▶︎ PAIN
Within the Bratislava scene, Bolka (Matúš Kobolka) is a minor cult. His archival split (2012) with Jonáš Gruska on Gruska's Lom label captured the musician combining the electro-acoustic tradition (or "microtonal glitches") with a sense of bizarre humor. The seemingly formless rolling songs made surprising sense, the concerts included the Wii game controller and custom software instruments. Bolka demonstrated the knowledge of a sonology graduate in The Hague as well as theater experience. His orange cap became an offline meme. However, this year's Sad Ceilings (Mappa) are several levels further. Bolk's full-fledged debut resembles an explosion in the toy industry. Autotune trap, emotional songs, shards of Slovak folklore, hits and bangers lie here. The whole thing is wrapped in a kind of anti-sound design that transcends and overturns the digital hyperrealism of the style-creating label Orange Milk into unfocused Eastern Europe. Bolka proudly subverts notions of what is correct, functional and tasteful, forcing you to dance, laugh and contemplate. (alternative 23)
▶︎ MICHAL CÁB
He mainly deals with noise improvisation, synthesizer programming, sound installations and audiovisuals. He studied theology and graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague in the Intermédia III studio. Tomáš Vanek. In his pedagogical and artistic practice, he mainly deals with the issue of using programming languages and open software as a basic means of expression for today's artist. His tool domain is the Linux operating system and the Pure Data programming language, the possibilities of which he uses in both gallery and theater contexts. He realized a number of musical accompaniments for theater performances and exhibition projects.
