HAM-018-CD | Some Place Else 2001

Tracklist:
01. Quouquack Ên Maksymardysh
02. Mockba
03. Mokshapark
04. Diabolicum KÄYR

Playing time 70 minutes.

CD comes in jewel box with artwork designed by Niko Skorpio. Limited edition of 500 copies. Price: 6.00 EUR. Free shipping worldwide.

File under sample terrorism! Location recordings, recontextualized classical music, experiments with noise and so-called ‘cinematic isolationism’ by the late Henry Zalkin (also Bulimia, etc.). Recorded 1991-1999, these 4 tracks (total playing time 70 minutes) now sound like a percursor to the drone-ambient-noise sound popular in the new century.

Reviews

“An entry from my dream diary, dated October 11th, 1999. I had recently received the Janko, Krul’ Albanskaj album master tape from Henry Zalkin, was listening to it, the track Mockba in particular, and fell asleep…
I entered the underground train roaming the guts of Moscow, Russia. Once inside, I discovered that all the men — apparently there were no women in the train — were grey. Their skin seemed like it was covered with smooth blueish-grey powder, like ash, dust or something of the like. The men told me it was caused by a strange fungus that was growing in their muscles. The fungus induced spores through the skin.
“Doesn’t it bother you?” I asked, a bit frightened by this weird parasite growth.
“No”, someone told, “once you get used to the grey dust all over.”
“And there seems to be no cure to it, anyway”, said the other one.
“It’s bearable, until when the flowers start to bloom”, another one interrupted and attempted to take his shirt off. He showed me his back. A tropical looking flower, blazing in the colours of red and yellow, grew out of his spine.
“Now this IS a bit annoying.”
“Luckily it blooms only once a year.”
Suddenly the scene had changed from the underground to a hospital operating room. The man with the flower growing out of his back was lying on his stomach on the dissecting table, surrounded by me and the other men from the underground, dressed in white doctor coats this time.
We were examining the flower and trying to figure out whether it could be cut off. Once you put something sharp near to it, the plant or the fungus started causing pain to the patient, probably by inducing some kind of nerve poison.
How easily does this fungus spread? Will these people die? Am I infected? My questions remain unanswered as I was pulled awake. Diabolicum KÄYR, the last track on the Janko album, had just started. ” (Niko Skorpio)

“Janko Krul Albanskaj is the work of the late Heikki Huhtanen a.k.a. Henry Zalkin. Utilizing a collage of disparate sound sources (samples galore: from third world ambience to classical diversions to radio noise… to noise itself, and more!), Janko Krul Albanskaj manipulated the sounds into brittle sonic texts of confusion and chaos.
Three of the four tracks clearly follow a cut and paste, mold and kneed ideology to creation. Distinct sounds bubble to the forefront, take command, and slink back, meshing with the miasma that gurgles below. A classical piece falls by the wayside as world textures skim the surface (Quouack En Maksymardysh); disjointed glitch-like Morse-code timbres dance with singing children (Mokshapark); while caustic techno is enveloped in noise pyrotechnics (Diabolicum KÄYR).
Track two, on the other hand, the 46-minute Mockba, is a dense, molten, raging ocean of kinetic white noise, a sonic vortex! As it evolves, imitation is evident, assimilating the pulse of life within an electronic sound-field as the furiously wind-eroded turbulence tumbles forth. At about the 25-minute mark, classical music slips into focus, the turbulence held at bay. The remainder of the track balances noise and sporadic classical music, masterfully so.
Another unique venture from Finland’s (as I like to say) always fascinating (trust me, it’s Always Fascinating!) Some Place Else.” (Side-Line)

“Janko, Krul’ Albanskaj: Ekezhhm, Gyuvel Pyuganlahkh Aektspyud? – file under “sample terrorism” the sleeve says. Which to some degree does go away to describe this release from the Finnish label Some Place Else. Though given that of the 4 tracks, the 2nd takes up most of the album it tends to be that piece which will influence your lasting impression of the album as a whole. Mockba is 46 minutes long and mixes layered sounds so that it lies somewhere between a noise piece and a soundscape – though even at the noise end it is not out-and-out harsh ear bleeding stuff, rather it is textured and fits into the flow of sound. At times the sample based theory comes to the fore, snatches of tune which are more present in the other tracks bubble to the recontextualised surface, reminding you that everything you hear probably started off as a totally different sound before ending up here. Your lasting memory of this piece will be its epic scale scapeness, but as you listen to it those snatches are the things that will introduce the elements of unpredictability in the music and curiosity in the listener.
The remaining three tracks range from 5 minutes to 10 and bring the total length of the release to 70 minutes. I think in some ways having more tracks in this sort of range is easier on the listener’s comprehension – too easy for long pieces to become a blur – though of course that depends on the listener as well as the artist. Certainly I find the other three tracks to be of more interest to me.
A squeak and creak starts Quouquack En Maksymardysh, though other sounds quickly join in. in the fore isolated violin strokes, in the back the whole piece. Sampled melodies mix – folky, orchestral, melodic, pompous. At times clear and others mixing elements in layers of sound. The result tending to maintain a melodic overtone, increasingly reliant on an orchestral source. With this kind of piece the feel is a thing in flux – voices coming up as a Soviet choir, then a speech, then conversation – music keeping pace with those voices.
Mokshapark combines the impression of a cutup core, with the clash of tuned radio stations. Buzz of movement along radio wave, while a tribal choir sings and voices from various sources weave through. With this there is a sense of glitch and popping surface – minimal elements within the random snips and underlying bass sound. Snips which exhibit a certain repetitiveness in their looped nature.
Diabolicum KÄYR mixes a plodding techno beat with washes of electronic static waves. Buzz and distort – solid moment, then dissipated. Working in shifting layers against the constant of the beat and moments of clear dialogue. In some ways sharing an idea of Mockba, but with different focus and intent. Increasingly noisy as it progresses. Within the hissing layers the beats seems to slow, like a faltering hypnotic heart. Though as the waves break for moments the perverted techno attempts to remain.” (Remote Induction)

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