that with each release one of the four constructs music from the sound material provided by the other members. This logic makes for quite diverse array of music that always clearly shows the handwriting of the person in control, but also has heavy and clear routes in the interests of the other three. This time around it is Dmytro Federenko
Review
Critikal – Graphorrhea
The four piece Critikal is an international gathering of sound artists, counting Andrey Kiritchenko, Jeff Surak, Dmytro Fedorenko (Kotra) and Tobias Åström (Militant Fields). For each new project one of the members are responsible transforming all the contributed material. This time the sound conductor is Dmytro Fedorenko. Graphorrhea is the extreme expression of quite challenging rhythms and a cacophony of sound. Sheer noise terror, if you say so, and quite a demanding listen. Some of the parts remind me of the more far out stuff by Andrej Nebb’s Holy Toy back in the day. And there’s even a thread somewhere inside. Others are just….unlistenable. Graphorrhea is 13 tracks at nearly 40 minutes. I dare you.
Copyright
Critikal – Graphorrhea
25 grudnia 2007, w rocznicę rozpoczęcia działalności, w katalogu ukraińskiego Kvitnu pojawił się czwarty materiał. W projekcie Critikal, oprócz prowadzącego label Kotry, udział biorą szefowie dwóch wytwórni, które są współwydawcami albumu. Są to Jeff Surak (Zeromoon), Andrey Kiritchenko (Nexsound) i Tobias A*ström (znany także jako Militant Fields). O ostatecznym kształcie “Graphorrhei” decydował Kotra, który operował materiałem dostarczonym mu przez pozostałych, przekształcał go, układał w utwory, a także dorzucił trochę od siebie (np. grę na basie).
Nie pamiętam, kiedy ostatnio chciałem włączyć płytę znów zaraz po pierwszym odsłuchu. W tym przypadku po części dlatego, że tak mi się podobała, ale też po to, by uważniej prześledzić, co dzieje się w tym gąszczu dźwięków, balansującym chwilami na granicy chaosu. Już pierwszy utwór może przyprawić o zawrót głowy
Courtis/Moglass/Kiritchenko – s/t
Ukrainian sound artist Andrey Kiritchenko is the founder of the Nexsound label; on these two releases he revelas an uncanny knack both for assembling sympathetic collaborators and for alchemising processed guitar and field recordings into something unsetting without bludgeoning the listener with abject noise. His collaboration with Argentinian guitarist Anla Courtis, formerly as Reynols, and Ukrainian post-rockers The Moglass is especially excellent, with the participants swapping, manipulating and augmenting each other
Courtis/Moglass/Kiritchenko – s/t
Ce split à trois ce compose logiquement de trois parties bien distinctes puisque chaque participant se partage équitablement l’album. Le premier tiers se compose de trois titres de Kiritchenko construits à partir de sons d’Anla Courtis. Les trois titres suivants sont produit par The Moglass, là aussi à partir de sources sonores de l’Argentin. Anla Courtis dispose d’un peu plus de temps puisqu’il nous propose quant à lui cinq titres, les trois premiers à partir de sons de The Moglass, les deux suivants à partir de sons de Kiritchenko. Un travail croisé donc, mais sans explorer toutes les combinaisons, et au final un album très centré sur le travail d’Anla Courtis.
Andrey Kiritchenko est ici assez éloigné de son True Delusion. Il tente de rester sur un style ambient, mais les sources sonores fourmillantes de Courtis procurent une certaine complexité à ses titres, flirtant même avec le bruitisme. Mélodies minimales et métalliques, ajout d’une guitare, impression de chaos, voire même de fouillis entre deux accalmies. De la même façon, The Moglass rajoute voix, guitare et clavier aux sources sonores de Courtis. La volonté du groupe est certainement très différente de celle de Kiritchenko, mais le résultat nous apparaît tout de suite mieux maîtrisé. Drones sombres, égrenage de guitare post-rock, timide mélodie électronique, le premier titre est un petit bijou d’ambient sombre et mélodique. Le deuxième morceau opère dans un tout autre registre, misant tout sur l’improvisation, très free, dense, kaléidoscopique. Le dernier titre semble être une synthèse des deux, pour un résultat à situer entre ambient et psychédélisme à la Acid Mothers Temple. Il sera intéressant de voir ce que produit l’Argentin en retour. On retrouve sa patte avec un son globalement assez dur, quelques esquisses mélodiques lorsqu’il réutilise les guitares de The Moglass, une ambient foisonnante et féerique, ou un véritable kaléidoscope sonore. Légèrement plus calme quand il travaille à partir des sons de Kiritchenko, cette dernière partie s’avère très expérimentale.
Difficile à appréhender de part la composition même du disque et sa musique à la fois dense et sans véritable direction, cette collaboration est à réserver aux plus curieux, amateurs d’improvisations et collages sonores. Pour découvrir ces trois excellents artistes, on conseillera avant tout leurs travaux solos.
Fabrice Allard
le 04/12/2006
Courtis/Moglass/Kiritchenko – s/t
An awesome three way collaboration, five way label split, with each artist using mainly sounds contributed by one of the other artists. The three include Andrey Kiritchenko who runs the Nexsound label, Ukrainian abstract drone folk combo the Moglass and Anla Courtis formerly of the mighty Reynols! A strange combination but it definitely works, with each artist twisting and turning the sounds of the others into something completely their own. Kiritchenko uses sounds sourced from Anla Courtis, but also incorporates bandura, guitar, objects and field recordings. His first two tracks are thick glistening snarls of keening high end, ringing chimes, warm processed warble, grinding industrial whir, all coaxed gently from his super limited palette. His final track is our favorite, a super spare cavernous soundscape, constructed from swirling wind like whirls and muted white noise hiss. Over the top is a stumbling damaged, deconstructed guitar melody that scrapes and buzzes and rumbles. So good. The Moglass also use mostly Anla Courtis sounds, introducing guitars, synth and vocals. And as you might imagine, they manage to turn those disparate sounds into dark dronelike dreamscapes of slow oceanic swells, thick buzzing rumble, and an occasional blast of super strange circusy psychedelic freak out, a dizzying collision of scraping strings, creepy falsetto vocals, moans and chants and all sorts of falling apart melodies. Finally, Courtis gets the chance to return the favor, borrowing a little from both the Moglass and Kiritchenko. His first three tracks are assembled using ONLY sounds taken from the Moglass, the results vary, from murky shimmer, to glistening ambience, soft blissed out whir, to sparse skeletal industrial landscapes. The last two tracks again feature Courtis using only sounds borrowed from Kiritchenko, one ends up being a super pare abstract mechanical percussive shuffle, lots of creaks and clatter, sounding a bit like a rainforest, or some sort of giant shower, the final track is wash of fuzzy clang that sort of settles into a dense field of tightly woven chimes and tinkles, amidst a swirling sea of hiss and fuzz. An amazing concept that actually produces some incredibly beautiful results!
Courtis/Moglass/Kiritchenko – s/t
To wydawnictwo wzbudziło we mnie o wiele mniej emocji, niż poprzednia recenzowana w serwisie nexsoundowa produkcja.
Courtis/Moglass/Kiritchenko – s/t
Anla Courtis provides sounds for Andrey Kiritchenko to work on. Anla Courtis also provides sounds for The Moglass to work on. And both provide sounds for Anla Courtis to work on. Obviously, this three way global interchange of sounds and noises has Anla Courtis at the centre (this time), though Kiritchenko starts off followed by the Moglass and ended by Anla Courtis. So much for the basics of this release. What is missing to fill the matrix are the interchanges between The Moglass and Andrey Kiritchenko, but there are no reasons to fill a matrix aside purely formal ones and formality is something that you should forget about completely when confronting this release. Or any release on Nexsound for that matter, because they are all challenging your senses, your hearing restraints and the status of fringe music. What combines the three artists is that they tend to take on sound as something physical, elevating it to a tangible level that works not only through the auditive sense but also via the skin. Even though The Moglass are the most.
Courtis/Moglass/Kiritchenko – s/t
Improvisierte Musik muss nicht per se höchst vertrackt und unsexy klingen. The Moglass aus Kharkiv in der Ukraine sind da eine treffliche Ausnahme, die auf flächige Sounds setzt. Hier zerfließen auf hohem Niveau Gitarren, Synths, Field Recordings und Saxofon. Wo auch gesamplet wird, liegt ein Post-Rock-Verdacht auf der Hand, doch schichtet das Trio die Sounds dermaßen entspannt, das eher von galaktischem Free Noise die Rede sein muss, allerdings die Klangwolke dermaßen grazil und melodienüberfrachtet wirkt, das man geneigt ist, das Wort Lärm wieder zu streichen. Und wenn dann The Moglass nach Kiritchenkos komplizierten Verästelungen Soundquellen von Alan Courtis (Co-Gründer von Reynols, u.a. Releases auf Trente Oiseaux, Lucust etc.) anzapfen, dann schwingt sich der Sound in höhere Sphären auf. Bedrohlich schwären grummelnde Bassloops, doch jubilieren drüber spacige Synth- u Gitarrengeschwader, ein ganzer Droneschwall ergießt sich aus den Boxen. Und dann hört man förmlich ein Glockenläuten, wenn The Moglass Courtis Soundscapes zuliefern. Gibt es schon so etwas wie einen Droneoszillator? Klingt so, dies ist pure Psychedelia! Vielleicht würde Syd Barretts Alterswerke heute ähnlich klingen, wenn …
ALFRED PRANZL
Courtis/Moglass/Kiritchenko – s/t
The Moglass are also present on a three way compilation, together with Andrey Kiritchenko and Anla Courtis (of former Reynols fame). A release by Nexsound, but also on Gold Soundz, Tib Prod and 1000+1 Tilt. This compilation presents various works by each artist/band, but each of them uses sounds from the others. The Moglass pieces are a bit heavier than on ‘Sparrow Juice’, dwelling more distortion and psychedelic sound effects. The result is nice, but doesn’t match up with their own full length CD. Anla Courtis has three tracks in which he works with the sounds of The Moglass, but fails to set a difference with the group’s own sound. Quite spacey and cosmic sound. In the two pieces using Kiritchenko’s material, things are also spacious, but less closed. The best pieces are by Kiritchenko, who takes the various sources from Courtis and The Moglass into the world of the computer treatments and processing, creating with their sounds, a music that bears similar markings, but then entirely in the digital domain. Ambient and glitch related, but both at it’s very best. (FdW)