Review

Andrey Kiritchenko – Chrysalis (Loop)

This Ukrainian artist hailing from Kharkov began in 1991 as a singer and songwriter in a rock band. In the 90s had notoriety as a television showman and radio DJ, and was a major promoter of electronic music with his Critikal, Sidhartha and Nex projects. In 2000 he founded the Nexsound label. He has a large catalog and has collaborated with major artists such as Anla Courtis, Francisco López, Kim Cascone, among others.
Kiritchenko combines acoustic and digital aesthetics. Recently his track ‘Fly Above Where Leaves Do Not’ is included on the compilation ‘The Wire Tapper’ # 30 which comes out with the October issue of the ‘The Wire’ magazine.
‘Chrysalis’ is composed, produced and mixed by Andrey Kiritchenko during 2011-2012 acompannied by guest musician, Artem Amstibovskiy on clarinet, Gendel Krechkovskiy on double bass and Natalia Dudynska on violin.
I think this is the first time that Kiritchenko puts more emphasis on acoustics aesthetics, expressed with glimpses jazz and contemporary music. Indeed, this interesting proposal opens new perspectives in terms of finding new textures, especially with percussion (drums, xylophone, marimba) that gives a fresh and warm sound.

Guillermo Escudero
October 2012

Loop

v/a – Rural Psychogeography

From the independent republic of Ukraine, situated in East Europe and that belonged until 1991 of the ex-USSR, comes this interesting experimental compilation released by Nexsound – under the direction of Andrey Kiritchenko – with artists from Germany, Argentina, Austria, Spain, United States, France, New Zealand, Russia and Ukraine. The concept of this compilation deal with the sounds obtained from different rural places, is as well as Geof Dugan presents field recordings with people walking, voices of children, a truck motor that approaches and soon it moves away recorded at the Otsego Lake, near New York, then the Spanish Francisco Lopez exposes a dynamics of average rank with noisy textures but that does not arrive at high ranks that he registered in the Argentine Patagonia. In as much the Argentinean (Alan) Courtis – ex-Reynols – showcase wind recordings from Antofagasta de la Sierra in the Argentine province of Catamarca. Jason Kahn uses field recordings and rain returns to be a common element. Andrey Kiritchenko improvised with an acoustic guitar, clicks and diverse noises inspired by Babal, located in the province of Kharkov, where Nexsound is based. Tomas Korber and the German Gunter Muller work on a noisy recording of Roland Hausheer that made in the Chinese capital Beijing. Lunt from Paris (interviewed on loop) provides with guitar improv and drones inspired on the Matabiau metro station in Toulouse. The Ukrainian trio The Moglass dedicates the track ‘Koktebel’ to a place with this name located in the mountainous peninsula of Crimea, Ukraine. The distorted and environmental guitars remember me of the devastating places that Third Eye Foundation’s music. From Austria, Radian produces static, granular decomposition and Tom Carter (Charalambides) and Vanessa Arn establishes a dialogue with guitars improvisation that suggests images of the desert of Mojave to which it is dedicated. The French Martin Tetreault combines crackles and noises and the New Zealander Rosy Parlane insist with long layers of tones that he slightly changes of frequencies. The sound artist (Ralph) Stenbruchel makes microscopic sounds via digital means, thus also makes the North American Kim Cascone on a dark atmosphere. The Ukrainian Dmytro Fedorenko, aka Kotra, is inspired by the Lybid river of the capital of the Ukraine, Kiev, for which mixes different piano samples to finish with an acute and deafening sound. Finally, a live and quite noisy performance of Kouhei & Freiband at the festival of ‘Gekeerde Wal’ from the Dutch city of Nijmegen, was edited by Franz de Waard, head of Staalplaat. More info. en nexsound.
Guillermo Escudero, May 2004

Loop

the Moglass/Tom Carter & Vanessa Arn-Snake – Tongued, Swallow-Tailed

This split CD comprised the collaboration between Tom Carter [Charalambides] and Vanessa Arn who contributed with two long experimental pieces ‘Mojave’ and ‘Atmananda’ and on the other hand, The Moglass with three cuts ‘Untitled (Tawny Owl)’, ‘The Map (Webfootprinted)’ and ‘Kakerlakische Kakerlak’. Carter and Arn’s work already had been included on V/A, ‘Rural Psychogeography’ [Nexsound, 2004], whereas the Ukrainian trio The Moglass has several productions in this label based in the capital of Kiev.’Mojave’ and ‘Atmananda’ propose to play flourishes on the lap steel guitars, with effects, sustain reverb and notes are added to it that shape in the form of drones. From time to time synth lines although rather is a generator of sounds of custom built synth called triwave tone that create an environmental base. In relation with The Moglass they create real magnetism by the atmospheres produced, their guitars that almost sing introduce the listener in a very deep space and some bells resonate in the vast horizon that creates this post-industrial trio in their brilliant ‘Untitled (Tawny Owl)’. With a classical intro comprised of samples of violins the guitar reminds me of Throbbing Gristle. ‘Kakerlakische Kakerlak’ is has an Arabic air with twinkling guitars quite melodic and apart from the wall of noise of their previous tracks. This is an album where we can find noise and melody really blended under the experimentation of few instruments but that seem to be a big ensemble.
Text Guillermo Escudero

Loop

The Moglass – Telegraph poles are getting smaller and smaller as the distance grows

This is a new release from the Ukrainian label Nexsound which is under the direction of Andrey Kiritchenko. This time the Ukrainian trio The Moglass presents their fifth production with 6 tracks recorded between December 2000 and January 2001, performing a free-rock, improvisation and drones; playing guitar, bass and electronics. This disc offers spacey and expansive atmospheres with tinkling guitars creating deep rooms of soundscapes. While the other facet of the trio its dark with strummed guitar and reverbs, creating atonal melodies. This music remembers me of Tom Carter (Charalambides) in the way the guitar is played, and their silences produced.
Text Guillermo Escudero

Loop

Saralunden + Andrey Kiritchenko – There was no end

This is a new series of Nexsound that takes the name of PQP (pickup) which is dedicated to release more accessible music in the likes of experimental pop. So were released two EP’s: ‘There Was No Fun’ of the Swedish Saralunden (aka Sara Lunden) and the Ukrainian Andrey Kiritchenko, founder of the Nexsound label and a renown artist of the experimental scene in his country and abroad. In addition the ‘Dubious’ EP by Saralunden.Björkås.Mjös. This project arises in the spring of 2007 during Saralunden tour to Ukraine, after a year or so when four Ukrainian artists were invited in May of 2006 – among them Kiritchenko – to Stockholm by the Swedish Institute for an interchange with musicians of that country. There are two notables here. The first song

loop

Kotra – Dissilient

This is the most recent release from the Ukrainian label Nexsound from which we have already review some releases [the compilation V/A, ‘Rural Psychogeography’ and from The Moglass Ukraine trio]. A new album by Dymytro Fedorenko, aka Kotra, a mathematician from Kyiv who studied classic guitar and started making music as a bass player in a jazz-noise band. He was part of the Zet duo and participates in performances along with visual artists and video makers. In 1988, he decided to start his own project Kotra. Since then he has released six albums and several compilations appearances published in the USA, Europe and the Ukraine. Fedorenko has worked with important sound artists such as Kim Cascone, Andrey Kiritchenko [Nexsound’s founder] and Andreas Berthling. On ‘Dissilient’ we attended a long session of digital noise in which also glitch and skips are noticed. Some noises oscillate in a dynamics of low rank until reaching highly inaudible extreme levels. Granular synthesis is also part of the techniques used in this album since there’re tiny sounds which are processed and edited in a random appearance.

Loop

Andrey Kiritchenko – True Delusion

This time the Ukrainian musician Andrey Kiritchenko has incorporated acoustic instruments like the Spanish guitar and the piano, so there is an emphasis in the organic sounds thta is complemented with the digital processing, and even incorporating the electroacoustic music by using domestic objects. This album took 10 months in the making to this young musician from Kharkiv and during the first six months, he spent his time meditating, travelling and the rest of the time he experimented recording instruments in such spaces as the kitchen and the quarters, as well as making field recordings with rural sounds. The idea was to take sounds with few guitar notes that were transformed into harmonic tones, but to this minimal atmosphere a subtle piano unfolds beautiful melodies which evoke Frenchman Erik Satie. Few instruments and the sonorous conception that shaped Kiritchenko after the contemplative stage that he had in this album, is the creative raw material that allows to produce an intimist atmosphere, and a state of mind to the listener, suggesting images with the sounds that surround us, and specially as opposed to the development of few elements, where we have imperceptible resonances. and timbres, and some few notes and chords, there are are sufficient to be able to find extreme gentleness in the work of our protagonist.
Guillermo Escudero