Mrkva / Bolka

Fellow mortal, we would like to introduce you to the best release ever released.
Well… at least the best release from this week’s batch of Slovakian experimental electronic music releases. This life-changing split will prepare you for the inevitable near future when interactions with swarms of nanotech insects will be a common part of your daily life.

But the artificial high frequencies of little flapping wings are merely one facet of the whole. There is also a lot happening in the mid and lower spectrums which opens this album up to other interpretations. There are various possible evocative outcomes dependent on your listening setting. As a musick to play in the dark of your own home, this album can help channel your inner insect. But when listening outside of the security of your hive, these compositions can bring inanimate objects to life. Whether it is a warm drone of death embracing the last explosions of melting thoughts (Mrkva – Anders), or field recordings of walking barefoot through frozen grass (Bolka – Kostrbatá stopa), this album has much to offer for a tuned-in listener. And even if you can recognize the sound of water dripping into a sink (such a drag), it is still 120% better than that student movie about a girl who puts spaghetti into her panties.

Two Slovakian composers created this split as a first release for the Lom label (the 0th release was a compilation of various artists). Mrkva (Jonáš Gruska) is the mastermind behind the Lom label with a very wide array of activities (including, for instance, modular gardening and DIY electronics). Bolka (Matúš Kobolka) is known as the hot guy who is into glitchy microtonal compositions and whose cap has a very wide fanbase.

Reviews and comments:
” A charming and understated piece of imaginative electronica.”
Ed Pinset, The Sound Projector. Link

“I have no doubt – this is the most interesting glitch-scape album i’ve heard in latest years. It’s fresh, witty and it fails to be boring like most glitch experiments. The slovakian duo surprised me with their ode to digital jittered clocks tenderly blended with field recordings. Intricate micro-automatons finetuned and orchestrated with heart – an sincere soundtrack for these digital days.”
Felix Petrescu, Makunouchi Bento

“… MRKVA/BOLKA je ako celok zvukovo vymodelovaným obrazom na ktorý sa zakaždým môžete pozerať z iného uhla a on vám ukáže nové zákutia a príbehy, ktoré si s pomocou vlastnej sugescie a fantázie môžete domaľovať sami. Organickosť a komplexnosť celého releasu je výsledkom, za ktorý sa ani jeden z autorov vôbec nemusí hanbiť a zároveň vypĺňa dieru, ktorú sa na poli slovenskej experimentálnej tvorby už dlho nepodarilo vyplniť. Ak má LOM v pláne aj budúcnosti tešiť náročného poslucháča takýmito zvukovými dobrodružstvami, tak sa je rozhodne na čo tešiť.”
Michal Šuranský, Hisvoice. Link