Reviews
Darkrad - "Little Black World"
Vital Weekly, 993
Last week I was away, still in The Netherlands but with some very bad weather. Now I'm back and I am listening to the music of Darkrad, while it's all sunny again. Darkrad is Jana Komaritsa, born in Russia and living in the USA. Her debut was released by Cold Meat Industry in 2012 and two years later she released 'Little Black World' as a limited edition cassette on her own Mrakmur label. This CD version has all of the pieces, plus a five bunch pieces (curious: one of these is the title piece!) and two remixes, by Dirk Geiger and Spherical Disrupted). This is not music one enjoys with blazing sunshine and a cocktail. It's all very dark, very obscure, gloomy and atmospheric. Audiphob informs us that this all of this is dark ambient and noise, but it's more of the industrial variety than of the ambient, me thinks. Darkrad uses electronics, sometimes very droney and ambient, but also piercing straight into one's brain and everything comes with vocals buried just beneath the surf ace of hearing. Whispering maybe but, and surely the music is a guide here, it all sounds very oppressive and dark. Not exactly fun and sun music, but something to put aside and play in those days where the nights are longer than the days. Cold and distant music, sinister even; hardly the kind of ambient music that sets a fine homely atmosphere, but that might not be the intention anyway.