LP – Urbsounds

The electronics of the Slovakian Michal Lichý, aka Urbanfailure, is roady, cybernetic and abstract. An artist working on the scene from the end of the nineties, he produces a rapid series of raw rhythms and multiform sequences, sounds made possible thanks to the use of tools such as synthesizers, drum machines and effects. The set-up gives life to a post apocalyptic setting, full of intricate noises and brutalist caesura. Radical Rest proves the commitment and the musical inclination of this artist, a member of the Urbsounds Collective who is also active in the organising crew of the Vermin party. The set clearly originates from the live performance. The deconstruction of noise in real time seems to be a synthesis of the sound played directly, without frills and conceptualisms, even if the approach seems to be labyrinthine, moving and industrial. Already in the first track, “Caught”, the radicality of the caesura is clear and shows the difficulties that post-Soviet musicians had to face, when they had to rush to illustrate the immediacy of the social turmoil taking place in their time. In “Spread Exploded”, the development is even more aggressive and muscular – the bassline throbs. Similarly, in “Amn T_kn0l0GY”, Lichý doesn’t run too far from nineties styles and “Dystopian Future” shows a machinic approach, free of compromises. Under the influences of techno, punk, industrial and noise, the do it yourself style is evident, an approach similar to a gigantic blender which dissolves the experiences from over the Iron Curtain and then shakes them with rough and synthetic energy. But Urbanfailure is never banal and Lichý’s sound art is the original elaboration of all these different suggestions, ones that take the shape of rhythmical weaves and hypnotic passages, drones and disturbing noise hooks. Radical Rest hovers on the edge between experimentation and a radical dance practice, but its spontaneous energy, together with an unconventional taste, makes this project a great example of how subcultures can spread over all latitudes. It would be hard to use some analytic and/or stylistic decoding procedure to these registrations, and overall we think this wouldn’t even be that interesting.

 

Urbanfailure – Radical Rest