Connexion Bizarre
Zavoloka - Viter
CD, Kvitnu , 2007
With "Viter," Ukrainian experimental electronic artist and designer Zavoloka begins a series of four concept releases dedicated to the traditional four elements of nature. Dedicated to the element of air (the title means "wind" in Ukrainian), "Viter" is the first installment of this tetralogy.
Though short in duration (20 minutes), "Viter" is nevertheless a true breath of fresh air. In a musical field that may well be on its way to becoming full of insipid and soulless robotic artsy compositions, it is an auspicious sign to find talented artists that can skillfully combine electronic and analog instrumentation as well as seamlessly merge modern and traditional music elements. At all this, Zavoloka and her collaborators - Olga Potramanska on violin, Anton Zhukov on contrabass and vocalist Dania Chekun - excel in a release in where crisp and delicate IDM/glitch compositions compliment diaphanous string arrangements to create what is a thoroughly uplifting and soulful body of work. This is further enhanced by the addition of traditional Ukrainian singing (for example, "III. Inhale").
Last but not least, though actually the first attention-grabbing detail, is the design work - and expense - that went into making the packaging of this release, seemingly allusive to the sky at dusk. While packaging is obviously not replacement for the contents of a release, it can well be a very welcome compliment, and that is indeed the case with "Viter." Despite this, on occasion, I also find it vaguely reminiscent of medical propaganda packages.
While "Viter" can easily stand on its own as a creative and talented piece of work with excellent production and design work, it is as part of a collective body of work (still under development) that it must be appreciated. If "Viter" serves as indicator, Zavoloka's 'four elements' series is definitely something to look forward to.
-- Miguel de Sousa [8/10]

VitalWeekly
Zavoloka "Viter", Kvitnu CD

From the several highly active composers of the Ukraine - Kiritchenko, Kotra and Zavoloka - the latter is quite active and her music is rapidly progressing. This new album is one of four, dedicated to the four elements. 'Viter' means wind and it's the air vibrations of violin and cello that is at the hearth of this CD. She has those played by Olga Patramanska and Anton Zhukov, while Zavoloka herself edits the music on her computer, by adding rhythms and electronic sounds. Seven short tracks, in total just under twenty minutes. It's strange, strange music. It's light of nature, swirling and moving. The lack of any knowledge on my side of any folk music makes this hard to place down. The rhythms are borrowed from the world of clicks and cuts, but the whole string part could be traditional, folkloristic music from the Ukraine. Or perhaps not. It sounds like recorded in a cathedral. If you read this, it may seem an uneasy marriage, these two totally alienated approaches, but rest assured: they make a perfect combination. To incorporate what is called - horribly - ethnic/traditional/third world music with electronics is a new path of which Zavoloka is the among the first to do so, and it makes way for perhaps an interesting new direction in music. Hurrah for that. 'Viter' is a most promising start.
( by Frans de Waard )

WIRE
Kotra & Zavoloka
Wag The Swing
Kvitnu CD
Kotra (born Dmytro Fedorenko) and Kateryna Zavoloka represent the vanguard of Ukrainian electronics, and their third collaborative release, the two are found jubilantly smashing the attributes of 50s computer music, 70s jazz fusion and contemporary electronica within the crucible of granular synthesis. Wag The Swing jumps all over the place through the album's 24 tracks dotted with semi-obliterated audio samples which Fedorenko and Zavoloka constantly scrub across a revolving set of digital filters. There's a playful exuberance to their scattered bitstream, even when their immediacy and spontaneity with these squeaks and whirls become far more coherent and less self-indulgent when grounded upon their broken electronic breaks and angular bass guitar grooves,
which fall somewhere between Karl Blake's all-thumbs monstrousness in The Lemon Kittens and the wilful technicality of Jaco Pastorius.
by Jim Haynes

DE:BUG
Kotra & Zavoloka
Wag The Swing
Kvitnu CD
Ich freu mich schon eine Weile drauf, diese CD zu hören, weil sie einfach so sagenhaft gut aussieht in ihrer Obergröße und mit dem feinen urainischen Golddruck. Und die Musik ist - jedenfalls für das, was ich als Vergleich heranziehen kann - auch sehr goldig. Plinkernd leicht fast, Digitales wirkt hier eher am Rande, das Schreddern geht eher auf in melodischen Parts und auch wenn das stellenweise schon ganz schön abstraktes Puppentheater werden kann, hat man nie das Gefühl, dass die einen einfach nur beeindrucken wollen. Es ist allerdings definitiv die vielseitigste Platte, die ich von dieser Kombination bislang gehört habe, und die Waage zwischen dezenten Grooves, waghalsiger Avantgarde und stillem Klang unter der Lupe ist exzellent.
bleed •••••

Conexxion Bizzare
Kotra & Zavoloka - Wag The Swing
CD, Kvitnu, 2007
"Wag the Swing" represents approximately one hour of audio insanity. If a Ukrainian Folk festival were to be hijacked by Cevin Key, and all the participants force-fed amphetamines, the resulting sonic chaos would be a fair approximation of the chaotic noises generated by Kotra and Zavoloka on this release.
Once the initial shock wears off, I'm left in awe at the skill exhibited by these two. As a studio-bound producer, I have masses of respect for anybody willing and able to throw themselves on the mercy of a crowd and generate fresh, creative sounds from scratch - no midi, no sampling, just their eclectic list of "instrumentation", including bass, empty vinyl player, blank CD matrixes, voice and other machines. Quite cryptic, don't you think? This bizarre ensemble notwithstanding, the pair manage to jam together some of the most unique arrangements I've ever had the dubious pleasure of listening to. The most impressive thing for me was the apparent ease with which they juxtapose completely incongruous ranges of sounds - like the melodic bass stylings of the opening track, "Out of Nowhere" compared to the post-industrial lunacy of "Analogue Tender" or "Hidden Fields".
The other aspect of this album that really strikes a chord with me is its tongue-in-cheek attitude (like the eleven-second track, "Long Story Short"): Kotra and Zavoloka are more than creating music, they are actually playing it, and enjoying every minute. Also, the presentation of the album - both in its superb, clear mastering and its playful, unique packaging - is a great reflection of the energy and drive they bring to experimental music. This recording is definitely worth investigating further, especially for fans of glitch and IDM, or just connoisseurs of everything avant-garde.
David vander Merwe

Indie
Kotra & Zavoloka "Wag the Swing" Kvitnu, CD 2006

Cracked
KOTRA & ZAVOLOKA – wag the swing (CD, Kvitnu)
I missed out on reviewing the Zavoloka versus Kotra EP titled „to kill the tiny groovy cat“ on Nexsound (check it out as a free download on www.nexsound.org) but the mixture of electroacoustic noise and funky electronics was remarkable already. Especially in contrast to the large size and drone orientation of their earlier live-collaboration „untitled live“ as part of the nexsound live reports, the harsh disruptions and swift changes from one soundlayer to the next, came almost as a surprise. On the other hand, Zavoloka’s collaboration with the techno-artist AGF was all based around beats, beats and more beats, with a complete change and fresh start every minute. Structurally, only Gintas K has laid down a more strict and theoretically organised work in the last months on „60 x one minute audio colours in 2kHz audio“ – but fortunately we are still far from such terrain. Usually, such formula-based analysis of sound are hard to bear and boring to hear. „Wag the swing“ is the latest of Kotra and Zavoloka collaborations and it contains a surprise in each of its 24 tracks.

There is something interesting about the small or short form in musical experimentation, because it demands focus and concentration. It seems easy to dwell on an electroacoustic idea for ten minutes or longer to really sink into it and feel its texture and layout, but if you ask yourself to chose just two minutes of your droning, where do you start? Searching for the core of the idea or the sound you have built and then reducing all the work you have had so far to this singular moment demands a lot of willpower and strength, because it means cutting off and throwing away a lot. Not a lot of difference to mainstream rock, it seems, were some artists get away with one basic idea over the course of various albums and become superstars, while others throw a dozen ideas into a single song and have to starve as critic’s favorites. „Wag the swing contains at least 24 ideas worked out into full tracks and with a bunch of manipulating and producing strategies thrown on top.
Highlights include the blistering noise meets bassline meets spacey echoes „analogue tender“. „Out of nowhere“, the starter of „wag the swing“ uses a simple line of (bass?-)guitar notes and then re-arranges, manipulates and de-constructs them into a gently flowing electronica track that would have come expected on 12k. Other tracks are hacked and distorted aural bricollages of sounds and bitstreams, rendered in chaos or seeming chaos. Harsh sounds change tone with vibrant, organic ones and plenty of holes in between („a taste of live life“). The amount of traceable soundmaterial is astounding as well as the many cuts and slices in other tracks. The latter one starting to impress like a noise artists parody of the drum’n’bass excesses of late. Then there are funky moments that simulate heavy minimal electro, straight bass lines working fervently against the rhythm of the noise basis underneath or beside (most prominent on a track entitled „swing you, swing me“ which brings up pictures of the bassplayer in one room and the noise producer in another with no audio connection between them), sometimes working with it heavily („moonlight in mirror“) and even glitch noises.

Trying to take in the whole album as one big piece of music the most impressive fact is the sheer number of ideas and the clean cut production. I am positive that this is pure homerecording, except for the mastering, but you’d never hear it. At the moment it seems as if the interests of Kotra and Zavoloka are straying into various directions at once and that they haven’t decided yet on which leads to follow, which is all just fine. They don’t have to. „Wag the swing“ is irritating and startling due to its jumpy incoherence which renders it a mixbag of tracks, but if you focus on detail and try to detect the overall lines that hold it together (you won’t be able to and if you find them you’re probably mistaken, but trying to find them is the main chore) it is a fascinating travel.
www.kvitnu.com


LOOP
Kotra & Zavoloka "Wag the Swing"
"Wag The Swing" is the third collaboration between the Ukrainians musicians Dmytro Fedorenko and Katia Zavoloka, after Untitled Live [2005] published on Live Reports, a subdivision of the Nexsound label and To Kill The Tiny Groovy Cat EP [2006], also in this imprint from the capital city of Kiev.
This album is published on Kvitnu which is run by Fedorenko and that comes to be as a special projects label and all releases will have a special design and will be handly crafted.
In this occasion they have used bass, empty vinyl player, blank CD matrixes, voices and laptops and the material was recorded in the spring of 2005 and to a large extent during summer and autumn 2006.
They are 24 cuts of experimentation and sonorous improvisation in which converge digital errors, the digital manipulation of some instruments like bass and guitar and addition to synthetic sounds that are recomposed, creating broken and repetitive beats, that in some cases are close to jazz, others to funk, techno and rock.
Although this album has an abstract character Fedorenko and Zavoloka also they go into a song format structure. This is an amazing search for a new language. Guillermo Escudero

VitalWeekly
Kotra & Zavoloka "Wag The Swing" CD on Kvitnu
The long awaited - well, at least by some - collaboration of Kotra and Zavoloka. They already had a teaser EP, but here is the full twenty-four track CD. They play their music using "bass guitar, empty vinyl player, blank cd matrixes, voice and other machines" - by the latter I assume they mean the extensive use of computers. As said twenty-four tracks, which means that none of the tracks are very long. This sketch like approach works well. Some tracks are rhythmic, almost in a swing like mood, but throughout they add a strange element to the tracks, to add something unusual to the music. Of course there are also some more abstract pieces. It all makes the music very vivid. Combining the best of microsound, electro-pop and serious composition, this is a highly enjoyable CD, which comes in a cover that made me think they have money to burn.
by Frans De Waard

de:bug
Zavoloka vs. Kotra
To Kill The Tiny Groovy Cat EP
(Nexsound / 052)
Die CD ist nicht nur rosa, nein, sie riecht auch noch so. Aber das ist man von Nexsound ja fast schon gewohnt, dass die Verpackung immer voller Details ist. Musikalisch besteht die CD aus digitalem Gezausel fur Profis und solche die es auch mal silbrig funky mogen, wie ein guter Raster Noton-Raveslammer. Meist aber ist es definitv eher etwas fur die passende Beschallung des heimischen Festplatten-Terrariums.
bleed •••••

Neural
Zavoloka vs Kotra-to Kill the Tiny Groovy Cat E.P.
Sempre dall'Ucraina, Zavoloka e Kotra, in un progetto collaborativo per la Nexsound, label fondata da Andrey Kiritchenko, assai attiva negli ambiti sperimentali elettronici. Uscita composta da cinque tracce, edita solo in versione cd, densa di minimali destrutturazioni e dissonanze, nello stile alquanto radicale, schizoide ma ineccepibile che nelle libere forme dei loro trattamenti in questa occasione vede i due artisti divisi fra sequenze suonate (Kotra) ed i successivi tagliatissimi montaggi (Zavoloka) operati su parti inizialntemente già concertate e predisposte. Aleggiano fra le righe strutture tipiche della tradizione improvvisativa che ibridate nei flussi contemporanei di matrice glitch'n'click testimoniano d'un aderenza ai tempi non sospetta, attenta e partecipe. Sonorità certo non convenzionali, sintetiche e aliene ma che ancora sanno poeticamente confrontarsi con l'incredibile varietà che circonda le nostre vite.Aurelio Cianciotta

Sodapop
Zavoloka vs Kotra-to Kill the Tiny Groovy Cat E.P.
Non è bello dirlo, ma spesso leggendo titolo e nome di un gruppo dell'est verrebbe da pensare che sia arretrato di qualche anno ed è un ragionamento molto stupido (allora non lamentiamoci se poi all'estero pensano la stessa cosa leggendo un qualsiasi titolo in italiano). Non solo la Nexound è un'etichetta notevole, ma in un mondo più che mai globalizzato, nel bene e nel male le realtà dell'Europa dell'est che in diversi ambiti si sono fatte strada non sono poche, due nomi su tutti Fizzarum e in altro ambito la Minority records. Tornando a questo ep si tratta nuovamente di una confezione e di un disco sorprendenti, a differenza di Kiritchenko il duo Zavoloka e Kotra è più che mai immerso nell'elettronica pura. Direi che è elettronica molto nord europea, in costante tensione fra sperimentazione e forma. Se nel corso della prima traccia sembra quasi di trovarsi di fronte a dei Pan Sonic più tranquilli che giocano con qualche vecchia melodia alla LFO, senza aspettare troppo ci si trova in un'accozzaglia di frequenze, glitch e suoni digitali frammentati in modo più o meno ritmico. Elettronica fredda, quasi glaciale, dove ho riconosciuto la mano di Kotra (di cui ho un disco a dir poco pesante ma molti interessante) soprattutto nelle frequenze acute e nelle suoni spinti al massimo di certe tracce, diciamo che spesso sembra di ascoltare il disco Bowindo di Martuscello masticato e ridotto in frattaglie. L'incipit melodico di questo ep è un po' fuorviante visto che pur non essendo elettronica fisica come Kotra in solo ed anche quando è più organizzata in forma canzone (sempre parlando in termini di elettronica) rimane molto cerebrale. Qualcuno potrebbe dire che si tratti di un cd che suona come un registratore di cassa impazzito, se solo Martinetti e Russolo fossero ancora qui a rompere i coglioni si farebbero una gran pippa.

Vital
Zavoloka vs Kotra-to Kill the Tiny Groovy Cat E.P.
This short release is a taster for a forthcoming full length release by Kotra and Zavoloka. Both are from the Ukraine and over the last couple of years they have played together a lot, both live and in the studio. For this release, Kotra returned to playing the bass, 'clanged and creaked'. Zavoloka 'has nurtured it and killed it', it says on the rather beautiful cover. Whatever nurturing and killing may be, it's hard to trace any sound back to the bass in these five pieces. Five pieces of chilling computerized glitch, with a good ear for a bass sound (that seems to be coming from anything deep end in the plug in section, rather than from a wooden box with four thick strings). Sounds crash like hard drives here, with fierce high end pitches among the deeper end music. Not danceable, hardly 'warm', but a truly noise related attack on the senses. Good for the fact that it defies any relation to microsound and clicks 'n cuts, trying really to melt down all the various influences together and be something new. Makes great expectations for the full length. (FdW)

WIRE
ZAVOLOKA & AGF - NATURE NEVER PRODUCES THE SAME BEAT TWICE
Katja Zavoloka and Antye Greie Fuchs (AGF) are on a real roll at the moment, producing work both in solo and collaborative configurations that ranks with the best electronic music out there. Fuchs has most recently been seen working with The Lappetites alongside Eliane Radigue and Kaffe Matthews, while Zavoloka's duo album with Nexsound artist Kotra was an exemplary demonstration of live laptop adventurism. Nature Never Produces The Same Beat Twice is their first venture as a duo. The remit of the collaboration was to produce a form of what they somewhat misleadingly term "powerful Techno", which would mirror the organic structures found in the natural world. Both have displayed such pastoralism in their work before (indeed AGF's Explode, recorded with Vladislav Delay in 2004, actually carried a dedication to "nature"), but never so explicitly as here. Comprising 50 one-minute tracks grouped under five headings - Meadow,Trees, Spices, Bushes and Flowers - the album really does exude something of the variegated, organic quality of flora (and a single appearance of fauna on "Bee In The Tree"). At first, the tracks blur together like dense foliage, but listen more closely and the detail reveals itself. Each piece has its own structure quite separate from the others, an astonishing feat considering the number of tracks here, but also includes elements that find echoes elsewhere, a sonic analogue of the patterns and repetitions found in nature.
That's not to say that the album is all process and no action. This would be great stuff even without the contextual. Using theme, a whirligig of cut-up voices, splattering beats and sprays of glitched-out waveforms. This is nature as relentless, bustling activity rather than bucolic calm, a document of
great vitality and joy. BY KEITH MOLINE

indie
Zavoloka & AGF
"Nature Never Produces the Same Beat Twice" Заволока из тех музыкантов, от которых все время хочется чего-то нового, за которыми интересно следить. За историей этого диска я следил давно - по крайней мере, с поэтессой AGF из Берлина Катя познакомилась около двух лет назад. Программу Tekkno like trees (теккно как деревья) Заволока и AGF представляли на европейских фестивалях и в
турах лейбла Nexsound, именно она и легла в основу диска. Альбом девушки сводили по ночам - вдвоем в крошечной берлинской студии Владислава Дилэя, а днем в ней работал Дилэй. Всего треков на диске - 50, каждый не превышает полутора минут, общий замысел - нестабильность и непредсказуемость природных форм. AFG здесь не поет, а произносит отдельные фразы или просто издает звуки, ее голос порезан в щепки, застревающие в случайных местах этого многомерного судорожного техно. Музыка стартует с места и разгоняется, но ей не дают просто обрасти грувом - она вынуждена постоянно натыкаться на хаотично расположенные преграды, мучаться своей недосказанностью, тужиться и кидаться из стороны в сторону в попытках найти лазейку в этот самый грув. И вот, когда наконец начинает прорисовываться пульсирующий техно-пучок прямого (или непрямого, но настырного) бита, трек внезапно заканчивается... Нам не дают расслабиться и насладиться нашим комфортом, не дают "раствориться во всепоглощающей пульсации" - вместо этого музыка занозит нам уши, заставляет обращать на себя внимание. Привычная функция техно - действовать на уровне простейших эмоций, зомбировать. Здесь же есть нечто большее, есть какой-то явный с нами разговор. Ходят слухи, что техно умерло. Да неужели?

rubored
ZAVOLOKA-AGF
their bio-beats dwell from kiev to berlin
what makes me think of rough 90's eastcoast-hip hop when listening to the zavoloka+AGF-record i just received? i don't think that rap-music is a great influence for the artists at this album, and strictly focusing on the music there are no hidden links between, let's say,*the wu-tang clan* and this female super-group of electronica. you know what? i think it's the uncompromising way, antye and katia mix up their harsh sound, this snoting out the beats, the concept of jamming to a steady pulse of various bpm and recoding what happens. don't get me wrong- there's a huge difference between the RZAs peaking finger-snaps and those rumbling beats you can hear on nature never produces the same beat twice. antye is into (more or less) electronic music since the early nineties and katia also released enough tracks to know about 'good production'. it's a strict decision to let the tracks appear like they came to be, like carefully cultivating the weed on yr frontdoor pavement instead of cloning a rose, if you want to stick to the biological concept of the album. their tracks grow like grass, trees, like magic peas to heaven, from kiew to berlin and vice versa.i admit: you have to listen with some good will to cover the specific beauty of this record. but there are so many things happening in the 50 one-minutes songs! if you're familiar with the solo-works of AGF and zavoloka, you will recognize many of katias semi-tonal synth-sounds, the flute-samples, her harsh singing. antyes voice is also present in the mix, altered with some effects. still the use of human voices gives some hold in the storm of musical particles the listener gots to put in order. due to that, the sparingly use of harmonies emphasizes the melodies if there are some.
"nature never produces the same beat twice" is a quite rhythmical album, but the subtle harmonic surplus makes it outstanding and special. far too fragmentary to be called the future sound of electronica, but one of the most exiting records of abstract electronic music i was allowed to listen to for the last few months

Westzeit
ZAVOLOKA/AGF - Nature Never Produces The Same Beat Twice
Die Kiewerin Katarina Zavoloka und AGF, auf die CD-Werdung der Zusammenarbeit dieser beiden Klangkünstlerinnen habe ich wirklich mit einiger Ungeduld gewartet. Das Resultat ihrer bereits seit 2003 bestehenden Freundschaft kulminiert in einer großartigen CD. Nicht weniger als 50 Pflanzen werden in jeweils etwa einer Minute beschrieben. Ihr nach sorgfältiger elektronischer Bearbeitung dem menschlichen Ohr nicht mehr verständlicher
Name bildet Gerüst und Basis zugleich. Die Untergruppen "Gräser, Bäume, Gewürze, Sträucher, Blumen" geben dem vom technoiden Cut-up-Gewitter zunächst überforderten Gehör eine schwache Orientierung. Trotzdem ist jede Sekunde die Anstrengung wert!
*****

nowamuzyka.pl
ZAVOLOKA & AGF - NATURE NEVER PRODUCES THE SAME BEAT TWICE
Niemka i Ukrainka zaczely wspolpracowac, gdy ta pierwsza uslyszala nagrania tej drugiej znalezione gdzies w czelusciach internetu. Po kilku wspolnych wystepach okazalo sie, ze rozumieja sie ze soba tak dobrze, ze chca dalej wspolnie dzialac. Efektem wspolpracy jest wydana niedawno przez Nexsound, wyprodukowana w studio Vladislava Delay’a White Room, plyta „Nature never produces the same beat twice”. Zawiera ona 50 miniaturek, z ktorych kazda jest poswiecona jednej roslinie, z pieciu grup, ktore stanowia niejako kolejne rozdzialy albumu – laka, drzewa, ziola, krzewy, kwiaty. Dyrektywa jaka przyswiecala artystkom przy nagrywaniu tej plyty bylo zdanie: ‘Tworzyc techno niczym drzewa, bo natura nigdy nie produkuje tego samego beatu dwa razy’.
To haslo obrazuje zamierzenie Zavoloki i AGF – chec
ozywienia formuly muzyki silnie zrytmizowanej, o
powtarzalnych strukturach. Panie widza to troche inaczej – z bacznej obserwacji natury wyciagaja wniosek, ze nawet to co sie powtarza i wydaje sie bardzo podobne, nigdy nie jest takie samo. I wlasnie taka jest ich muzyka – w kazdej kompozycji rytm jest silnie zarysowany, ale zarazem poddawany sporym deformacjom, nadwerezany. Beat jest na tym albumie bardzo wazny, ale to co dzieje sie wokol niego trudno jest przeoczyc. Mamy eteryczne zaspiewy (teksty z folkloru ukrainskiego, nazwy roslin), metaliczne drony, skrzypienia, sprzezenia, kilka razy przetworzone dzwieki instrumentow ludowych. Rytmy sa najczesciej z sortu tych ciezkich, glebokich, AGF zdecydowanie oddala sie od zwiewnosci swoich solowek, jak „Westernization Completed”. Choc z drugiej strony nie jest to, jakis hardkor nie do zniesienia, czasem na mysl przyjdzie „Afx237 V7” – choc zwykle nie jest az tak gesto. Sadze, ze fani Autechre, koslawych bitow ze stajni Mik.Musik, no i rzecz jasna dotychczasowych dokonan obu pan, powinni smialo uderzac w „Nature never produces the same beat twice”.
Juz marzec, to chyba najwyzszy czas, zeby zaczely
pojawiac sie pierwsze dobre plyty. Do nich na pewno
moge zaliczyc zbior 50 migawek z podpatrywania nieprzeniknionych fenomenow natury, ktory Zavoloka i AGF dzwiekowo przekladaja na materie gesta, absorbujaca uwage, nie pozbawiona zarazem
harmonii, pewnego pociagajacego powabu, uroku.
Piotr Tkacz

OndaRock.it
ZAVOLOKA & AGF - NATURE NEVER PRODUCES THE SAME BEAT TWICE
La prima figura coinvolta nel progetto è Agf (Antye Greie-Fuchs): poetessa, cantante e instancabile musicista, autrice, nella sua carriera, di lavori dal valore assoluto: passando dal lato pop, "Filesharing" dei Laub, poi attraversando la carriera solista ("Westernization Completed" il suo migliore) e cogliendo a caso un disco, nel suo fantastico 2005, uscito sotto l'acronimo Lappetites, " Before The Libretto ", con i suoi deterioramenti sincopati e vagamente rumorosi. L'altra fanciulla in gioco è Zavoloka (Kateryna Zavoloka), giovanissima musicista ucraina, entrata nel giro dell'elettronica sperimentale che conta, a forza di opere ineccepibili. "Plavyna" e "Suspenzia", gli Lp che ha all'attivo, sono due pezzi di ghiaccio frastagliato, pungente e sfaccettato.Nel 2003, Agf, dopo aver ascoltato delle tracce della ragazzina, la contatta e, apprezzando a vicenda il loro lavoro, decidono di comporre musica assieme.Dividono il palco spesse volte, precisamente in Belgio e in Francia; il loro peregrinare fra vari concerti le porta a concepire la definizione "techno per gli alberi": 50 piccoli frammenti di una natura mai ripetitiva, scrosciante rumore freddo e puntiglioso, gocce di rugiada tenerissima, dolce, dolorosa. Spigolosità e angoli arrotondati, suoni che si (ri)creano a vicenda, circolari ricami timbrici, onde sinusoidali che presentano instabilità schizofreniche, in una battaglia di ritmo e fracasso, quasi una foresta di baccano che manifesta il suo dolore con distacco.La divisione delle tracce in cinque categorie rende il lavoro molto curioso, e funziona così.
Ogni sezione è caratterizzata da un target sonoro differente, cambiamenti appena percettibili, particolari che distinguono una manciata di biglie dalle altre. Tra glitch-pop , minimalismo e rumore puro, fra le prime 15 tracce della prima serie, particolarmente incisiva è "LionTeeth", loop di voci ombrose, staffilate di noise bianco, beat saltellante.
La seconda serie è più giocattolosa, il ritmo sale, le orecchie si fanno più ferite: sono un pugno di "canzoni" sorprendenti per impatto sonoro, come "Affenbrotbaum" e "Kiefer", turbine di pulviscoli colorati e impazziti. Il gruppo dedicato alle spezie si differenzia per un piglio più oscuro, i suoni sono meno scintillanti e, nel giro di sette perline, l'atmosfera si fa torbida e infettante. Una voce viene trattata in maniera indecente, contornata da schifezze ("Kohaju"), uno strepitio metallico perfora il senso di intendere ("Raps"), un processore si lamenta in preda a una calma floreale e profumata ("Minze").
Concludono, infatti, gli arbusti e i fiori. Un prato sconfinato fatto di colore e amore.Prima soffriamo inconsapevoli ("Efeu", "Wein", "Star"), soccombendo a un'apocalisse sommessa, s'intravede uno spiraglio di serenità ("Haselnuss", "Star"), ricadiamo nel più totale frastuono, impotenti ("Lynmovgory", Darkflowerbrainnita").
Animi pensanti rimarranno felicemente sorpresi dal tornado di trambusti qui presente, una piccola lacrima d'amore verrà ritirata e fatta cadere per un dolore benvoluto, piccoli sorrisi irregolari si presenteranno anche sul viso più imperscrutabile.

DE:BUG
ZAVOLOKA & AGF - NATURE NEVER PRODUCES THE SAME BEAT TWICE
Eine sehr extreme knisternde verkaterte Platte, die man irgendwo zwischen russischem Chanson und vertracktem digitalem Beat-Experiment verorten konnte, wenn sie einem nicht standig aus den Fingern springen wurde. Die Tracks sind konsequent nicht viel langer als eine Minute und verstehen sich deshalb aber trotzdem weniger als Skizzen, wobei ich mir gut denken kann, dass irgendwo im Hinterkopf die obskure Idee eines DJ-Tools, das diesem Jahrtausend angemessen ist, herumschweben konnte. Definitiv eine CD, die etwas
Grundlegendes hat und nicht das geringste Problem
Konzept und Musik in Einklang zu bringen.
bleed•••••

VITAL
ZAVOLOKA & AGF - NATURE NEVER PRODUCES THE SAME BEAT TWICE (CD by Nexsound) This collaboration was waiting to happen: the leading lady of glitch poetry Antye Greie Fuchs, aka AGF and upcoming star on that scene Kateryna Zavoloka. These women know each other since 2003 and they have played together in concert in France and Belgium, developing the concept Techno Like Trees.
Now this is worked out, or rather sketched out, in fifty short, one minute pieces, each dedicated to a certain plant. There are five subgroups: trees, bushes, meadow, flowers and spices. The names of the plants are sung in either German, Ukranian and English, but are usually to cut up to be understood. It doesn't matter really, what plant is what, unless of course you are a connoisseur of these matters (which I am not at all). This singing is set to one rhythmic pieces that is sometimes ongoing for a minute, but also at other times is totally broken up, and I must admit that doesn't help to enjoy the CD that much. The whole thing, fifty tracks in as many minutes, is already a guarantee that for a more sketch-like approach, but for the more chaotic pieces this makes matters even less easy. But some flowers are beautiful blossoming and you would want to keep that going for some more time than just that one minute. The repeat button is always a handy feature here, but the 'next' button also has it's proper function. Maybe an all female remix project would be an option. (FdW)

WIRE
Zavoloka-Suspenzia
There's so much superb Ukrainian electronic music coming out on Andrej Kirichenko's Nexsound label that it's tempting to see Kiev shaping up as the new Cologne or Vienna. Katia Zavoloka's debut is as challenging and rewarding as anything put out by labelmate Kotra or Kirichenko himself. Over the album's 70 minute span she proves herself to be a sly, witty programmer, as much at home with the confrontational machine noise and modulated radio static of "Laktorybka" as the itchy-twitchy Mouse On Mars-style nearly pop of "Nathnennia". One of the great things about Suspenzia is the way that it manages to find new things to say with the most overused of vocabulary, Zavoloka's deployment of delay and reverb effects being particularly noteworthy. This is tense, sinewy music, not easy to digest at first, but well worth the effort.
By Keith Mouline

nowamuzyka.pl
Zavoloka : Plavyna
Zblizajaca sie premiera „Nature never produces the same beat twice” autorstwa AGF i Zavoloki jest dobrym pretekstem, by zapoznac sie z tworczoscia drugiej z pan – owej dotychczas niezbyt znanej mlodej Ukrainki. Idealnym wstepem bedzie album "Plavyna" [po naszemu ‘mul’] wydany w zeszlym roku wspolnie przez ukrainski Nexsound i austriacki Laton.
Podczas sluchania tej krotkiej plyty czeka nas moc atrakcji. Zavoloka operuje w rejonie zimnej, ostrej elektroniki, kaskad mikro-dzwiekow, jest to tak bardzo ‘post-wszystko’, ze trudno o trafne, dokladne porownania z innymi artystami. Dzwieki same w sobie sa bardzo twarde, nie wypolerowane, ale ich ulozenie jest finezyjne, fantazyjne [czasem wrecz szalencze]. Artystka zbudowala na tym albumie wlasna stylistyke, jej podstawowym zalozeniem wydaje sie byc koncentracja. Materia
jest bardzo gesta, skondensowana, a osiagane jest to dzieki skupieniu na pojedynczy dzwieku. Czesto mialem wrazenie, ze jakas fraza powstala z rozszczepienia jednej probki na szereg mniejszych sygnalow, przez rozdrobnienie, rozciagniecie, wygiecie, zdewastowanie jej.
W pierwszej czesci plyty niewiele jest rytmow, bitow jako takich prawie wcale, a nawet wiekszych motywow, ktore daloby sie wyszczegolnic, wychwycic. Jesli juz cos takiego sie przydarzy, to wydaje sie to kwestia przypadku, przejscia pomiedzy kolejnymi skomplikowanymi konfiguracjami, ktore sie przegryzaja, przeplataja sie ze soba. Blakamy sie w
tych meandrach, podazamy tropami, ktore wydaja sie dokads prowadzic, a one – zaraz nikna.
Jesli termin ‘owadzia muzyka’ ma jakis sens, to wlasnie w przypadku albumow takich, jak „Plavyna”. Z tym, ze tutaj obserwujemy wszystkie owady w powiekszeniu, jakbysmy zostali drastycznie pomniejszeni albo one powiekszone. Swiat wykreowany przez Zavoloke, jest wszechogarniajacy, dochodzi ze wszystkich stron naraz. Mozna tylko przysluchiwac sie w zdziwieniu, nasluchiwac, dosluchiwac – bo zawsze bedzie cos, co nas ominie.
W drugiej czesci albumu w warstwe czysto elektroniczna zostaja wplecione watki z muzyki etnicznej. I tu ogromne brawa, Zavoloka po raz kolejny siega po cos rzadko spotykanego i znow wspaniale wyzyskuje ten element. Pokazuje, ze mozna odwolac sie wprost do tradycji i nie powstaje z tego jakis cyber-folkowy koszmar czy papka world music. Ale to wlasnie dzieki korzennosci wykorzystanego dorobku muzyki folkowej Karpat eksperyment sie udaje. Barwa fujarki pasterskiej i
surowy glos jakiejs ‘babuszki’ spiewajacej smutna piesn sa tak samo mocne, glebokie, dojmujace, jak chlod partii elektronicznych.
No i to wlasnie to – jedna z najlepszych plyt zeszlego roku.
W pelni osobista wizja, gdzie nowe splata sie ze starym. Zupelnie odmienna, osobna, choc zaznajomiona z dorobkiem wspolczesnosci. Niech to nie bedzie potraktowane, jak prosty drogowskaz, ale fani introwertycznego eksperymentu 8rolek [a juz zwlaszcza z czasow „Ptaka mechanicznego”] na pewno odnajda sie w muzyce Ukrainki.

Real Tokyo
Zavoloka-Suspenzia
Katja Zavoloka is a young Ukrainian artist who releases her wonderful music on Andrey Kiritchenko's Nexsound label. A bit reminiscent of AGF (from the former GDR), she is one of the few female artists in the realm of cutting-edge electronic music who successfully combine sonic minimalism, accessibly melodic structures and danceable rhythms. Like most of the numerous artists from former USSR who keep attracting attention with brilliant releases these days, Zavoloka interweaves her pieces with decent traditional elements that give her music depth and a fascinating exotic touch. "Suspenzia" ranges from abstract, experimental textures to straight 4/4 beats, whereas the tasteful, dynamic arrangement throughout pulls the listener deep into the excitingly clear ocean of sounds. (Andreas)

loop Zavoloka, 'Suspenzia' This album was already released in 2003 on Nexsound and Zeromoon on MP3 format and now re-released in a glossy green digi-pack CD comprised by seventeen tracks.Katja Zavoloka is a young musician and graphic designer from Kiev , the capital of Ukraine who mix digital and analog sounds and some interesting voices sung by Ukrainian natives, tribal percussion and microrhythms.All over the album we can find unexpected sounds quite abstract most of them processed under software design, a bit dark alongwith minimal palette of sounds/noises that remembers me of the work of Jason Kahn and Kim Cascone.The songs in Ukrainian language give to this album a distinctive Eastern flavor as on the opener ‘Edyna' and on ‘Polissia ', alongwith computer generated sounds producing rich tones and timbres, sets 'Suspenzia' as a very creative work. More info. go to www.nexsound.org and at the artist web site www.zavoloka.com Guillermo Escudero

Vital
Zavoloka-Plavyna
Ukrains Nexsound label have been around for quite some time now, dividing their time and energy between releasing 'real' CDs and releasing MP3s. Katja Zavoloka hails from Kyiv in the Ukraine and has released a couple of MP3s albums and some CDRs, most notably for Zeromoon (see Vital Weekly 414). That was a bit too short to say anything about it, but here is her debut release on a CD, co-released with Austria's Laton label. I've read that the "Plavyna" album is inspired by the folk music of her region, but it's probably not entirely my unawareness that I didn't recognize any of this in the vivid rhythmic yet abstract digital sound collages of Zavoloka until after the seventh track. Melodies arrive in there, here and there, but most of the time things are hectic and full of energy. Sometimes the use of reverb is a bit too tedious, but as a whole this is clicks 'n cuts of the better kind. In 'Kosytsia' she reaches an almost technoid beat, with warpian senses. In the final pieces of the album, she starts chopping up the folk tunes, which she does rather nicely, but however this also breaks the album in two different things, which is a pity. However, the entire album is quite nice as a whole.
Fdw

Cracked
Zavoloka-Plavyna
With "plavyna" Katja Zavoloka has managed to put an interesting and admireable piece of work in the large empty space that exists between harsh noise and free form avant-garde, between glitches and minimal. Though most of the other projects I have heard, which attempted to do the same, turned out boring, but this CD is lively and full of humourous dynamics. Moreover, she introduces a few surprising elements and shows that there is still a lot of potential hidden.
Beautiful surprises await at the end of the road for those able to walk them out. Like almost something like a melody halfway through this record and an almost "folk" song at the end. But let's take it one after another.Zavoloka is actually Katja Zavoloka from Kiev, Ukraine, who has been around the mostly virtual world of mp3-posting on various places for some years now next to her occupation as a graphic designer[1]. More important, though, she has modelled her very own, unique universe of sounds, mainly bleeps and feeps with a little glitches here and there, held together by her more than unique feeling of structure and rhythm. Inspite of all the unexpected events, the unknown and strange surroundings and the sudden changes, the atmosphere of "plavyna" is warm, gentle and playful. Which is not at all bad for a "debut". Since I don't regard proper mp3-albums as inferior to regular CDs, I can't really call this a debut as such. If anyone of you reading this wants to discuss the importance or ranking of music-storage formats with me, I'd politely decline and casually mention, that I'd rather talk about the music on them (especially when judging the global importance of electronic avant-garde music on an objective scale.)The movements of the sounds to be found on "plavyna" reminds me of the dance of butterflies or the way the wind may swirl a piece of fluff over an empty place, with all its seemingly random yet hidden control of directions. The kind of stop and go in aesthetically motion that makes you wonder, if they are based on accident, on a set of rules, or on the random interplay of rules? So it is like the old postmodern mathematical science put into sound. Or is it just a special female touch that is invading noise-avantgarde? Songtitles translate as "little flower" or "painted berries" among others. If compared to Kotra's "dissillient", to choose an example from the same label, "plavyna" seems to be a walk in the park with a couple of little children. But only to people, who have never tended to small kids, an occupation most people would describe as "beautiful but exhausting". Such a female influence would be very much welcome, though I don't care if the actual, biological gender of an artist is male or female.The music is mainly single notes and sounds, that fly across the aural scape in random movements. It takes Zavoloka into the middle of track five, "plavyna" to introduce something like a melody and to track six, "Kosytsia" to start something as a steady rhythm. Both dissolve into the rest of the sounds quite quickly or get osmotically sucked into a new dimension. The vocals in track seven, "Kolyskova", come as a surprise. First there are some spheric noises and discordant bells, interferences and so on. Suddenly that lulling voice sets in, which sounds like an aged, old voice at first. So much that I started to doubt it was Zavoloka's. It also sounds like a very old melody, maybe even a traditional song of some kind. The title of the track translates as "Lullaby", so that spawns more suggestions toward old songs. The incorporation into her almost free form sound-scapes is to me one of the highlights of this record.Now get this: the next track, "teche voda ledova" or "cold water flowing", starts with pure and simple flute sounds as beautiful as might be found on any new age CD. Even the melody is soothing and simple, almost like that coffee advertisement on tv. The glitches and noises in the background soon destroy that impression, though they are in now way disharmonic or nerve-killing on the listener. The effect is startling nevertheless. The flutes are soon displaced by metallic sounding percussions that heat themselves into a desperate frenzy. Is it meant to be an up-to-date rework of the "Moldau"? With the flutes signifying the beautiful spring of the water and the metallic percussions the lead pipes of its industrialization? If so, why do the flutes return in the third part of the track? Maybe because Zavoloka is relaxing in a hot bath: The flute will return again later as well, so there is no need to inhibit your connotations and thoughts to any small confinement. There actually never is.

Gaz-eta
Zavoloka-Plavyna
Finally, we get to a very strangely enchanting record by Ukrainian experimental artist Katja Zavoloka. "Plavyna" [which translates as "Silt"] is an album as much of surprises as it is of utter shocks. Zavoloka takes the listeners on a journey into the land of high-pitched computer generated clicks and snips. Occasional tiny, soft beats are heard underneath the static soundscapes which she creates from scratch. Metallic glitterings and ear-crushing feedback-like fizzing overtake the ears. On "Kolyskova" [or "Lullaby"], her haunting vocals feed your soul, as much as filling your ears. Ultimately, "Plavyna" is a trip worth taking, only if to explore and feel the novelty of Zavoloka's auditory world. Tom Sekowski

Indie |rus|
Zavoloka-Plavyna

Phosphor
Zavoloka-Plavyna
Plavyna is Katja Zavoloka's first CD release on Ukraine-based Nexsound after first having released an mp3 album on the same label. Nexsound has released work of a number of well-known and not so well-known artists over the past years. "Plavyna" was inspired by the folk music of the Ciscarpathian region in Ukraine. Zavoloka summons quite a long stretch of clicks, fragmented melodies, rhythmic particles, and various other sounds, where occasionally fragments of what I assume to be folk music from the Ukraine pop up. This wild variety of sounds is carefully assembled in a rich kaleidoscopic mixture that most resemble stuttering machines. The density and jittery movements from one movement to another resembles the work of some breakcore musicians, but Zavoloka's work has a much stronger emphasis on melody and sounds lighter and more delicate than most releases in the aforementioned genre. A demanding release, but original in its approach.
(mvk)

Outsight Communications
Zavoloka-Plavyna
Kateryna Zavoloka is a musician from Kiev, Ukraine. Her instrumental electronica percolates with rapid and unexpected beet, bleeps and crisp snaps. At times this seem to be such a dense polyrhythms as to approach incomprehensibility. Then such tracks as "Rankova (Matin)" will gel into a languid if trippy journey. Zavoloka explains that her intention is "to produce more and more frank music that could reflect her momentary shades of feelings and emotions." (3)

Etherreal
Zavoloka-Plavyna
Zavoloka est le nom de famille de Kateryna, un petit bout de femme de 23 ans vivant a Kiev, en Ukraine. C'est logiquement sur Nexsound qu'on la retrouve pour ce premier album surprenant de maturite, apres avoir produit en 2003 un album MP3 sur ce meme label.
La musique de Zavoloka interpelle. Apres une courte intro facon chant d'oiseau ludique, elle produit quelques pieces plutot experimentales mais pourtant toujours touchantes ou par moment accrocheuses. Des bruits divers, de tonalites variees s'enchainent de facon abstraite et par moment une magnifique melodie cristalline s'en echappe comme un genie sortirait de sa lampe. De la meme maniere pendant quelques secondes des impacts noisy vont former une rythmique qui nous fera hocher la tete. Ce qui rend egalement la musique de l'Ukrainienne touchante, c'est le nombre d'elements sur lesquels l'auditeur peut se retrouver, comme les impacts metalliques de Dzerkalo qui nous font penser a une horloge dereglee, des bleeps gazouillant a la maniere d'un orchestre d'oiseaux sur le final printanier et bucolique de Teche Voda Ledova.
Avec une palette sonore assez limitee, contribuant certainement a la coherence de l'album, Zavoloka produit tout de meme un disque fort riche et varie. Si l'on est d'abord marque par ces experimentations un peu abstraites et/ou ludiques avec un sens melodique subtilement dissemine, elle flirte avec l'electronica melodique sur le superbe Rankova et ses notes limpides, cristallines, avec un etonnant final a la flute. Ses constructions nous font parfois penser a une musique contemporaine minimale (Dzerkalo), ses sonorites limpides font l'objet d'un travail subtile sur Plavyna dont la melodie, reprise par plusieurs instruments, s'avere a la fois efficace et complexe, on pense meme aux premieres productions d'Autechre sur Kosytsia qui se voit bientot parasite par de nombreux bruitages qui serviront de rythmique, ou a un croisement entre Pan Sonic et une production 12k sur Kolyskova, debutant par une ambient minimale aux sonorites particulierement brutes, avant d'integrer un chant ukrainien empreint par la tradition du pays pour un resultat epoustouflant. Cette sorte de retour aux traditions est confirme sur Teche Voda Ledova qui debute par une melodie de flute, sur laquelle viennent se poser bleeps et basses electroniques ou longue nappe lineaire marque par de courtes sequences bruitistes.
Zavoloka est tres certainement un sacre personnage, se permettant a 23 ans de tels melanges avec une telle assurance, et surtout une telle reussite. Bravo aux labels Nexsound et Laton qui ont unis leurs efforts afin de donner sa chance a une jeune artiste pleine de promesses.

Paris Transatlantic
Zavoloka-Plavyna
When I was 13 my dad went on a trip to Leningrad organised by the British Communist Party (back then it was the only way to go), and brought back a vintage Soviet cheap vinyl pressing of Shostakovich's Leningrad Symphony, complete with bold, red, fisting constructivist cover art and inner sleeves made of stiff brown recycled paper that smelt suspiciously like raw sewage. The promo copies of the latest two releases on Andrey Kiritchenko's Nexsound label also come in plan brown paper- odourless, thankfully - and I'm inclined to wonder if they'll age as badly as the Shostakovich (proof, were any needed, that the heroic and the bombastic are never too far away from each other). The opening track of Zavoloka's Plavyna takes a pretty, reverberant flute melody and allows her software to morph it into a 21st century isorhythmic motet of glitches and squiggles. It's a spanking recording, though I'm left with the uneasy feeling that, if they had the right equipment, just about anybody with a bit of sense and a good working knowledge of the Mego and Rephlex back catalogues could come up with something rather similar. Dive-bombing comb-filtered swoops and all manner of fizzes, whizzes and blips straight outta Planet Mu are perfectly listenable, but will probably sound as dated twenty years from now as Shostakovich's crashing banality. One gets the impression that one should be applauding the software, and not the person using it.
-DW

Metica
Zavoloka-Plavyna
Vissa skivor tar lite tid att forsta sig pa och 'Plavyna' ar en av dem. Inledande 'Maliovani Jafyny' ar kravande, jag kunde inte finna ro att ta mig igenom den och skivan stangdes av flera ganger innan laten ens var slut. Nar jag spelade upp laten for mina vanner fick jag reaktioner som 'sa har later det nar nagon kor en Unix-installation via ett ljudkort' och 'hon maste ha kopplat en geigermatare till en MIDI-synth'. Det ska sagas att jag inte var sen att instamma men, kara lasare, ni maste komma ihag att jag da endast hade lyssnat pa skivans forsta spar. Zavoloka gor inte noise. Aven fast musiken pa 'Plavyna' ar bruten ar ljuden aldrig pafrestande pa det dar direkt kroppsliga sattet som japanerna ar sa bra pa. Snarare ar musiken mjuk och vacker. Valdigt ofta paminner de intensivt hoppande och studsande ljuden om djurlaten, vattendrag och granskog.
"Det handlar om naturromantik..."
Det ar som sagt egentligen bara den forsta laten pa skivan som pa riktigt kraver nagot av lyssnaren (aven fast det spattiga och hart uppklippta delvis aterkommer i laten 'Kosytsia'). Efter det forsvinner knepigheterna nastan helt och lugnet och varmen kommer fram. Det ar lite som att stanna bilen pa en stressad motorvag, kliva ur och gar rakt ut i skogen. Forst handlar det endast om att undvika att bli pakord men nar tradlinjen val ar bruten och motorvagen ligger bakom ryggen blir allt lugnare och stressen forsvinner allt mer ju langre in i skogen man kommer. Det handlar om naturromantik, Zavoloka gor musik som later som sagoskog med solvarma skogsglantor, porlande backar och blomsterangar. For ovrigt inte allt for olikt de skogar som beskrivs i Robin Hood och Bilbo, eller Nalle Puh for den delen. 'Plavyna' visar pa slaktskap med Tapes fortjusande skiva 'Milieu', men dar Tape later musiken stanna vid varma sommardagar och skogsglantor vill Zavoloka sa garna ga lite langre och blir overtydlig i sin imitation av naturen. Musikens spattighet gor dock att de manga naturromantiska dragen inte helt far ta over och darfor ramlar skivan aldrig ner i den lomska new age-fallan som skymtar har och dar, aven fast den kommer farligt nara ibland. Lattips: 'Kolyskova' och 'Teche voda ledova'.
Forfattare: Zac Fors

Rock and Pop
Zavoloka-Plavyna
I vychod ma sve hvezdy v experimentalni elektronice. Jen je treba promnout si oci zalepene zlatym prachem ze Zapadu a otocit se na chvili na druhou stranu. Go East! I tam muze zlatokop narazit na zilu. Jednou z nich je ukrajinsky label Nexsound. A jednou z jejich chranencu je Kateryna Zavoloka. Po debutovem MP3 albu Suspenzia (2003) vydala Katja sve prvni regulerni album, ktere vyvolava v zasvecenych kruzich pozitivni odezvy. Co pozitivni, tahle holka si zaslouzi nadseni. Uz chapu, ze je kamaradkou AGF. Myslenkova spriznenost se nezapre, ackoliv formalni rozdilnost je na prvni pohled slysitelna. A to je dobre. Koncept zvukove cistoty a jednoduchosti v komplikovanejsi zvukove forme. Jeji glitche jsou totiz krkolomne tak, ze musite nekdy natacet hlavu na vsechny strany, abyste zachytili jejich logiku. Ale ona tam je. A dokonce i melodie. Ale chce to usili a zavrit si okno. Intelektualni procistenost, ale ne zadna askeze zvuku. Organicky hedonismus. Jako kdyby jste si za uplnku vyrazili na LSD do prirody a nahodou se napojili na jeji vnitrni jazyk. V pocatecnim soku nerozeznate vic nez zmatek zvukoruchu, ale po chvili uz umite rozlustit dorozumivaci kody. Zvlast kdyz do vas pri Rankove lesni duch vpravi zvukem carovne fujary novy jazyk. Jirik ze Zlatovlasky tusi. Stavate se tichym pozorovatelem prirodni komunikace. Konecne ma kazdy zvuk svuj vyznamovy ekvivalent, ovsem ne v nasem jazyce. Staci dotyk, a vsechno oziva. Uz jste si povidali s mechovymi kvitky? Jako by najednou uz bylo zbytecne hrat si na schovavanou a je nacase si vzajemne odkryt rousku. A jako z jine vrstvy reality vnimate zpev podkarpatskych starenek pri spradani niti a melodii pasackovi fletny, ktera se odrazi od okorale praskajici kury stromu. Ale i do tehle reality jste nekdy patrili, vzpominate? Digitalne upravena prirodni idylka nebo taky nesnesitelna psychedelie. Vyberte si.

Signal To Noise
Zavoloka-Plavyna
For the new generation of electronic composers jealous of not having grown up in the age of enormously beautiful analog synths, the first track on Playna, "For A Cuckoo", serves up a 7 second homage that perfectly exemplifies and condenses the best that that music offers. And then Katja Zavoloka is done with that stuff, breaking off her own new dimension of electro-acoustic plumage for the rest of this excellent inaugural full-length from the Ukrainian composer. Soft digi-bells wave over the top of oblongly circulating ticks like melody messages from other solar systems on "Painted Berries." A lot of sharply rising and descending tones ribbon out in vaguely Squarepusherish dynamism, but what sets her compositions apart is the careful distinction she makes between rhythmic and melodic functions within a song, giving each equal weight and in perfectly unpredictable durations. It's the difference between the atmosphere and the weather, but experienced simultaneously from space and the equator. Using Ciscarpathian flutes as an acoustic sound source and what sounds like a lovable uncle singing, Zavoloka incorporates a deep well of enthusiasm for contemporary electronics with a natural sensitivity to what just sounds good. An impressive, demanding debut.

Indieville
Zavoloka-Plavyna
Zavoloka's album is the most accessible release I've received yet from Ukrainian label Nexsound. This is bleepy, glitchy IDM, taking cues from Autechre and Aphex Twin, but really of its own unique style. Rhythms are often subtle - even suggested - but even in its most free-flowing and abstract moments, there is a sense of order and organization here. I really enjoy the experience that Zavoloka has created with these ten tracks, as this seems to have found a perfect balance between IDM and experimental electronic music. Melody is the one fleeting ingredient here - Zavoloka seems more content to work on atmospherics and complex compositional architecture - but with that said, there is still enough tunefulness to keep an open-minded ear entertained. Favourite moments include the warped woodwinds on "Teche Voda Ledo" and the dense melodies and rhythms of "Rankova." This is perfect listening for a detached, sleepless 4am winter night.
87%
Matt Shimmer

babesinboyland
Kateryna Zavoloka is a musician from Kyiv city, Ukraine, which seems to be a rarity in itself worth noting. This is electronic music in the true sense: neither electro-hype clash, nor pop. No, we're here talking about analogical and digital noises accompanied here and there by vocals "Siayati/suspenzia" and melodies.
Plavyna is Kateryna Z's first "real" record. By "real" I mean the first one on cd, since she's been "releasing" mp3s here and there, and that "Susupenzia", her very first release was in fact a collection of these mp3s. Melodies, noisy sequences, ethnic vocals, going back and worth between technology and roots, here lies the philosophy of this 23 years old artist.
Both albums were released by Nexsound, a Ukranian label (highly recommended) specialized in experimental music, whether it's acoustic or electronic, which the label calls "environmental music "

Burning Emptiness
Zavoloka-I (2004)
"Lying somewhere in between contemporary classical music and beat electronica, Kateryna Zavoloka
makes an invisible bridge between the ultra-intellectual approach of say Pierre Schaeffer and the
more relaxed, instinctive melodica-vs.-amiga one of say Trombone. Twenty minutes of digital beatz’n’dronz, sampled-and-hacked vocals, sweet spontaneous tune creation and beauty. Free music:
free to electronics like free is to jazz. Another superb 3” from Zeromoon." - Burning Emptiness