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Kryptogen Rundfunk
CD (ltd. 300) |
The series of archive recordings "Znaki / Die Zeichen" continues! The labels kultFRONT and ZHELEZOBETON present its fourth installment – the collection of compositions of the St. Petersburg-based noise project Kryptogen Rundfunk, recorded in 2003-2006. Most of these tracks were released on small-edition compilations of the same time, but some of them remained unpublished until now.
This album offers a fresh look at the early period of Kryptogen Rundfunk’s sound in all its diversity. Sharp injections of digital glitches are polished by dense electronic drone and radio noises, raw sound of Soviet analogue synthesizers pervades the space with low-frequency vibrations, drum machines rumble in a slow industrial dance with a sampler used instead of a vocalist... The textures of the tracks vary from dark abstract drone ambient to edgy dashing noise, sometimes passing the stage of funny delusional rhythmic sketches. Each composition here is a separate short story, from a 12-minute immersion into the depths of radio waves on a psychedelic submarine to a 1-second collage made of several found sounds.
Traditionally for the "Znaki" series the artwork was created by the media artist Oleg Paschenko (http://humanimalien.ru). Based on the cover design, a small edition of Kryptogen Rundfunk’s t-shirts has also been printed. The t-shirts are made of premium quality “penye” fabric and are available in all sizes between XS and XXL.
Previous albums in the "Znaki / Die Scherben" series are:
- Anthesteria "Eis" (2016);
- DMT "Ultimatum" (2015);
- Sal Solaris "Die Scherben 2004-2010" (2013).
Reviews
From the active force that is St. Petersburg Zhelezobeton three new releases (as always they come as three) and the first one is by mister label boss, M.M., himself working as Kryptogen Rundfunk. Part of Zhelezobeton's series of re-issues called 'Zanki/Die Zeichen', he takes a look at his own early music under that name. Some of these pieces were previously released on compilations while others were never released before. The first time this name popped up in these pages was in Vital Weekly 450, on a compilation, but the first proper introduction was in Vital Weekly 468. I compared it with harsh noise meeting loud ambient and the fifteen minutes on this lengthy (77 minutes) retrospective show us all the variations possible when using small synths, lots of effects, a bit of shortwave/number stations and the occasional dash of rhythm. Kryptogen Rundfunk already proofs in these early days it is not necessarily about being the loudest kid on the block, but it can also be an effective, moody, almost drone-like piece of music. That is of course (?) a rarity on this CD, as many of the others are cruder affairs of broken up synths in block waves, radio waves nastily humming away and a bass thumb that comes along with irregular intervals. It is quite a ride this CD and at this length a bit much to sit through in one long journey. Break it up into smaller portions and listen at leisure! The cover details nicely all the sound sources and guides you through micro-label land.
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