Kotra is ukraine musician Dmytro Fedorenko whose past endeavors have included playing bass in a jazz/noise group, being one half of noise duo Zet and playing alongside such fellow soundshifters as Kim Cascone, Andreas Berthling and Andrey Kiritchenko. The 21 pieces of Dissilient can be heard separately or as a whole. Each is a characteristically different shard of experimentation, loosely held together by Fedorenko’s guitar feedback explorations which, as they progress, become more complex. Titled either “Minus”, “plus” or “Plus/Minus”, each section is a finely cut and polished jewel of noise.
Edwin Pouncey
Review
Kotra – Dissilient
Sperimentazione estrema dalla fredda Ucraina, modulazioni stridule, feedback e dissonanze tonali per la Nexsound (la label di ‘Rural Psychogeography’) che questa volta si prende cura di Dmytro Fedorenko (aka Kotra), un passato in ambito jazz-noise e con il duo denominato Zet, fra il 1996 ed il 1998 attivo negli ambiti vicini a performance, video ed interactive-art (in quel di Kyiv), con diverse partecipazioni in compilation, sei precedenti album e collaborazioni di pregio (a fianco di Kim Cascone, Andreas Berthling e Andrey Kiritchenko). Un progetto questo di ‘Dissilient’ che nulla concede all’ascolto, senza mediazione alcuna ad agitare frequenze metalliche, distorsioni anche aggressive, assieme a microsuoni ed ispide emergenze. Sonorita volutamente poco comunicative, fin dai titoli delle tracce che sommano ben quindici incisioni denominate ‘Minus’ e tre ‘Plus’, piu una traccia muta di 32 secondi, ‘Zero’ ed altre due ‘Plus/Minus’ e ‘Minus /Plus’, giusto a render ancor piu indistinta la decifrazione di un codice sottostante (che gli studi in matematica alla National University Of Ukraine fanno pero sospettare). Integralista e coraggioso ‘Dissilient’ e un vero assalto alle sinapsi intasate dal pop (comunque di difficilissima fruizione).
Aurelio Cianciotta
Kotra – Dissilient
Dmytro Fedorenko’s project Kotra is already known among the insiders inelectronic music. Not just because he co-operated with Andreas Barthling,Kim Cascone and Nexsound label manager Andrey Kiritchenko, or because heplayed live at the Club transmediale Festival, the Kryptonale, Emaf orNetmage. Dmytro Fedorenko released six albums, which left quite animpression behind.Kotra investigates the possibilities of precise digital found sound. Heworks with short frequencies, most of the time high-pitched, which comeand go irregularly. Different combinations and lengths are tried and thesounds are manipulated.This way a noise palette is created. Some sounds remind of morse codes,submarine sonar echoes, or ticking clocks, whereas other moments can becompared with Tom Hamilton’s London fix album.It’s fascinating what Kotra does with his found noises. Each time he seemsto explore a different approach and technique, thus creating a differentatmosphere during the 21 short and slightly inaccessible tracks.Kotra has decided to head in a new direction, though this is just asinteresting as his material on previous releases, such as Stir mesh andFourfold symmetry.