“The Ukranian players Dmytro Federenko and Kateryna Zavoloka have between them been responsible for the very distinctive Kvitnu label in their home country – both of them musicians and have released stuff as Kotra or Zavoloka, while Kateryna has always executed the imaginative and innovative graphic design and packaging for that label. They’re both in Vienna just now (I think the label continues to operate from that hotbed) and recently teamed up as Cluster Lizard, to release the vinyl LP Edge Of The Universe (LE CABANON RECORDS LECABANONSA001). Both of these musicians profess a fondness for dark, science-fiction dystopias (especially Zavoloka, if her 2017 Syngonia album is a good indicator) and Edge Of The Universe is another great soundtrack for exploring the “outer limits” of the dark galaxies, with its mind-spinning speculations about ‘The End Of Time’ and ‘Afterlife Drift’. It’s as though the edges of the known universe correspond exactly to their notions about life and death – if we sailed over the edge, we would cease to exist (like early conceptions of the flat earth). Though generally pessimistic in its disposition, there is much to enjoy in the flawless execution of these layered synth tones. Today my taste runs to the brooding and tense anti-ambient droners, such as the grim ‘Biomass of Beauty’, while fans of rhythmic Kosmische music will enjoy the more uptempo (but no less stern) tunes with their sequenced beats and breaks.”
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