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KRYPTOGEN RUNDFUNK "22.SZ"

Press-release by Mechanoise Labs:

Those of you that have been paying some degree of attention will already know Kryptogen Rundfunk from his split with Rupor Udara released not that long. The EP provided an opportunity to hear some key elements of his pet sounds: pulsating drones, low-key rhythms and more importantly, the mass of dense radio noise that has even become incorporated in his own label's domain name.

Recorded mostly in 2002, 22.SZ was scheduled to be self-released on Zhelezobeton, but delays due to other productions happily made it end up in our hands. Using gritty radio textures, shuddering digital noise and subdued rhythmic structures, this debut album elegantly combines simplicity with satisfaction. The layered sound hums and sizzles with the soothing quality of a crackling power line, achieving the glowing warmth of an electrical fire.

Judging from some of the reactions received during Kryptogen Rundfunk's live shows, there is indeed a sensuous aspect to the sound, a calm and seductive side that gently seeps into your senses with the flowing static. 22.SZ is your chance to treat yourself to it.

Review by Industrial.org (31.12.2004):

As much as it may be cathartic to (very occasionally) tear a sub-quality release a new orifice I actually gain very little satisfaction at getting stuck reviewing shit I hate - I'd much rather be salivating over the latest caustic cleansing than whining about watered down meal substitutes and the more crap I shovel, the less I feel like shovelling at all. So I was plenty glad to see this latest Mechanoise Labs effort peeking out of my postal box since it very likely meant that the drain of mediocrity was at least one full length release away from my CD player. And thankfully my hunch proved right.

This Kryptogen Rundfunk release contains 8 tracks spread over 41 minutes and comes packaged in a snazzy oversized vinyl sleeve with a cardstock inner foldout. Firmly planted in industrial realms it is nice to see less analog drum machine this time around and far more grinding off of the paint to expose the grey concrete and rusted rebar hidden beneath the surface. The tracks range through both harsher and dronier ambient material to noise focused industrial pieces with most melodic content limited to only a few outbursts or at least to being minimalist in nature. Sparse is also a common adjective in play here, the plumes of dust stirred up by each burst of activity generally allowed to settle before the next one hits. Likewise, most songs come and go like seasons... slow attacks down gentle slopes, motifs shifting in slow motion, LFOs frequencies well under 1Hz.

Haus Arafna would be the most immediate comparison overall (minus the vocal component) though melodic moments on tracks like "Ohne Augen" for example dip as far back as "Voice Of America" era Cabaret Voltaire when reaching out into the available pool of influences. The more ambient moments also point to Kenotaph, the colours washed out a tad more but the overall tone somewhat similar if not quite as dense.

I don't have a lot of complaints here since the mastering is great and there is an overall notable lack of sucking. About the worst I could throw at it is that at times it seems almost too sparse with the ambience a little hard to find in quite this much darkness (you don't want to drop your glasses during "3cm cubed" for example). I am also not quite 100% sold on the pilfered schmaltz piano anthem waltzing around the final track "Goworit Moskwa!", mainly because it refuses to buzz off when the drills and electrodes come out and although the ghost reference works, it would have been cool to hear the poltergeist get a bit more violent.

Taken as a whole however Mechanoise Labs have produced another disc worthy of the repeat mode of your discman. A definite improvement over Kryptogen Rundfunk's previous performance and some much needed refreshment for this particular industrial shit worker.

Moron.

Review by Aural Pressure (25.01.2005):

The Mechanoise Labs record label and I have an ongoing love / hate relationship. Some of their releases, which will remain nameless to protect the guilty parties involved, have caused me to throw the CD against my living room wall in disgust and fury at the ineptitude of music I was forced to listen to. On the other hand releases by The Last Day, Aluminum Noise and Noxious Nub, to name but a few, were strangely beguiling in the 'it's so weird and noisy it's good' style.

The last release I heard by the Russian artist Kryptogen Rundfunk was on his split cd release with fellow compatriot Rupor Udara ( Mechanoise Labs 019 ) and it was a total 'fuck me what the fuck is that?' enjoyable experience of the highest order. I'm happy to report that "22.SZ" follows that blueprint to the nth degree. Treading the musical vision of Experimental, with a huge capital 'E', sounds with darkly pervading ambient overtones and blasts of intrusive white noise and digital glitch passages the overall effect is one of controlled chaos that stays just on the right side of accessibility. 'You've gotta roll with it' as those dumb ass Manchester cunts once sang. As you can imagine '22.SZ' is not a record that will reach out to the masses. By its very nature the music, if you wish to call it that, can be a testing unfathomable melange that's hard to get into. The static bursts and atmospheric drones that prevail mask an unearthly deep seductive experience. Only through persistent perseverance on the part of the listener will the gigantic scope and vision of the abstract flow of the artists true imagination shine through. Whether you have the patience, tolerance or willpower to actually allow yourself to be immersed in a sea of undulating concrete sound that only makes sense after repeated plays only you will know.

If you do manage to stick with it you'll be ultimately rewarded with a kaleidoscope of fresh ideas that may alter forever your views on experimental music.

ANM.

Description of Angle Rec. catalogue:

Ah, those divine Russians! In the last few years, the electronic and experimental music world thrived in Russia. The projects multiplied at an unstoppable pace, exploring several directions, and many quality releases became mandatory for fans of everywhere in the world. One of the newcomers from this scene is Kryptogen Rundfunk, which has recently caught the public's attention with a split release with Rudra Vena (a mistake here, actually with Rupor Udara, not Rudra Vena - M.M.), under French label Mechanoise Labs, which had given us the opportunity to become familiar with the standard ingredients of its approach: pulsated sound loops, blurred rhythmic structures, and especially, this dense cluster of static and radio frequencies that is reused in a judicious way which became the trademark of Kryptogen Rundfunk. On the first official album of this project, entitled 22.SZ, the same elements are repeated and enhanced, with the support of more noisy structures that are digitally generated, leading to a sound that seems, at first glance, massive and saturated, but which is surprisingly soothing. A true discovery. Fans of COH or Bad Sector will surely appreciate this!!!

Review by Dogmatik (25.01.2005):

It is not easy to describe this recording. Do not think your CD player is actually going berserk. It did not break down, nor did your sound system, you have just started listening to newest release by "Kryptogen Rundfunk" entitled "22.SZ" on the "Mechanoise" label. Both the label andthe artist are probably unknown to the majority of our readers. But I am sure some of you, after reading this article, will at least want to visit their site or go and search for the release. All amateurs of drones, pulses, ambient pads, noise, radio wave interference, cracks, pops, ticks, "krrrr", "fjew", "sssccchhhh" and other sounds will adore this release. There are no real rhythmic patterns and structures supporting these constructs of barely audible changes in tone faintly braking through the noise of the drones and airwaves as if it were the sun trying to transmit a faint reminder of joy to people who live in a country where it rains 99% of the time. And it works... This is a release through which you can not skip and or scroll. You need to undergo it from start to finish. Only as this Tsunami of noise drags you along under water violently you will loose resistance and the will or ability to fight it. At one point the noise starts flirting with you, showing you more then you had seen before and the rich textures which are immanent to the noise start showing. Along this process you also start to distinct the warm pads and rich analog sounds that are hidden within the noise. Then you risk falling in love. And for the record I would like to state : "I did love it".

Joeri De Ren.

Review by Independent Electronic Music (02.02.2005):

This is the first full-length offering from the St.-Petersbourg-based one-man project, but also his acclaimed debut in terms of international distribution. Known for the excellent contribution to compilations like "Extreme Music From Russia" (Susan Lawly) and "Like Music To Their Ears Vol.2" (Mechanoise Labs), Kryptogen Rundfunk also made some live appearances and released outstanding collaborations like "Hidden Broadcast" (Extremal Psyhonauts) and "Silentium Universi" (Abgurd Subdivision) on very limited CDRs. M.M., mastermind behind KR moniker, operates mainly with radionoises, field recordings and analogue electronics, in order to put some order in this chaos of chaoses. The result is quite abstract but pretty organized, unlike many examples of simple noise juxtaposing, which is predominating in this genre. The only exception is the goofy final track "Goworit Moskwa" (Moscow Speaking), using the tune from soviet anthem - a kind of humour not suitable in this context. But in overall, very interesting stuff and recommended to those who are into experimental noise music. I'd like to compare it with some most impressive works of Contagious Orgasm and Bad Sector.

Dmitry Vasilyev.

Review by Vital Weekly (30.03.2005):

Kryptogen Rundfunk is a new name for me, from Russia. So far there have been two releases on Mechanoise Labs aswell as a track on Susan Lawley's 'Extreme Music From Russia', all of which I never heard. '22.SZ' was already recorded in 2002 and supposed to be released by Zhelezobeton, but it ended up on Mechanoise Labs. Kryptogen Rundfuk uses analogue synthesizers, radio sounds and drummachines to create a sound that is best described as old school industrial meeting ambient-drone music. Harsh, metallic sounding shortwave radio sounds intercept with the analogue drones and occassionally a rhythmic patterns move in. Not a very innovative sound that is going on here, but it's nevertheless recorded and produced nicely. The eight pieces are varied enough, including the old Soviet anthem in 'Goworit Moskwa!' and each has strength of it's own. Maybe not the sort of thing I'd be playing a lot, but nice enough; it stands out among the rest of this kind of music.

FdW.

Review by Radium:

While the debut release by Kryptogen Rundfunk was a promising one, but clearly still in the process of searching for a personal style, the latest offering 22.SZ clearly displays that the search had not been in vain. Stylistically the project has now positioned itself somewhere between concrete ambient and noise without forgetting drawing some nuances also from the industrial side. Those familiar with the German language might very well have already guessed that radio plays an important role in the music. It functions as a source for static buzzing and crackling as well as for fragments of speech. Out of these elements, and with the aid of old Soviet era synthesizers, are constructed coherent tracks with a technological, yet not really a modern atmosphere.

It may be due to similar approach to sound sources, but the soundscapes created often bear resemblance to the undisputed master of industrial ambient, Bad Sector. Similarity to Dolmen Factory era material is especially obvious during the tracks Radiokatzenjammer and Krampf, which both combine distinct melodies with harsher noise sculptures. Of those two the latter one is the definite highlight of the album. The balance between melodic drones and scraping noise is delicate, yet well thought out and controlled and thus displays a great sense of composition.

However, the comparison to only one artist is not the whole truth even though the highlights do reside there. For example Ohne Augen develops an unexpected rhythm, which is not utilized to its maximum yet, but still offers an insight to what capabilities Kryptogen Rundfunk possesses for diversifying his expression. Verborgenen Spuren ventures boldly straight ahead into the realm of noise, but manages still to carry the distinct feeling of structure, which sounds very thought out and thus even "musical". On the more industrial side we have Maulkorb in which the combination of looping echoed speech samples and cold metallic drones even reminds me of some calmer and instrumental output by Genocide Organ. A peculiar, yet fitting conclusion is reached with Goworit Moskwa!, which in practice is the national anthem of Soviet Union buried under a sea of radio statics.

22.SZ displays that Kryptogen Rundfunk has matured as a musician and is able to create professional noisescapes with an identity. Different elements are still a bit scattered throughout the album and some ideas still need refining, but the overall impression is a very positive one and thus can be recommended for connoisseurs of more ambient side of noise music. Especially fans of Bad Sector need not think twice about getting this one.

vtl.

Review by Industrialised Culture Research Network (11.2005):

In the early eighties Laibach referred to a 'magical dimension of the industrial process', to something uncanny and excessive that emerges from industrial (dys)function (see http://www.ljudmila.org/embassy/3a/10.htm). Laibach operated in a context that was still nominally functional, although its mythical treatment of socialist heavy industry hinted at how it was already becoming archaic (see Monroe, A. Laibach and NSK: 'Industrial Diagnoses of Post-Socialism', M'ARS Ljubljana VIII/3-4, 1996.) The current generation of Russian and post-Soviet noise and industrial artists also operate in an ex-socialist context, but one that has failed on a far more catastrophic scale than in Yugoslavia. Western industrial groups prophesied the sudden and violent collapse of industrial civilisation, but their post-Soviet successors live in and respond to such a scenario. Abandoned bunkers and military facilities, decaying factories that were recently state of the art, depopulated arctic cities and gulags - even those living relatively sheltered lives in the post-modernising cities are surrounded by and aware (consciously or otherwise) of this Promethean debris. For such artists, meltdown and apocalyptic collapse are not aesthetic ideals but an element of everyday reality.

This project, released on the French label Mechanoise Labs evokes both the uncanny aspects of industry and the trauma of its operation in an increasingly dysfunctional context. It is sometimes almost overloaded by ghostly radio frequencies that seem to haunt themselves and by grinding oppressive processes. What these might be we can only guess, but it hovers in the imagination somewhere between a grimy noisy nightshift in a provincial factory and some dangerous Tesla style techno-occultist experiment. The heavy bass pulsing of a chronically unstable power supply gives the work its momentum. Over this dense layers of noise and texture emerge. Sonic sparks fly off unnameable ominous processes. Even the more 'ambient' (in the stricter sense) tracks such as Radiokatzenjammer tend to give way to the layers of writhing unworldly textures constantly lurking in the depths of the sound-mass. Machinic rhythms sometimes emerge from the fog and Ohne Augen is slightly reminiscent of Techno Animal's massively overloaded beats. The corroded metal textures and abrasive velocities of Verborgenen Spuren suggest the operation of some demonic particle accelerator built from contaminated obsolete components. Despite the predominantly dark atmosphere, more ethereal tones sometimes emerge from the din, and sublime hints emerge from the machinic carnage. Krampf in particular seems to possess an epic/cinematic quality. Organ type tones swim through a deep pulse wave, and a symphonic/elegiac atmosphere struggles with a constantly grow(l)ing seething sub-layer agitated by deeper approaching and departing pulses. On the closing Goworit Moskwa! the post-Soviet theme surfaces explicitly as a slightly kitschy but melancholic version of the old Soviet anthem battles with feedback textures. All this suggests a stance somewhere between Soviet nostalgia and absolute horror at the consequences of Soviet industrialisation (but also at post-Soviet de-industrialisation). The traumas and the aesthetic opportunities arising from these colossal traumas are inseparable but if it is possible to salvage some meaning from what Laibach once called 'a mad tale of woe', there is perhaps room for some perverse optimism. While it does recover valuable elements, 22.SZ is too ambivalent and abrasive to win over the listener completely. The number of layers deployed and the tensions between them give it a productive ambivalence that maintains distance, preventing full identification while still generating fascination.

Alexei Monroe.

Review by Re:Automation Online (11.01.2006):

Kryptogen Rundfunk is a project from Russia who create, for a lack of a better term, Industrial-Noise-Ambient-Drone music. While the surface of Kryptogen Rundfunk's debut album "22.SZ" sounds like a blowtorch scraping away the rust off decaying metal, the underbelly sounds like a warm wave of sonic ambiance and soothing meditative tones. While some rhythmic elements do invade the occasional sonic barrage ("Ohne Augen" for instance sounds like Winterkalte on half speed), for the most part the music is radio noise, high frequencies, scraping noise elements and deep sonic tones.

Also worth mention is the great rendition of "Goworit Moskwa!" which for me was a really nice treat since I've always loved it since childhood. Also I'm in love with "Krampf" which to me is probably the most frightening piece of sound art I've heard in months, truly brilliant!

So to summarize, you're either going to fall in love with the music of Kryptogen Rundfunk or head straight for the aspirin. Personally, I'm somewhere in the middle, because while I do love it, I'm not sure if I could listen to this for an extended period of time without having to take a break and re-center myself (a sign of great Industrial music I would say!). Either way, Kryptogen Rundfunk has demonstrated, at least to me, in a short time to be able to stand with the best when it comes to true Industrial sound. Perhaps more investigation is needed to really explore all the intricacies of this mans creations, only time will tell I'm sure.

Stanley Robinson.

Review by Empty (25.01.2006):

As I said before & elsewhere, Mechanoise has cut down the mecha and the noise a bit but not the quality. In fact it's not so much the Noise or its Mechanical character that's been turned down but mostly the harsh- foreword that usually qualifies it. Deep analoguish drones and low sine waves and lots of static so you could call this ambient Noise without being too far away from the truth (which, of course, isn't The Truth) but it all strangely keeps quite listenable and entertaining -for the strong-hearted, needless to say but still said.

Reviews in Russian: http://kr.radionoise.ru/rus/22sz_press.html