REVIEWS
Hear Kiril on 89X (CIMX) Radio, Detroit, MI
and WEFT 90.1, Champaign, IL
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Check out the latest issue of BARCODE MAGAZINE featuring interviews with Kiril and Holger Czukay available by clicking HERE or on the image to your left. |
KIRIL "Homebound"
ELECTROAGE WEB SITE
Review by Phosphor
Macedonian producer and composer Kiril's new release is an ever-morphing hybrid of electronic texturing, busy break-beats and traditional Balkan folk music and instrumantation and singing. Rarely does one album move in so many different ways and at the same time retain a fluidity and cohesion, not to mention artistic integrity. Homebound is one such album. Woodwind instrumentation, Balkan chanting, jungle beats, trance-like atmospherics and modern jazz collide in wondrous alchemy, instilling more living character into electronic music than ought to be possible.
The frenetic beats of Primitive Science do nothing to distort the beauty of traditional folk music integral to the track, and the seething synthetic pulse of Swimmer only enchances the acoustic instruments, while the film noir guitars seem, for some mysterious reason, only a logical addition. A tense and creeping string arrangement begins Balkan Spy, and then moves into 70's style crime-show guitar and a deep trip-hop throb with middle-eastern texturing. Exotic, and brilliant. kiril does things with music that just shouldn't be possible. The gritty noir theme returns on Rise and Fall, and the traditional instrumentation is elegantly intact, with female folk singing providing an eerie undercurrent to the icily hollow electronic beats, while true transcendence is reached with the euphoric Close To Comfort. A Walk Through The Craters skitters with a dark IDM beat and gloomy male chanting, underscored by liquid-like burbling and distant electronic echoes. Matching the traditional aspect of the music, Kiril's poetuic electronics match and complement the rhythms, textures and resonation effects of the Macedonian folk music, evidenced from the opening strains of Hereafter. Slow percussion, male and female chanting, and ghostly woodwind instruments creating an atmosphere of unknown lands. When the electronic beats sneak in, any distinction between old and new is not only irrelevant, it's transparent.
Kiril is, without any doubt, a musical genius, and a true alchemist of sound, and Homebound is a masterpiece of sonic artistry and perfection.
KIRIL "Homebound"
BLUE DIVIDE MAGAZINE
Review by Kiran Aditham
Just when I thought Kiril's Homebound would be a dubalicious ethnic romp of tablas, woodwinds, and other world music instrumentation as evident on the opening cut, "Hereafter", the record jumps off the dub terrain and lands into the dark jungle to teach "Primitive Science" to the listeners. Still blending world styles while exploring darker territories, Kiril keep the jungle vibe alive while giving the listener the impression that this isn't normally treaded territory for junglists alike.
Beauty re-enters the temple in the "Close to Comfort" as lovely woodwinds, soothing vocal treatments and lush strings encompass a driving drum n bass beat. The pace of the Homebound journey slows just enough to feel the dub-noir of "Sweet Darkness of Solitude" before catapulting back into the tech-step/funk guitar combo cut "Balkan Spy". Kiril winds down the trek with the jazzy "A Walk Through the Craters" and the closing dark lounge drone of "Mate J". It's good to see artists pushing the experimental envelope and not limiting themselves to set styles of music. Let's hope Kiril doesn't leave the party for home just yet.
KIRIL "Homebound"
DIGITAL ARTIFACT MAGAZINE
Issue #18
Review by ahdub
Melbourne Australia is safe at night with the primal electronic incantations of Kiril wafting through the air. With tasty bits of drum & bass executed on top of phat polyrhythmic wanderings, it gets me thinking there may be a golden thread to Afro Celt Sound System, DJ Cheb i Sabbah and Joi. Make no mistake there is an individual voice found here conjured from centuries of aboriginal bones ground to dust and fed to memory. We are the recipients of this new dialectic, listening, living and dancing our asses off. The creator has indeed taken the time to inspire an image and as time fades to nothing this is the soundtrack to forever. This stellar 2000 Tone Casualties release is now in heavy rotation on my tables.
KIRIL "Homebound"
MUTE MAGAZINE
Issue #6
Review by GB
One part of the Macedonian group Kismet, Kiril's US debut is full of soft drum n' bass that creates a spacial lounge atmosphere. Filled with subtle soundscapes and enough ethnic instrumentation to please any middle European. "Primitive Science" picks it up with faster beats and a twanging sitar. Romantic all around, Homebound is exotic in the same way a group of young belly dancers are when they are trying to hide under your covers.
KIRIL "Homebound"
TOKYO JOURNAL MAGAZINE
August 2000
The name Gabor Csupo might not be familiar to most of you, although the Hungarian-born illustrator and music lover is a superstar in the international animation world, with such works as The Simpsons and the cover art of Frank Zappa's "Lost Episodes" under his belt. With his Hollywood-based labels Tone Casualties and Casual Tonalities, Csupo follows his mission to promote pioneering artists with a heavy slant on an area better known for ethnic cleansing than music --- The Balkans! The biggest international names included in the TC/CT catalogue are sound sculptors Paul Schutze and Holger Czukay, who has just released his dark and mysterious 1-track album La Luna that reminds of the likes of SPK, Coil, etc. The major part of Csupo's work is dedicated to the promotion of contemporary composers and musicians from Yugoslavia, Hungary, Bulgaria, etc. With producer and composer Kiril he has dug up a true gem from another Balkan fragment, Macedonia. Presenting his first solo album, Kiril mixes mellow drum and bass and break-beat schemes with exotic melodies from south-east Europe and cooks this up into a groovy stew with chunks of acid jazz, funk, ambient, and dub. The dreary colors of Macedonian chants and the occasional traditional instrument introduce a unique new "world music" flavor to a market that's mainly focused on the "fashionable Third World" of American, African and Asian musical origins. Homebound has its strongest moments every time the warmth of male and female voices, wah wah guitars, clarinets, basses, percussion and other acoustic instruments clash with the coldness of computer programming and mournful melodies that suggest the struggle and desolation of the Balkans to the imaginative and news-conscious listener.
KIRIL "Homebound"
ARTS WEEKLY MAGAZINE
August 16, 2000
Review by SF
Crossing the boundaries of Arabic chants, belly dancing, techno percussion and modern dance floor beats, Kiril will truly excite your senses. This I guarantee. Stemming from Tone Casualties plethora of exterminations, Kiril is one of the most provoking and inducing projects I've heard them release so far. This is ambient trance all the way. A pure pleasure to listen to as it takes you through so many alternate corridors to new summits of listening deliverance. Dark and melodic, mysterious and sound baffling, comprehensive and satisfying. Kiril is all of the above and more to its name than I can possibly describe. Fantastic stereophonic production that jumps from speaker to speaker on your stereo grabs you by the collar and moves your body to the beat of the music involuntarily. Absolutely great.
KIRIL "Homebound"
The Blue Divide Magazine
Issue 2
Review by Kiran Aditham
Just when I thought Kiril's Homebound would be a dubalicious ethnic romp of tablas, woodwinds, and other world music instrumentation as evident on the opening cut "Hereafter", the record jumps off the dub terrain and lands into the dark jungle to teach "Primitive Science" to the listeners. Still blending world styles while exploring darker territories, Kiril keep the jungle vibe alive while giving the listener the impression that this isn't normally treaded territory for junglists alike.
Beauty re-enters the temple in the "Close to Comfort" as lovely woodwinds, soothing vocal treatments, and lush strings encompass a driving drum n bass beat. The pace of the Homebound journey slows just enough to feel the dub-noir of "Sweet Darkness of Solitude" before catapulting back into the tech-step/funk guitar combo cut "Balkan Spy". Kiril winds down the trek with the jazzy "A walk Through the Craters" and the closing dark lounge drone of "Mate J". It's good to see artists pushing the experimental envelope and not limiting themselves to set styles of music. Let's hope Kiril doesn't leave the party for home just yet.
KIRIL- Homebound
Kortex Webzine
French review by Yanik Trudeau
"An incredible album that showcases well what the creator of this very perculiar groove has to offer."
KIRIL "Homebound"
Cool and Strange Music Magazine
Issue 17, May-August 2000
Review by Bill Meier
Tone Casualties has produced a gem this year. Kiril's abilities rate among the best of todays electronic gurus. His full length release, Homebound, is an excellent specimen of advanced drum and bass technique, peppered with beautiful Macedonian chant and indigenous insturments which ease in and out of acid jazz and laid back break-beat grooves.
Throughout the entire CD the listener encounters a kaleidoscope of unique effects impeccably timed and mixed against thick drone and rhythm. For the audiophile, there's a boatload of bass to challenge their subwoofers --- a nice bonus I personally enjoy. An outstanding arrangement is "Balkan Spy", laying heavy on wah guitar and hip jazz progressions that results in an atmosphere resembling an Eastern-European exploitation film soundtrack. "1 min, 04 sec" is a superbly-executed ambient track layered over the metronomic tick of a wind-up clock.
For the electronica newbie, Kiril is a great example of genuine talent operating outside of the dance manistream that won't degenerate into complex noise loops. Innovative composition coupled with signature Macedonian accents warrant this piece a very high mark in my personal collection.
Kiril "Homebound"
Tone Casualties TC CD 0049
This CD came out of the Tone Casualties new release catalogue and encompassed such a unique mix of musical variety one cannot help but to be intrigued. The recording is a mix of Drum and Bass, Mid-Eastern mysticism, Electronica, and Dub. That said, improbably enough, it all fits together flawlessly.
"Homebound" vacillates between darker tracks with female/male Indian vox (imagine cleaned-up Muslimgauze) and Klezmer-oriented up beat tunes via scale progressions and clarinet. In addition, both acoustic and electric guitar (even funky Shaft-type styles) presentations lend a Nina Rota atmosphere complete with orchestral accompaniment including Sacred Choral bits as well. The above performances are then sandwiched betwixt the mainstay of 'Dub' and 'Drum and Bass' styles, held together with brief sections consisting of electronic effects.
'D & B' and 'Dub' are not the usual Raging Consciousness Desk fare for review and we are not well versed in making comparisons. We seriously doubt there are many other releases similar to this one - yet are most interested in hearing about them if that is not the case.
This is certain; the recording is brilliantly composed and played and subsequently so distinctive it has been played three times in twenty-four hours - even though there are a stack of CDs sitting waiting to be listened to.
Although suitable for semi-mass consumption - that is mass as in the Ambient Group - there are enough surprises to keep those into demanding new sounds happy.
Peace Out
Glenn Hammett
Sr. Ed.
KIRIL "Homebound"
TOXIC FLYER FANZINE
Review by BW
Electronic and techno beats with great Goth like vocals to a drum and bass that's haunting and has a Sneaker Pimps feel at times.
OUTBURN MAGAZINE
Review by Walt Miller
Traditional Macedonian music and modern electronica: Hailing from Macedonia, Kiril is an accomplished producer whose previous credits include several film scores and the occasional stint with Kismet, a trio of compatriot labelmates who share similar interests in merging electronica with traditional Balkan music. As a solo artist, he edges closer to tried-and-true, genre specific frameworks -- in this case drum and bass, trip hop and hints of dub -- resulting in a US debut that's darkish and pleasing. Tracks like "Primitive Science" and "Balkan Spy" are rousing (and highly danceable) jungle workouts peppered with the winding Middle Eastern scales and tabla tapping of the region. Elsewhere, Kiril delves into brooding downtempo cuts like the noir-ish "Sweet Darkness of Solitude" and the exotic silkiness of "Hareafter". Then it's back to d&b, lighter fare like "Mate J" with its vague Spaniard canter and chilly touch. Homebound shows the artist attentive on every musical turn and rarely sleepwalking through his tracks. And the Balkan motif is never secondary, or beside the point. Rather, those elements are integral cogs within some very solid, well executed pieces. While Kiril offers nothing radically groundbreaking, at least when compared to Kismet, his album is quite artful, sublime, and worth getting to know. It also makes me think warm thoughts toward Tone Casualties. If there's an avant electronic music scene in some far away, "undiscovered" corner of the earth, leave it to Gabor and company to expose it.
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