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REVIEWS and RADIOPLAYLIST

Dunaewsky69
Endless
(Kvitnu / Internet)

Dans la lignée du EP de Sturqen dont nous parlions il y a quelques jours, le label Kvitnu sortait cet été un nouvel EP de Dunaewsky69, uniquement disponible en format numérique. L’occasion de suivre le travail de l’Ukrainien qui nous avait surpris il y a quelques années avec un album nettement plus difficile d’accès que ce que l’on connaissait de lui jusqu’alors.

Endless a été composé dans les studios de musique électroacoustique de Cracovie où le musicien s’est amusé avec une panoplie de vieilles machines, synthés analogiques mis à sa disposition. Ceci explique peut-être un retour à des mélodies bien apparentes, des nappes amples et voluptueuses au sein de l’electronica teintée d’IDM d’Alexander Gladun.
Il s’agit d’un EP de courte durée puisque composé de 3 titres dont deux de plus de 7mn séparés par un interlude plus expérimental. On ne sait pas trop où Dunaewsky69 va nous emmener à l’ouverture de Kryla, avec ses sonorités organiques, ses espèces de piaillements d’oiseaux et ce qui semble être une nappe de guitare à peine saturée. On avait déjà noté une approche rock dans l’electronica de l’Ukrainien, notamment de par un amour pour des sonorités qui nous prennent à rebrousse poil. L’effet est toutefois amoindri ici puisque très rapidement l’électronique se fait plus douce, même si l’on est souvent proche de diffuses résonances métalliques. Un principe assez répétitif, mais la quantité de sonorités qui s’en mêlent permet un renouvellement permanent auxquels s’ajoutent des percussions syncopées, qui se veulent imprévisibles.

Kiptik crée une vraie cassure, interlude composé de bruitages, sonorités triturées, flottements scintillants et chœurs sortis d’un poste radio. Inattendu.
Le dernier morceau qui reprend le titre du EP est à peu près construit de la même façon que Kryla, avec cette fois une rythmique franchement lourde, mais qui sait s’effacer, et des nappes mélodiques amples, douces et scintillantes, avec parfois quelques éléments qui nous plongent dans la BO d’un film de science-fiction. On se laisse emporter.
Court, mais joliment mené !
Fabrice Allard
le 6/12/2010
www.etherreal.com

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Kimonophonic / Dunaewsky69 – Split Single
[Awkward Silence]

Published Thursday, 19th June, 2008 at 11:07 AM
Release date: 5th May 2008
Written by Michael Henaghan
Download: iTunes (UK), 7digital (UK), Amazon (US).., Insound (US)Buy CD: HMV (UK)

Only Awkward Silence would dare to pair the musical output of a Canadian-born, New York-based Cultural Anthropology student with that of a former fighter pilot of the Ukrainian Special Forces and attempt to get away with it. But then, they weren’t one of John Peel’s favourite imprints for nothing, you know. Having championed the likes of Arovane and ISAN before they were famous, there is always a sense of anticipation when you delve into the latest offering from the Awkward Silence Split Series and number 25 continues these fine trends.

Justin Armstrong’s Kimonophonic guise has cropped up on a number of small labels before, including a fine 4-way split single with Yellow6, Absent Without Leave and Lope. His bright take on the laptronica genre, fuses a mass of electronic bleeps, with razor sharp beats, colourful, synthetic harmonies and subtle field recordings, such as the tranquil water sounds found in «On Swimming». As nice as his more upbeat tracks are, it’s on the poignant «Another Wyoming» where Armstrong excels, forging a glacial melody with distant, chilled chatter for two bittersweet minutes.

Olexander Gladun is the Ukrainian fighter pilot in question and since departing from his military post in 1997, he has gone on something of a musical odyssey, journeying through the Kiev Death Metal and Grindcore scenes before landing in Electronica territories with his Dunaewsky69 project. The two tracks featured here are electronic with a difference though. Snarling with industrial background noise, spiralling drum machine beats and huge, gothic sounding synth textures (perhaps performed on vintage equipment salvaged from the break-up of the Soviet bloc?), the likes of «13.10.13″ is a slab of crazy, stomping braindance, that is issued with such conviction that it leaves you questioning your own sanity. «Black Slon» only solidifies Gladun’s reputation as a loose cannon coming across like a deranged scientist remixing Bitstream’s back catalogue.

Tracklisting:

1. Kimonophonic – A Constellation of Machines
2. Kimonophonic – On Swimming
3. Kimonophonic – Another Wyoming
4. Dunaewsky69 – 13.10.13
5. Dunaewsky69 – Black Slon
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Dunaewsky69-Xquisite.Xcerpt.-www.etherreal.com-Fabrice Allard
Dunaewsky69
Xquisite.Xcerpt.
(Kvitnu)

Il aura donc fallu trois ans à l’Ukrainien Alexander Gladun pour produire ce deuxième album qui voit le jour chez ses compatriotes de Kvitnu dont c’est ici la seconde sortie. Après les expérimentations un peu hardcore de Kotra et Zavoloka, on ne s’attendait pas vraiment à trouver sur cette structure un artiste produisant une musique aussi mélodique.

En effet Dunaewsky69 se classe assez clairement dans un registre electronica mélodique, avec cependant une palette sonore assez différente de ce que l’on trouve habituellement dans le genre. En effet, pas de débauche de complexités rythmiques ici, pas de bleeps ou autres sonorités propres, claires et limpides. Une approche un peu plus «rentre dedans», des sonorités un peu crades, sans forcément abandonner l’aspect mélodique, finalement Dunaewsky69 a une approche assez rock de l’electronica. L’album se révèle du coup plutôt énergique, et au lieu de mélodies planantes et mélancoliques, Xquisite. Xcerpt. déborde de sonorités qui vous prennent à rebrousse poil, et de rythmiques percutantes parfois à la frontière avec la techno. Partant de ce constat, le résultat est suffisamment différent de ce dont on peut être habitué pour y trouver un certain intérêt, voire même un certain attachement.

Nappes mélodiques nasillardes et rythmiques syncopées, avec Flyings In Slumber Dunaewsky69 pose les bases de son album. Mené tambour battant, mélodies en mode turbo, fort dansant, ce premier titre permet de rentrer de plein pied dans l’album. On aborde ensuite une électro minimale et mécanique avec Li. Exquisite. Excerpt., Does Somebody Live Inside Me ? avec même quelques influences industrielles sur One World’s History ou The Way To The Sun et ses chocs métalliques. Le dernier tiers de l’album se fait tour à tour immédiat (Mishush), imprévisible (The Opening of Infinity), plus posé et mystérieux sur The Children of Underground. Inhalation. Exhalation. pour terminer un peu comme il a commencé, mélodies efficaces nasillardes (Roman Kosh), ou enfin avec une electronica mélodique plus classique avec Liya à qui l’album est dédié.

Un album plein a ras bord (70 minutes) mais très homogène, ce qui risque de le rendre lassant sur la longueur. Mis à part ce petit bémol, Xquisite. Xcerpt. est plutôt une bonne surprise qui, de part son style, se détache suffisamment de la masse estampillée «electronica mélodique». On notera également un joli packaging, format original, carton découpé, signé Zavoloka.

Fabrice Allard
le 18/10/2007

www.etherreal.com
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< LOUD! >
playlist June/July| 2007

edited by Deison Cristiano From 1991 into experimental, electronic music, rock, noise and avantgarde sounds !
Feedbacks,promos and updates/news are welcome.
www.loudradio.net
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Dunaewsky69: Xquisite xcerpt CD(www.xs4all.nl)
The Kiev-based artist Olexandr Gladun started his carreer as a grind-core and death-metal drummer and guitarist. Four years later he got involved in the electronic scene and grounded his project Dunaewsky69. A release followed on the Moskow label Shaped Harmonias, run by Novel 23. His latest output on a Kvitnu label features 12 instrumental tracks with harsh rhythms. The music sometimes slightly reminds of Esplendor Geometrico (like track 3). But this is an exception, in the general the tracks are looser and less minimal; the rhythms swing (without loosing any strength)! A very original approach, situated between rhythmic industrial and dance.
Kvitnu
www.xs4all.nl

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Dunaewsky69 – Xquisite.Xcerpt. – Kvitnu – Luna Kafé record review

Dunaewsky69
Xquisite.Xcerpt.
Kvitnu

The background story is maybe the best thing about this release. Dunaewsky69 is Ukrainian musician Alexandr Gladun, a man giving up a career as fighter pilot in the special forces of the Ukrainian army. In 1997 he started his musical activities (as a drummer and guitar player), including the genres noise, grind-core, death-metal, jazz and a brass orchestra! He’s later moved more over to the techno-electronica scapes, without leaving the noise behind.

Firstly, Xquisite.Xcerpt. is way too much. Nearly 80 minutes of rather rough and challenging electronic beat soundscapes is more than I can handle. Don’t get me wrong, there are indeed exciting parts here, and Dunaewsky69 is playful experimentalism ping-ponging between minimalism and maximalism. There’s a lot of things and nothing going on at once. It’s a brutal and bleak, grim and ghastly collection of sampled sounds and twisted songs.

I’m not sure but I don’t think I’m done with this record. Guess I need some more time to check it out.

www.lunakafe.com

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Germany, Leipzig – Playlist: The Fakecore Show: 18th.08.2007 1600-1700 cet – regular business
01. venetian snares – electric funeral – sabbath dubs – kriss 6
02. alec empire – robot l.o.v.e. – robot l.o.v.e. – eyho 1
03. e.stonji – ddgeridooo – con.trst ep – binary dilemma 1
04. die regierung – … elektrischen welt – nie wieder euphorie – plastic frog 12
05. distance – fallen (vex’d remix) – 12? – planet mu 176
06. monks – monk hop (jason forrest) – demo tapes 1965 – play loud 03
07. nalpas – good morning – the whereabouts of 97 – alphacute 010
08. phillip boa – girl is a runner – faking to blend in – motor
09. dunaewsky69 – the way to the sun – xquisite.xcerpt – kvitnu 2
10. johnny cash – sunday morning … – the great lost … – mercury records
11. frank black – all around the world – 93-03 – cooking vinyl 407
12. jens doering – 20050429 (edit) – klanggold 4
13. tocotronic – verschwoer dich gegen dich – kapitulation – buback

www.myspace.com/100fakecore
www.fakecore.org

Alex Dee
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Cyclic Defrost Magazine/Australia – Dunaewsky69 – Xquisite. Xcerpt. (Kvitnu)

An exercise in brashly ornate modernism, maybe, Alexander Gladun bounces between beats like a rubber ball as he giddily twines dubbed distortion, maimed fairground music, and erratic tape loops into a dense miasma of swirling sounds which leaves the listener nearly gasping for breath at the audacity of it all. The high density, rich textured music, though clearly in the vein of Kid 606 and their ilk, is often powerfully uninhibited. As on pieces such as ‘Visual Surrounding’, Gladun carefully sculpts these sounds and arranges them in intriguing ways.

It is not something that Gladun is able to maintain throughout, though, as a handful of pieces get too bogged down in clunky, oftentimes dull 4/4 beats. Yet, for all that, certain other passages assert themselves enough to balance out the scales. ‘The Way To The Sun’, for one, with its bass drum booms strung along a line of rapid, skittering digital bleeps, is a fine raw cut and splice piece; while ‘Roman Kosh’, in the way its relentless swell, is unexpectedly sensual; ‘Mishush’, meanwhile, is just impulsive and, with its dewy keyboard melody beating against the angular polyrhythm, expressive enough to afford it body and soul.

Indeed, asides from the tangible energy of some of the works, it is the beauty of the looped melodies and the way they hang heavy in the vibrating air of all these electronic musical fibers that enables this recording to enjoy some manner of achievement. Gladun displays a certain strategy, too, balancing percussive weight and burrowing melodic hooks on certain tracks, while also allowing the former to outdo the latter and vice versa. Despite the fact that certain moments may simply strike at prosaically ecstatic results, then, others establish a delightfully knotty web of allusion.

Max Schaefer

Cyclic Defrost Magazine
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Dunaewsky69 – Xquisite.Xcerpt. – Kvitnu///Radio Ciutat Vella 100.4 fm.

LA REBELION DE LOS ANTIOXIDANTES

Radio Ciutat Vella 100.4 fm. / Wednesday 22 pm. – 24 pm
Isabel Garcia – P.O. Box 28.225 – 08080 – Barcelona ( Spain )

www.rebelionantioxidantes.com

Interviews

Mae (Peluze)
Robert (Unabomber)

July’s 2007 Playlist

ISABEL GARCIA : garage, hardcore, post hardcore, experimental rock…

Sincabeza – Edit Sur Passage Avant Fin Ou Montee D’Instrument – Distile Records
The Wildhearts – The Wildhearts – Round Records / Everlasting
Plate Six – Battle Hymns For A New Republic – One Little Indian / Everlasting
Peluze – If Nouns Didn’t Work… – Aloud
Dimi Dero Inc – Sisyphus, Window Cleaning – Off The Hip
The Early Hours – Lights Guitars Action – Off The Hip
The Ugly Beats – Take A Stand – Get Hip
The DT’s – Filthy Habits – Get Hip
John Lee Hooker – Don’t Turn Me From Your Door – Atco

GRENYES : heavy, extreme & underground metal, stoned & hard rock

Unabomber – Potemkin (Less Is More) – Voliac
Slade – Slade Alive – Polydor
Operacion Canguro – Brindales Proteccion – Mierda En La Cabeza
Warchetype – Goat Goddess Supremacy – Alone Records
Mary Bell – Mary Bell – Trabuc Records
Inborn Suffering – Wordless Hope – Demo
Candlesmass – Tales Of Creation – Music For Nations
Voodooshock – Marie’s Sister’s Garden – Exile On Mainstream Rec / Everlasting

SERGI, IVAN & BORJA : pop, indie rock, alternative folk, americana…

Rob Crow – Living Well – Temporary Residence Records / Green Ufos
David Vandervelde – The Moonstation – Secretly Canadian / Green Ufo
Electrelane – Singles, B Sides & Live – Too Pure / Everlasting
Ralfe Band – Swords – Talitres / Green Ufos
V.A. – Ballads Of The Book – Chemikal Underground / Everlasting
Picore – L’Helium Du Peuple – Jarring Effects
Iwasacubscout – Pink Squares – XL Recordings / Everlasting
Parts & Labor – Mapmaker – Jagjauwar
Rose Kemp – A Hand Full Of Hurricanes – One Little Indian / Everlasting
Family – Un soplo en el corazon – Elefant Records
Husker Du – New Day Rising – SST
Pavement – Slanted and Enchanted – Matador
Two Gallants – What the Toll Tells – Saddle Creek
Hefner – Dead Media – Pure
Panda Bear – Pitch Person – Paw Tracks
The Halo Benders – God Don’t Make no Junk – K Records

CURTIS : digital music, experimental, computer & electroacustic music…

Esplendor Geometrico – 8 Tracks & Live – Geometrik
Alan Vega – Station – Blast First
Tom Hall – Fluere – Nighrider Records
Felix Werder – The Tempest – Pogus
Dunaewsky69 – Xquisite.Xcerpt. – Kvitnu
Dimitri Voudouris – NPFAI. 1/ Palmos / NPFAI.3 / Praxis – Pogus
Erikm (Luc Ferrari & Thomas Lehn) – Les Protorythmiques – Room 40
Taylor Dupree – Landing – Room 40
Richard Chartier – Incidents – Raster Noton
SERGIO: electronic, gabber, industrial, dark ambient, power noise…

Seefeel – Quique (Redux Edition) – Too Pure
V.A. – Thunderdome V – Arcade
V.A. – Substancia 2 – Sub Rosa
Tennis – Furlines – Bip-Hop
Tosca – Dehli9 – !k7
Sator Absentia – Fluid Artefacts – Dark Vinyl
Vessel – Pictureland 01 – Pictureland
Nasenbluten – 100% No Soul Guaranteed EP – Industrial Strenght
Skin Area – Journal Noir / Lithium Path – Cold Meat Industry
Wink – 20 To 20 – Ovum
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DUNAEWSKY69 Xquisite.Xcerpt. (Kvitnu) /REVIEWED BY Adam Blyweiss/
DUNAEWSKY69 Xquisite.Xcerpt. (Kvitnu) • In spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sound, it’s a safe bet that the average music reviewer rarely has Russia and its former/neighboring republics high on the list of regions known for innovation in the field. To the casual observer, the remnants of the Eastern Bloc mostly ape the basics of the West in developing the soundtrack for their young efforts in democracy and capitalism: plastic pop meant for the most generic of discos and the shadiest forms of adult entertainment. The pride of Kiev in the Ukraine, Alexandr Gladun puts together a second LP (for himself and for the Kvitnu label) which raises the intellectual stakes for the scene and for his work as Dunaewsky69—yes, in spite of the juvenile innuendo in that stage name. Xquisite. Xcerpt. finds Gladun just knowledgeable enough about styles and genres beyond your basic club-thump to be dangerous. Wide synths and a cluttered topsoil of tuned percussives allow «Does Somebody Live Inside Me?» to patrol the border between German minimalism and the New French Touch. The center of the album addresses industrial music and its offshoots: The minor-key melodies of «Mishush» peek through the powernoise, the washes of «One World’s History» grunt and growl more than they glide, and the sense of old-school EBM menace in «Dancing Glare is Visual Surrounding» is gloriously out of left field. Two tracks dedicated to acquaintances of Gladun close things out and, with surprisingly subdued funk («Liya») and ties to µ-ziq and the fringes of big beat («Roman Kosh»), make their pitch as high points for the album and Dunaewsky69′s career to date. There are maybe a few too many straightforward 4/4 moments throughout, and tracks like «The Opening of Infinity» and «The Children of Underground. Inhalation. Exhalation.» don’t help matters by piling a mess of extra beats and beeps on top. That said, Xquisite. Xcerpt. is an altogether pleasant surprise. (AB) • www.kvitnu.com

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Connexion review of «xquisite.xcerpt»
Dunaewsky69 – Xquisite.Xcerpt
CD, Kvitnu, 2007
On June 2007, Dunaewsky69 released their second CD entitled «Xquisite.Xcerpt»on Ukrainian label Kvitnu. This relatively new label was started in late 2006, with «Xquisite.Xcerpt» being their sophomore release. The album contains twelve tracks, clocking in at 78 minutes and comes in a cardboard eco-pack limited to 500 copies. The artwork, created by Ukrainian artist Zavoloka, is quite visually pleasing and the simple clean design of the packaging adds to the CD’s appeal. However, I would like to note that it’s quite hard to remove the CD from the plastic peg without having to worry about bending or breaking it. I made sure to test this theory to confirm that «it isn’t just me» who had trouble removing it and my test subjects agreed. The general consensus was that the CD is quite troublesome to take out from its casing.
The first eight tracks didn’t really impress me at first, but to be honest the CD really ended up growing on me after I listened to it for the fortieth time or so. «Flyings In Slumber» doesn’t really have any outstanding high nor low end, which leaves the song sounding flat. «Touch to Unattached» could benefit from some cross fading and more organic transitions between the loops, however, the warm synth sound in the beginning of the track is nice. As the tracks progress the song structures get more interesting although the overall anatomy of the songs remains very simple and loop based.
I find the later tracks such as «The Children Of Underground, Inhalation, Exhalation» , «Roman Kosh» and «Liya» to be the three most outstanding tracks on this release. «The Children Of Underground, Inhalation, Exhalation» showcases Alex Gladun’s prior experience within the Noise genre, as is evident through the use of the noisy synths in the beginning of the track that create a fantastic atmosphere. The synths are crunchy and cohesive with the beat, which is a successful combination that creates a mood that the artist has been trying to establish since the beginning of the album. The final track on this record «Liya», is the most standout track of «Xquisite.Xcerpt», with its beautifully robust synth lines that come precisely together. Unlike the first few songs on the CD, it feels more like a finished product rather than loosely tied collection of good ideas.

– Beatrice Wilgucka [7/10]

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DUNAEWSKY69 – xquisite.xcerpt

(CD, Kvitnu)

A clash of expectations. Dunaewsky69 aka Olexandr Gladun from Kyiv, Ukraine, will hit your ears and mind in various ways at the same time. You’ll probably be appalled by his directness and harshness, by the noise and the sheer volume of sound these tracks demand. But you’ll also be fascinated by the subtle and minor details, the gentle melodies and the intricate fragments that are also apparent in these tracks. The dozen tracks on this collection vary in the mix of these two opposing, multifaceted ingredients, but they are always there. While one track might take you back a couple of years and remind you of the cold and harsh beats the first round of electronic / industrial musicians like Coil and Cabaret Voltaire used to dish out, the next track might get you into a digital mode surfing the global network for direct to the brain electronical stimulation. The next moment you’ll find that you have decieved yourself and that none of these connotations are true and that the track has evolved to something completely different. The next time you listen to the album different tracks might trigger memories that other tracks had triggered before. It is like a living thing.

Every track is based on a more or less complex percussive rhythm from somewhere deep inside a synthie-machine. This is the stomp of the engine that you need to travel to the land of beauty and clarity. Atmospheric layers linger in the back, are being mixed to the foreground at times and then take over the drone finally when the beats fade. Or vice versa. “Does somebody live inside me?” starts with almost new ageish keyboard layers only to stop and introduce a distorted 4/4 beat with a slow, akward bass line that is only accompanied by more beats and some noise samples. If somebody would rap over that I’d call it Ukrainian grime, instead the noise samples start to sound as if somebody’s voice had been manipulated. And the keyboard layers flowing in some time later sound like gregorian chorals echoing through the centuries.

Gladun has a history of jazz, brass orchestra, death metal, electronic experiments and once trained to become a fighter pilot in a special air forces of the Ukrainian army. The thing I like most about travelling with jet planes (100 % civillian, though) are the sounds the engines make and the impression they have on the body and mind. There are two things: at first the starting and landing which is loud, massive and the velocity puts a lot of pressure on your body. The other thing is the constant, actually rather loud noise of the engines during flight. A ten hour flight is like a trance meditation in a wall of noise. The mind starts to block the constant rush of noise to a small humming but if you open your ears you realize you are in a small capsule that leaves you barely enough space to move around a little and that is terribly loud. A mind opening experience indeed. “xquisite.xcerpts” are neither mind altering drones nor massive punches to the head, but rhythmical excursions into the dark sides of your brain. Or maybe Gladun just sets the pace and your mind starts to wander all by yourself?

With its second release after the Kotra & Zavoloka-CD the Ukrainian imprint Kvitnu is giving away a big hint at the direction it wants to take: supporting and presenting electronic artists from their own country that transform their visions into harsh beats paired with well composed layers of more harmonic sounds and that leave a lot of holes open. Sometimes these holes are more important than the rest of the music in building up the effect of the music. Music is the sounds played just as much as it is the sounds not played. Therefore a rhythm is always a good place to start. There is an army of young experimentalists all around the world proving that this idea is an interesting one to work up a musical vision (check Rusuden or Peekay Tayloh to name just two that have appeared around here and are not from the East). The consequence and strictness to adhere to the given beat and the will to not give in to any kind of byways, workarounds and circles of Dunaewsky69 makes this record unique in its own way.

www.monochrom.at

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DUNAEWSKY 69 XQUISITE.XCERPT. (CD by Kvitnu)
It is not everyday we have the honor of reviewing albums composed by
fighter pilots in the special air forces of Ukrainian army, but here we go!
Behind the not so memo-friendly name Dunaewsky 69, we find a very
interesting artist whose real name is Olexandr Gladun. After his career
as pilot the well-talented composer spent much concentration in music.
With a musical background counting drum-player in Death Metal- and
Grindcore-bands as well as in Jazz-related orchestras plus a collaborative
past with Japanese Noise-project C.S.S.O, Mr. Gladun certainly has a wide
musical knowledge for composing music.
And this album titled «Xquisite.xcerpt.» does reveal a very interesting
and clever approach to electronic music. The music on this 78 minutes ride
into the brain of Dunaewsky 69 is abstract electronic music based minimalist
soundscapes, complex rhythm textures and most important, beautiful and
extremely atmospheric ambient-layers. My favorite on the album is the
incredible opening track «Flyings in slumber» with some quite amazing
rhythmic jazz-like structures giving us a clue that the artist hasn’t
forgot his career as Jazz-drummer. In combination with the dark
long-stretching and quite emotional soundscapes, Dunaewsky 69 manages to
lift the expressions up to higher grounds. With a nice balance between a
listening friendly style and intellectual textures of high complexity keeps
your brain entertained for AT LEAST 78 minutes. Though I bet,
this is an album you will keep returning back to again and again!
(Niels Mark)
www.vitalweekly.net/
www.vitalweekly.net/podcast.html

tracklist for Vital Weekly 589:

0000 Tune
0014 The North Sea – O Ye River Wilder
0310 Alejandro Franov – Isis
0609 The Splinter Orchestra – First Tutti
0910 Martyn Bates
1212 Mersault
1511 Brume
1813 Muura – The Wind In The Desert
2116 Dunaewsky69 – Does Somebody Live Inside Me?
2418 Lydhode – My Life In The Ghost Of Bush
2727 Jenji Siratori & Goh Lee Kwang – Trans
3032 Toshimaru Nakamura & Lucio Capece
3325 Jean-Luc Guionnet & Pascal Battus – Toc Sine
3640 Bleed – Beautiful Executioner
3943 Tune

listen to

www.vitalweekly.net

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Artists: Dunaewsky 69Title: ContiguityFormat: CDReleased: June 2004

Press-release www.shapedharmonics.com

Russian independent label Shaped Harmonics presents a new release introducing the creative works of Alexander Gladun, resident of Kiev, Ukraine. The album Contiguity is his debut work within the project called Dunaewsky 69. But by no means is this the start of the artist’s creative development. A long creative search and experiments in different styles of music are already behind his shoulders. Musical past of Alexander is strongly connected with hard music and styles like grind core, death metal, noise, noise core. He’s been playing in such bands as HAIMORITH and Outer Orgasm, and this pastime of «happy, hard and spontaneously recorded music» was resulted in joint release with CSSO – a band from Japan.

At the beginning Dunaewsky 69 was conceived as a project for analogue noise music, but gradually the artist has moved to idm / braindance areas. As a result, comes the album Contiguity, presenting material which may be surprising for people who already familiar with previous musical output of Alexander Gladun. This CD is full of light atmospheric melodies and simple beats, floating in the air and constantly wrapping listener in warm and cosy blanket of sounds, providing great environment for dreaming.

Reviews

Staalplaat/Vital: www.staalplaat.com

Some time ago the label Shaped Harmonics was run by Novel 23 and Ambidextrous, both known and important figures from the Russian new stream of melodic idm influenced music, but now the label is run only by the melodic craftsman Novel 23. On this album release all tracks are written and produced by Dunaewsky69, that’s Alex Gladun, another unknown Russian artist who makes classy music in the melodic style. It’s definitely not typical idm, that’s for sure, but nevertheless the songs are still pretty much classic and conventional, with influences from few styles and genres. The general impression is that the artist is trying to achieve the melodic moments with more firm and concrete sound, like Novel 23′s album on Bip Hop. Dunaewsky69 probably uses some old Russian analog synthesizers too, I guess. I’d compare this music with the more energetic tracks from Ulrich Schnauss, this time going into shoegaze-idm direction maybe? Shoegaze with synths, not guitar distorsion, even though the guitar (alike) sound is present here from time to time. Also, there’s blurry drum’n'bass rhythm in one track called Hilli Jona, and the rhythm is very much pointed out everytime. The synths add an electro flavour sometime, Solvent alike, as in the second track Haresh with it’s intensively developing atmosphere and more harsher. Maybe the rhythm is too narrow sometime, as in Luo, when it sounds like it’s played with drums, but it’s still programed. In all the tracks all these elements are arranged in different ways and they make different shapes of the songs. So, you can choose your favourites. One of mine this time is Wyky.
Boban Ristevski

Tesselate::

The opening guitar line of ‘altered states’ that starts off ‘contiguity’ lets us know that this is not a standard-’idm’ affair. Although laced with a little delay, there is no excessive dsp-fuckery or 9 minutes of digital noodling to be found here, ‘contiguity’ is a very song oriented album, with heavy attention paid to melody and traditional construction. There’s nothing that tries to turn your brain into a ballbearing while a million sonic paperclips dance around your ears, a curse which has stricken one too many autechre-rip offs these days, I think.

Tracks like the electric piano laden «wyky», my personal favourite, remind me of a small European ghost exlporing a isolated church, and finding that although it’s a bit intimidating at first, it’s really an awesome place for a small ghost to hang out. That’s right. There is a definitive sound to the whole album, it’s a simple blend of electric piano, straight-up punchy beats, rough 8bit-ish basslines and atmospheric guitar. It’s a blend that I like very much. This album doesn’t try to be challenging, it’s simple and fun, but at the same time there is a slightly darker and more chilling undertone to all of the tracks, the two elements contrasting perfectly all the way through.

Old duneaewsky isn’t afraid to let things get a bit heavier either, the second track ‘haresh’ for example, with its sharp, noisy beat does stand out a bit as being a bit more hardcore than the rest, but by containing the familiar bass and icy synths of the other tracks it still works well. Compare it to ‘hilli jona’, which although being quite a conversely delicate construction, still utilises the same synths to great effect.

‘contiguity’ is the first thing I have heard from the russian producer, and I found it extremely refreshing and enjoyable. dunaewsky69′s work seems somehow cold and warm at the same time, and it’s great to hear something that still has a relatively unique sound and still gives a nod to traditional songwriting today.

Recommended. 8/10
Des

Sutemos: www.sutemos.net

A Russian Shaped Harmonics label that was founded by a well known Roman Belousov aka Novel 23 presents us debut album of Dunaewsky 69 called Contiguity. D69 is Alexander Gladun from Kiev (Ukraine). There is no more information available on him but we don’t need it anyway because his fantastic album speaks instead of him. I don’t know how such musicians are born but they do surprise me when their debut album outruns the artists that have released 3 or 4 albums already. We are used to getting better with each day and no one is born perfect so every in work or art we do first steps are like trial, game or search. D69 denies all the stereotypes and serves us a very quality work (although it isn’t very innovative).

Contiguity is one the first idm/electronic albums that does not have the colours of eastern electronica in it. It is completely different from the stuff we are used to hear in the albums that come from Russia/Ukraine. I don’t know what or who has influenced Alexander Gladun but finally there is an artist who has managed to escape the style of e-music that has been formed through several years. That is good although the unique identification card (ID) is lost. But possibly the new style is born. Forget the past eastern block musical style. The world was crazy about ru.electronic conception for a few years but I think it is already standing in one place for some time and the need to penetrate the western sound was essential. I think you will agree that the stuff that does not change becomes boring, pales and plays out. Dunaewsky 69 has changed my understanding about the eastern music by 180 degrees. I was delighted when I heard this miracle. It is so laconic and simple that it surprises. Its airiness, clarity and monotony reminds me of Ulrich Schnauss in some tracks. But D69 is heavier. Few tracks are too strict and do not fit the whole context of the album but everything else is simply unique. Altered States (rem), Luo, Wyky, Shkaf, Hojui456321 are built in a very sincere and simple manner. They won’t surprise you with their technical delicacy and innovation. They can only surprise you with their delicate clarity, simple rhythm and emotional moods that are hidden between various backgrounds. Very colourful and strong. Sometimes it is fun to listen to the album that has no secrets.

Very Good!

Rating: 10
Daumantas

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MAGAZINESSCAN