Line Gate, currently an one-person project of Michalovce-born and Prague-based musician Michal Vaľko, started with first public performance in 2011, later reformed as quintet consisting of Marta Laurincová (cello), Ľubor Kučera (bass), Jakub Lysý (piano), Michal Vaľko (guitar, vocals), Martina Mazániková (drums), which released their first album Split Lines in 2013.
Published March, 2024
Bratislava-based label Warm Winters Ltd. strives to weave a tender musical tapestry.
Published March, 2024
Or the idiosyncratic topography of contemporary Slovak folk-music
Published March, 2024
Where is the new generation of Slovak rap heading? Slovakia is a small country with large regional disparities. This results in the experienced binary division into the more developed West with the capital city Bratislava and the East, which remains in the shadow of the Western part.
Published March, 2024
Bratislava’s music scene is vital. There are several noteworthy producers, projects, clubs and lately also labels.
Published April, 2017
“A BMW is waiting for me in front of the house, calm down…” “I don’t give a fuck about the world, or you…” “I took half a crystal last night, and today a whole spiral” Existential drone courtesy of Výklenkové Reznancie is the perfect backdrop to the brutalist socialist realist legacy - one of the largest concrete block estates in Central Europe called Petržalka. Its mildly post-apocalyptic look typical for Eastern European socialist housing is somehow made more forlorn and dystopian in Bratislava.
Published July, 2015
Experimental electronic music in Slovakia may be overlooked by the public, but its scene is not only quite big, but such a music has quite long and rich tradition here. During the socialist era in the Eastern Bloc, possibilities for creating such music were very limited.
Published April, 2015
In the past, we’ve written about Gruska on Easterndaze in connection with his project Binmatu, his label LOM or the festival ZVŮK. This interview focuses exclusively on Gruska’s active work and thinking about field recordings.
Published April, 2015
Erik Sikora lives and works in the Mecca of eastern Slovakia, Košice. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and in Slovakia is known as the one who can naturally, without artificial means, drugs or any other devices cause unbounded joy, delight, and release of endorphins, simply a process he calls “Tešba” (Joy).
Published March, 2015
If you take a look on the album notes, you will find out that some excerpts of this release were recorded in 2009 already. And that is actually not the time when Tatratank started to make music.
Published March, 2015
The Annual Art Birthday celebration is a worldwide tradition established in 1973. When Fluxus artist Robert Filliou set the celebration day for 17th of January, happenings, concerts and other expressive forms of paying tribute to the alma mater of society’s soul took place.
Published February, 2015
Two idiosyncratic compilations/mixtapes have come to light at the murky period of the end of the year, perhaps - unjustly - lost amid the glitzy xmess lights and bonhomie. Both are authored by one of the most intriguing personas of the Czech experimental music scene Jára Tarnovski.
Published January, 2015
Samčo, Brat Dážďoviek in the unconventional music waters of Slovakia, as well as the Czech Republic, is a well-known character. With the look of a perpetual nomad, he moves through various musical genres, turning them upside down, armed with playfullness of a child, bending and deconstructing them, until they reach a point where they profess the sign of “Samčo-esque” poetics.
Published December, 2014
Slovakia is not only a small, but also quite an isolated country. Due to its mountainous terrain, it takes a lot of time to travel inside the country, and the biggest towns (Košice, Bratislava) are located on periphery.
Published November, 2014
Not so long ago the Slovak Publishing Exitab launched into his world and a well hidden secret child born in silence, from one day to the next. Its sublabel Proto Sites adopted almost naturally a status of a platform aiming at a more abstract position of electronic music, the area that is open for far horizons, and in which it is possible to repeatedly spend time.
Published November, 2014
LOM has started a new series called „Fields“ and right off the bat, its first release offers two Slovak musicians, both of them members of the Urbsounds collective, one of the first Slovak experimental labels with punk flavoured ethics. Daniel Kordík (also one half on rhytmic noise duo Jamka) has previously released field recording album covering sounds of Syria.
Published November, 2014
Amen Tma is a project of Danky & Acidmilk. The ideas, sounds, atmospheres and thought processes on the album Insect Phonetics Research had been growing for three years.
Published November, 2014
Jozef Tušan has decided to remain musically active despite the fact that his main project BIOS is now put on hold. As he still operates from east Slovakia, Košice, it is quite difficult for him and his musical partner to keep the project steady, although they still have ocassional concerts as BIOS, the focus of both band members has shifted towards different projects, БРАДА in case of Boris and in Tušan’s case, O // //.
Published November, 2014
Andrej Danóczi is a rare beast on the Slovak experimental scene. A self-proclaimed lonesome rider, a workaholic (operating between experimental film, music and photography) living in Trenčín (Western Slovakia).
Published November, 2014
It took almost two years to finish this album and rumours circulating in the Bratislava scene regarding Amen Tma (which roughly translates as Amen Darkness) were hidden under a veil of mystery. Apart from a couple of live performances and singles put out quite a long time ago, Amen Tma remained silent working on their debut release entitled Insect Phonetics Research.
Published October, 2014
With its almost 60 releases spanning over a period of five years over a continuum of formats physical and digital, the Slovak label Exitab has become an influential platform for local producers of mostly accessible, beat-oriented electronica. With its sublabel Proto Sites it ventures into more abstract and dreamy, synthy territories as manifest on its first release.
Published October, 2014
ZVŮK has launched its journey across Bratislava urbanism in September 2013. It was then that Jonáš Gruska, the head of the Slovak label LOM which gathers artists from various corners of experimental music, chose the spot under the bridge Apollo in the capital for his event.
Published September, 2014
The Blank Stare is a “project focused on mapping the Slovak experimental music scene through series of documentary movies”. Technically, the second episode easily beats the first one.
Published August, 2014
Slovakia may not be the most religious country of EU, but it’s certainly the country, where religious structures, especially the Roman-Catholic Church have exceptional influence. Naturally, there also exists a Christian music scene in Slovakia as a sort of autonomous subculture.
Published August, 2014
Hovering on the fringes of Slovak experimental music, the Noize Konspiracy collective remains uncompromising in their ethos and works. The punks of the noise scene, kind of.
Published July, 2014
Just before I started to listen to Triple Sun’s latest album on the recently launched Forum Absurdum imprint, related to the Bratislava-based DIY club Fuga (one of the best industrial venues in the city), I’d heard the new Plastikman album. Triple Sun - Overture by Triple Sun For some reason, it seemed as if these two were distant relatives of the lysergic lineage.
Published June, 2014
Samčo, brat dážďoviek is a rare beast. As one of the very few ones in the electronic scene around here, he doesn’t shy away from the context.
Published June, 2014
Is the no-input technique getting so popular in the Czech and Slovak Republics? Definitely not, but this compilation can give you the false impression that this may as well be true. Still, the contributors here are worth your attention and it would be a shame not to mention this release out now on the Czech netlabel Signals from Arkaim.
Published May, 2014
This Slovak release seem to have popped up through my feed a couple of days ago out of nowhere and immediately caught my attention. It can be almost considered as an intentionally secret release, as this project has no label support nor have I noticed any promotion anywhere.
Published April, 2014
One can always find something charming in a primitive and almost vulgar expression of music. This split tape serves as a shining example.
Published April, 2014
A documentation of a scene that is fluid, happening, developing into various directions and styles. Blank Stare is a new audiovisual project that aims to document the fledgling Bratislava underground scene (you can read more about the city’s electronic scene in our features here, and here and here).
Published March, 2014
Exitab, the Slovak label, is on fire. The handful of releases that have come out in the last 6 months, make for an impressive manifest of the Slovak alternative scene, mostly (but, not completely) spearheaded by this label.
Published March, 2014
The original, 16-minute long EP called Obete Sekty was not only one of the best releases that the Slovak label Exitab put out, it can also, without any doubt, be considered as one of the best Slovak alternative releases of the last decade. The project, which was originally recorded almost 10 years ago was finally released in 2011 and now, after three years, Tomáš Ferko also known as Teapot has decided to revisit this piece, strongly connected with the memories of his hometown, Prešov, with the help of his friends.
Published February, 2014
Samčo, brat dážďoviek is a Slovak musician and an enigma, with an affinity for subversion of national identities and all sorts of ideology recontextualisations. He is also an expert in obscure music, check out his article about the Czech and Slovak Bandzone scene here.
Published January, 2014
Every week on Wednesday Czech Radio’s Wave station, we try to present a project, label, in a short interview format. Our show Východiska (you can check the archive of the show here) aims to map the latest happenings on the independent music scene in Central and Eastern Europe.
Published December, 2013
The unpredictability of the ‘no-input’ technique is one of the most intriguing things that you can come across when playing with your mixing board. And the worse the mixing desk, the better the feedback that your 'instrument’ can produce.
Published December, 2013
If you had an opportunity to watch the teaser video for the latest Sky to Speak release and you made it to the end, you could have noticed the Exitab label logo reworked by Matúš Hnát. This green retro version reminded me of the opening sequence of Blade Runner.
Published December, 2013
Jonáš Gruska is a Bratislava-based sound artist working under several guises - for instance the audiovisual project Binmatu, mastering engineer and label owner. His many activities revolve around sound - its physicalities, propensities and possibilities.
Published December, 2013
András Cséfalvay is a visual artist and musician from Slovakia. Winner of the Oskar Cepan prize for emerging artist, Cséfalvay has also been increasingly active on the music scene, recording gentle, fragile and bona fide sentimental songs in his bedroom.
Published November, 2013
The internet made it possible for every user to distribute his or hers music in quite a democratic way, while the development of mobile phones, computers and all of those cross-overs made it possible for everyone to make his or hers own musical recording - even if it’s recorded with poor microphones on a cellphone by someone who doesn’t know shit about music. Take these two things together, and what you have is a sort of minor music revolution.
Published November, 2013
Field recordings have been used and abused in music and sonic art forever, but it’s the method of processing and juxtaposition, which causes the effect. Syria is by default a rewarding sonic source for any zealous field recorder, buzzing with sounds and boasting with an enviable musical history.
Published October, 2013
“soundscapes is a pair of waveform explorers who like to experiment with compositions, arrangements, sequences and non-sequences..
Published October, 2013
The Exterritory compilation series strives to present the best up-and-coming music from Central Europe - Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland, aka the V4. It is the third installment of the annual sonic list, focusing mostly on electronics and new forms of the aural underground.
Published September, 2013
Jonáš Gruska is an Institute of Sonology graduate, runs the LOM label and creates music under the Binmatu alias. His latest release comes courtesy of the Russian label Cyland Audio Archive on polycarbonate squares.
Published August, 2013
Lutto Lento Another Polish project belongs to the boss of the idiosyncratic Sangoplasmo label, the tape imprint that has carved its niche over the few years of its existence with quirky, outthere sounds by local as well as international artists, including Ensemble Economique or Decimus. Lubomir, Sangoplasmo’s heart and soul, also produces music, under the guise Lutto Lento.
Published August, 2013
LOMcast by Easterndaze on Mixcloud LOM is a Slovak experimental label, focusing on the avantgarde, electroacoustic, and adventurous. It started in 2011, when Jonas Gruska, LOM’s heart and soul, was studying at the Institute of Sonology in the Netherlands.
Published July, 2013
Andrej Danóczi is a lone runner of the alternative scene in Trenčín, Slovakia. The spectrum of his activity is wide, he makes commercial music but also challenging experimental collages, often in lo-fi, amorphous areas.
Published June, 2013
Our latest podcast is the weirdest stuff we are publishing, a totally manic melange of voices, recordings, samples, gabba, slam poetry, Slovak songs, electronics, and whatnot. In a way, reminescent of The Residents’ sonic mischief, Samčo delivers 34-minutes worth of material dug out from his own aural archive as well as his own label Varovec Produkšns.
Published June, 2013
Sound that is perceived per se, with all its physical features and emotional effect on the listener, who perceives it as something subliminal, that goes under one’s skin without the need to rely on melody or harmony. Binmatu “is a ‘priest of sound’, delivering complex air pressure modulations towards ears, presenting certain degree of divine experience - connection with higher powers.
Published May, 2013
The inherent lofi quality of bedroom-pop is often an alluring even if unwanted side-effect of the production process. This is also the enthralling aspect about the music of the young Slovak songwriter Katarina Kubošiová.
Published May, 2013
CS Industrial has recently started as a Facebook page digging out Czech and Slovak industrial and EBM tinged videos and tracks from the period between 1982 and 2010, in a way effectively creating an online archive documenting the birth of Czech and Slovak electronic scene, which considering the political and societal conditions at the time this music was made, is also an expression of the then zeitgeist. The industrial electronic scene, with its guttural alienated atmospheres and paranoid undercurrents in Czechoslovakia has always been strong.
Published May, 2013
Samčo, brat dážďoviek is a peculiar phenomen on the Slovak sonic scene, an epitome of weirdness that is not a try-hard, but rather a genuine expression of artistic intention. His March EP, entitled Európske hlavné épéčko kultúry /European Capital EP of Culture/ is a pun on the increasingly controversial European capital of culture project in the eastern Slovakian city of Košice.
Published April, 2013
The Slovak sonic sorcerer VooDooMan, based in Bratislava, one of the firm personas of the local noise/audio scene, revels in hypnotic aural fissures, disorienting journeys through mangled synapses, created in his own custom-built software. His prolific output counts numerous tracks, from 3 second to 80 minutes long, an endless stream of aural conscioussness.
Published March, 2013
When I moved here from Brno in May 2012, I was shocked when I saw my new hood. In contrast with nice, though little abandoned, but still cozy and almost 150-year-old flat I lived in before, here I was facing the grim reality of my post-communist borough, packed with cars, Nazis and other disliked aspects of my life.
Published February, 2013
Listening to the Slovak producer Stratasoul is like a hot air balloon ride – floating and sinking into a magic aural stratosphere, bumping into a chunk of beats here, catching on a string of clinks and clanks there…so easy and carefree. “I remember feeling fascinated when I first heared a sampled amen loop on an Atari ST computer,a gift from granddad.
Published January, 2013
Night-time Bratislava - Kamenné Námestie We’ve already given praise to Bratislava’s electronic scene in the past and the truth is, the good things are still going on. Be sure to check this triple combo of excellent releases from Slovakia’s capital Bratislava.
Published December, 2012
Bratislava-based visual artist Boris Vitázek aka Stix is a well known VJ working mostly with the post-dubstep producer Stroon. Stix is also the main force behind the techno nights Trashold in the now legendary venue Subclub.
Published July, 2012
Following his mesmerizing debut last year, the now Bratislava-based Jacques Kustod returns with a synth-driven triple journey into various sonic cosmic territories. We asked Jacques to shed some light on the inspiration and process of creation of his latest EP Trois Visages, which you can download for free.
Published May, 2012
Slovak and Czech bass electronica producers have teamed up to give a sonic tribute to the prolific Slovak singer and musician Vašo Patejdl, know for his dominance of 80’s synthpop music and collaboration in a plethora of different projects on the Slovak scene. Patejdl was in a way a key figure, however his former fame has slowly turned into a ambivalent fascination with his past.
Published May, 2012
Illl & .irma.
Published April, 2012
A new compilation by Strefa Szarej, a label and a cultural organisation run out of Cieszyn in Poland near the Czech border tries to reflect the music production of the country’s neighbouring countries - Czech Republic and Slovakia (and even Hungary). Genre-wise, the focus is of course on the fringes of the music production of the respective countries (otherwise we wouldn’t be writing about it:), but it varies from weirdo electronic (notably miss Dolly Rambo, Hungary’s foremost art bruteish pop star) through post-dance through psychedelic and mellow at the end with Fuka Lata, Sangoplasmo’s Lutto Lento and their epic 17-minute track, Grobbing Thristle and their haunting ode, I Love 69 Popgeju, Moduretik, Stroon, Piča z Hoven, IP (Identity Problem) or Dead Janitor.
Published March, 2012
The dualistic entity Jacques Kustod vs Zelený Antoin is a sonic schizophrenic project by Brno-based Andrej Kabal who has been busy lately with the anti-ACTA compilation DADA ACTA (together with An Chaosdroid). The story goes that the siblings were separated at birth and hate each other.
Published March, 2012
Remember Czechoslovakia ? The small country once part of the Communist Ost Block? The country that, after its Velvet Revolution and playwright-cum-president Václav Havel, broke apart into Czech Republic and Slovakia ? Well, now it’s united again. The events of January 18th and #OpMegaupload have spawned not only the first generation of the Czechoslovak Anonymous hivemind, that has DDOSed government agencies under the banner of #czsk ever since.
Published February, 2012
Another of our yearly recaps this time with not one but two perspectives on the Slovak music scene. First Filip Drábek from the Exitab label, one of the most active imprints in Slovakia in terms of independent music at the moment and second one is a collective answer from the BWO collective, purveyors of urban dance music in the country.
Published January, 2012
High exposure to the Omm sound might lead to elevated states of consciousness - the fuzz drone trance. A new solo release by the Košice-based graphic designer and member of the audiovisual project BIOS, sees him delve into noise-ridden soundscapes, already explored with his aforementioned project, with his guitar as his mantra.
Published November, 2011
[gallery] Better late than never, some pictures from our Easterndaze curated night at the Moonride Festival in Košice. Photos by Zdenek Spotz.
Published November, 2011
Published November, 2011
Another of our monthly new music series of mixes/podcasts this time also inspired by our September journey to the Balkans. Featuring techno, bass, dub step, garage, ambient or noise, this is a sonic travel through diverse rhythmic territories.
Published November, 2011
Another live set recorded at Easterndaze vs. Uši & Vitr night at Boro club in Brno that we did on 6 October, 2011.
Published October, 2011
One of our radio outputs apart from ocasional shows for Habitat.fm and even more sporadic production-in-the-making for Resonance FM is the weekly feature Vychodiska at the czech Radio Wave.
Published October, 2011
We are returning east to Slovakia’s most eastern metropole - Košice after almost a year. This time we are curating the Thursday evening (20 October 2011) at the Moonride festival there.
Published October, 2011
The new LP of Robert Bittner, better known as Rentip - the more energetic half of the Slovak experimental duo Poo, has been long in the making. We were able to get a taste of Rentip’s beats via the rare occasions when he performed them live and we must say their abstract cinematic atmospheres kick ass in the same way as they encompass a rare mixture of psychedelic experimentalia influenced by the early Vancouver industrial scene.
Published October, 2011
The Slovak-born London-based girl-boy duo Jamka, members of Bratislava premier underground outpost for offbeat experimental electronics (primarily created on hardware equipment) has just released a new album on Sub Rosa’s New Series Framework. The record was produced over a period spanning between summer 2010 and spring 2011 on hardware equipment.
Published October, 2011
Pounding live-electronics, deranged vocals, free jazz improv - Shibuya Motors is a project composed of well-known figures of Slovak experimental music scene. Miro Toth is a composer and founder of the improv collective Fruti di Mare, Slavo Krekovic is the man behind Atrakt Art label, Next Festival and plenty of other experimental-friendly activities in the Slovak capital.
Published October, 2011
Massive blocks of sound, eroded by entropy into weird fractal pictures of mankind’s downfall / empty cities ovegrown by nature / random flashes of violence slowly enter the sonic ecosystem inhabited by frequencies that flow down on tilted walls of noise. Ibogain kappagrams.
Published September, 2011
Slovak dj/turnablist duo Biomat (member of the Bratislava’s BWO collective) and 3ck (godfather of the first .sk turntablism compilation Audio Graffiti) have just released their “100% scratch” Biotrick EP.
Published July, 2011
Molotov Heart Cocktail / Lowitzer EP is a militant sonic manifesto by Bratislava’s upcoming synth-fi gang, whose main protagonists are Stratasoul (Dalibor Hriadeľ) and Stroon (Dalibor Kocian). Stratasoul, a long-time DJ and producer (check out his collab with Slovakia’s raper Bene) is also one of the promoters behind the Bratislava’s acclaimed MOOV club nights.
Published July, 2011
Bratislava’s underground electronic scene prepares a special gig for Monday: listeninglectures: visual by marin Avoided: Hangover Pop by uchylord ₩│╬₵├┤₴╟╢│╒╥Ɇʁ - You Came To My Party Depressed As A Shadow by uchylord Nihil Buldozer: Igor mortis by uchylord More on this Monday dementia (in Slovak) @ Radost music club, Bratislava, 11th of July » Read More
Published July, 2011
Slovak producer Tomáš Ferko (Teapot) likes to keep himself busy with his various projects, collaborations, remixes… His EP Unrest was just released last week Unrest II will be released 18.7.
Published July, 2011
A new EP by Slovak producer Teapot is due out in July on the Czech label Eclectica with remixes by Slovakia’s prime wonky/post-dubstep producers Stratasoul and Stroon and the Czech producer Blue. Here is a small preview of what to expect: Unrest II [teaser] by _teapot_ ps.
Published June, 2011
At least since the 1940s the cacophonic sound of the urban metropolis has attracted the creative ears of composers. John Cage has been an avid field recorder (check out his Williams Mix with at least 600 hundred various sounds including those of the city) or Pierre Schaeffer’s Etude aux chemins de fer, the first musique concréte recording, which utilized the sounds of trains.
Published May, 2011
Bratislava’s indie-rockers Billy Barman have teamed up with the local enfant-terrible Hafner in their new track. Freaky video.
Published May, 2011
[gallery] find ur fav graphic designer ..
Published May, 2011
The Slovak artist Martina Slovaková, a student at the Bratislava-based Academy of Fine Arts and Design, has dealt with the national conscioussness and identity in her work for some time (and not only because of her surname - Slovak:) Her latest project, her BA graduation work, entitled Slovak National Remix touches upon the controversial patriotism bill courtesy of the Slovak National Party, which required all schools to play the national athem. Slováková´s project creates an alternative sound bank with various versions of the Slovak anthem, which were created by several Slovak producers (Teapot, Foolk, The Uniques, Isobutane, stroon, Kasioboy).
Published May, 2011
The busy duo from the Slovak sonic marshes has a new self-titled release out, both digital and vinyl out on Slovak label Exitab. And what to expect? Electronics, piano, cello and voice.
Published April, 2011
The Slovak duo BIOS - visual artist Boris Sirka and graphic designer Jozef Tušan - are based in east of Slovakia in Košice. We met them on our audio travelogue almost a year ago.
Published March, 2011
Check this new release from Slovak Surreal Madrid netlabel, especially interesting is the remix by the sonic iconoclast Batcha de Mental. karaoketundra: http://surrealmadrid.
Published March, 2011
A backlog of new tracks and releases from the Eastern front… this time focusing on fresh labels and electronic producers from the former Czecho-Slovakia. If you happen to be cooking up some good stuff, drop it at our Soundcloud.
Published January, 2011
Another live set recorded at our Easterndaze nights. This time by Bucharest-based sound afficionado Rochite whom we met during our Romanian expedition in July.
Published January, 2011
Polish experimentalist and sample-fiend Dawid Szczesny, also part of Niwea project, live at Easterndaze Night in Tabacka Kulturfabrik in Kosice, Slovakia. Recorded on 27 November 2010.
Published December, 2010
Another live set from our series of concerts in Slovakia. This time, we bring you the mentalist sounds of Slovak mash-up and refashioning fiend Batcha de Mental recorded during Easterndaze Night in Žilina, Slovakia.
Published December, 2010
foto: Ivana Vereski Another live recording made during the Easterndaze Night in Bratislava on 18 November 2010.
Published December, 2010
Our last (at least this year:) concert endeavour will take place in the Northern Slovakian hub Žilina in the one of the best cultural spaces in the country - Stanica. After the lofi, experimental installments, our third gig will make your legs shake, so get your dancing shoes ready! Fresh Polish urban scene, Romanian sampledelic super weird dancedelica, Slovakian sonic mentalism and fine DJ sets will guarantee a fun-filled pre-Xmas party (including punch!).
Published December, 2010
Batcha de Mental is a deranged musical alter ego of Slovak designer and musician Alex Gutrai. He will play live at the impending Easterndaze gig at Stanica in Žilina in Northern Slovakia on 10 December.
Published December, 2010
Our project will culminate with the compilation which is gonna be out vv soon on the Polish label Audiotong featuring some of our favourite tracks by musicians we met on our East European journey. In the meantime, get lost in Slovak artist Jarmila Mitrikova’s psychedelic cover.
Published December, 2010
foto: Ivana Vereski Another of our recordings from the Easterndaze nights.
Published December, 2010
Bratislava’s “advanced music” festival NEXT is starting in a couple of days. The 11th edition of NEXT is going to present artists such as FM Einheit, The Thing, Tarek Atoui, Mira Calix and others.
Published November, 2010
The Slovak ad hoc collective of seasoned musicians Polyjoy, about whom we wrote in our extensive article on Bratislava’s underground music scene, is (finally) outing their tracks.
Published November, 2010
[gallery] The party’s over, the gigs are finished but only till 27 November when we head to the east. Bratislava was fun, Casi Cada Minuto’s ethereal soundscapes, Glad to Get Away’s DNA-like guitar contortions, Dné’s gentle melodies and Vladimir Lenhart’s Alles Gute tapes that made us dance dance dance.
Published November, 2010
Published November, 2010
The Slovak underground-noise freaksistance Psychoindustrial have released another one of their compilation series Noize Konspiracy..
Published November, 2010
Bratislava’s sonic underground is a fertile place giving birth to exciting upcoming electronics projects. stroon is a multi-faceted musician, with many ties to projects ranging from collective improvisators (Frutti di Mare, Musica Falsa et Ficta) up to the beat-based future-funk collaboration Polyjoy/Femoxema.
Published October, 2010
First of the three nights presenting the most interesting musicians we came across during our travels will unleash soon in Bratislava! On Thursday, 18 November 2010, our handpicked guests will play you some nice songs, or massacre them:) The Slovak electronic scene will be represented by the drone-ambient project CASI CADA MINUTO, opening the show up with his cinematic melange of drony tape manipulation. Czech songwriter DNÉ follows in a similar sonic territory as Teen Daze’s Two Bicycles, performing a dreamy and intimate drone-folk set spiced-up with his definition of “chillwave”.
Published October, 2010
RBNX performing live on Listening Lectures in Radost. Bratislava is an epitome of the historical ruptures that shook the Central and Eastern European region over the course of the last century.
Published August, 2010
En route back to the capital, we stopped in Banská Bystrica a picturesque city in central Slovakia. As we crossed the lush landscape, and stopped at a Salaš (sheepfold) for bryndzové halušky we’ve noticed the abundance of the xenophobic Slovak national party (SNS) billboards – guess they have most of their voters here, the tiny strip of „real“ Slovakia – unlike the South and Southeast that are predominantly Hungarian.
Published July, 2010
Following our stop in Žilina, we had a brief stop in Prešov, the eastern Slovak city, where the first local installment of the festival of network culture Multiplace was taking place. After witnessing the presentations of local projects – some promising, others less so – the audiovisual BIOS project - a DJ project of Boris Sirka, a fledgling artist from Košice and Jozef Tušan on the visual side - played.
Published July, 2010
The north Slovak town used to be a bastion of Slovak nationalism but currently experiences somewhat of a boom and one of the epitomes of the current development is the independent cultural venue Stanica. Located on the outskirts of the city nestled between a highway and a bridge with a view of Communist concrete block estates, is a cultural gem called after its continuous function of a railway station (stanica in Slovak).
Published July, 2010
On Saturday, after talking to the affable DJ and producer Baltazar from the local house and techno label Leporelo, we headed to the Gay Pride (dubbed Dúhový Pride or the Rainbow Pride in Slovakia). Our hopes were high after the buzz we felt the previous night during the interview with Romana Schlesinger.
Published July, 2010
We arrived to Bratislava on the eve of the first Slovak Gay Pride and headed to the Slovak Drama Institute, where the organizers of the pride were screening a documentary about the Stonewall Riots. There we talked to the worn-out Romana Schlesinger, who’s one of the event’s organizers and a leading queer activist in town.
Published July, 2010
Our half-a-year mission commenced - fittingly - in our homeland (which is not to imply we were biased in any way to this tiny piece of land in Eastern, or as the locals would want you to say, Central Europe). Slovakia, the smaller and - some say poorer - brother of Czech Republic, has experienced a continuous exodus of “brains” brains since the 19th century.
Published July, 2010