Plazmatick (PDV Records, Wolf's Village Records)
promotion of two albums (2020) and announcement of a new album for 2022.
Mrle x Krešo Jurina (Wolf's Village Records)
b2b selection
Inia Herencic (Wolf's Village Records)
photo-visuals
Entry is only possible upon presentation of a COVID19 pass. The number of tickets is limited due to capacity, we suggest those interested to provide them in advance.
Ticket price: 40 kn in advance, 50 kn at the entrance to the club.
#RustyTimes have been one of our favorite phrases for some time to explain our "new normal", but the creator of these words is not anyone. His long absence from the "scene" only further prompted our hero to revise his controllers and deliver 2 great LPs of electronic pleasures in the space of one year.
Plazmatick is the pseudonym of Marko Mihalinec, a longtime electronic music producer based in Zagreb. It is driven by theory, activism, urban chaos, postmodernism and the music genres that built it into what it has become today. At the same time, he is one of the pioneers of VJ-ing, he published a book of favorite thrash films with his colleague Velimir Grgić known as "Yellow Subtitle", and all that is not even close to everything that is the core of his music. Last year, after years of absence, he decided to publish his unpublished work from 2013, called epochal "Rusty Times", while after a few months he again conquered the new and for now the last long-playing "You're cuddling me". The great thing is that Plazmatick skillfully navigates between breakbeat, techno, trip hop, psychedelia and dance and therefore it is great to host him again after a long time in Attack space, because his musical journey started from the damp basements of the former Jedinstvo pump factory. Let us therefore greet the return of the written off and dance for a better tomorrow, which somehow is still not coming.
Plazmatick – Maziš Mi Se / Cuddly, Cuddly Deluxe DLP (PDV Records) Review
The deluxe vinyl edition of Maziš Mi Se / Cuddly, Cuddly comes with a bonus vinyl that includes Plazmatick’s previous record Hrđava Vremena/Rusty Times. The inner record sleeve unveils the original cover artwork for that particular album, with a brilliant yakuza photo done by Seiji Kurata included on a front cover. The backside of an inlay includes the tracklist and all the necessary info about the label. The visual identity for Maziš Mi Se / Cuddly, Cuddly entirely differs from the previous record, and this improved design showcases an abstract painting done in glowy purple, turquoise, and pink tones. Just like the inner sleeve, the backside unveils all the necessary info about this recording. The thick cardboard cover sleeve holds both records together, so the entire release is done professionally in the highest possible quality. These records are also available separately, with Hrđava Vremena/Rusty Times being strictly limited to only 100 copies. It’s a great opportunity to grab both albums during the pre-orders because they’re available for a special price. Head over to PDV Records and order one for yourself or your loved ones.
Hrđava Vremena / Rusty Times LP (PDV Records) Review
Plazmatick is an alias of Marko Mihalinec, a longstanding electronic music producer based in Zagreb, Croatia. Plazmatick is not only an electronic music act that exists for more than two decades, but it’s also singular machinery that operates through theory, activism, urban tribalism, so Marko catalyzes his interests through engaging audio and video performance.
Hrđava Vremena/Rusty Times represents his debut recording, which was recorded in 2013 but never released for a broader auditorium. This material eventually reignited on limited edition vinyl record thanks to PDV Records, a record label based in Zagreb. The album comes with a meaningful photo, which is a work of a recently deceased icon of Japanese photography Seiji Kurata. Hrđava Vremena/Rusty Times served as the official soundtrack for a memorial exhibition in honor of photographer Seiji Kurata, held in Tokyo this year.
This recording represents a comprehensive collection comprised of ten appealing electro compositions. Plazmatick encompasses a full specter of genres under his branch, such as old school dubstep, electronica, trip-hop, and techno. Still, these compositions are showcasing his interest in organic and synthetic ambient music, devotion to cinematic soundtracks, and pure love for the entire amalgam of other non-electronic music genres. Besides the predominant presence of almost every electronic subgenre, you may hear some jazzy progressions, liquid synth-pop leads, arpeggiated sci-fi sequences, and pleasant acoustic moments.
Hrđava Vremena/Rusty Times embraces a wide array of notable and subtle movements, but every articulation is composed, arranged, and produced to perfection. These engaging numbers are offering a tremendous exploration through the harmonious universe, mainly comprised of delightful melodies, hypnotic sequences, notable accentuations, and delicate beats. You may notice some similarities with the music of Vangelis, Noriyuki Asakura, John Williams, Hans Zimmer, and Sergio Leone along the way, but perhaps Plazmatick used their influential music as potential guidance for his debut.
This particular material provides loads of entertainment through pleasing harmonizations, addictive melodies, catchy articulations, and rhythmical sequences. Plazmatick thought about every possible movement included on this record but also spent some time working on excellent arrangments that certainly highlight these numbers. The marvelous production empowers the entire material by bringing only the best affinities of each composition. You’ll solely enjoy this record if you’re into engaging electronic music, decorated by thoughtfully composed thematics. Hrđava Vremena/Rusty Times comes on standard black vinyl limited to only 100 copies, so act fast if you want to preserve your copy. Still, you can entirely enjoy these tunes at all streaming services if you’re more into digital streams. Head over to PDV Records and check out this record!
Album “Maziš mi se /#cuddlycuddly” was nominated in two categories, The best album of dance / contemporary electronic music and Award for visual solution of the year in the region (Goga Pavlek, designer) in 2020.
Recognitions for the best achievements in 2020 will be awarded on March 19 at the Gervais Center in Opatija, and the audience can vote for their favorites in five domestic and five regional categories, while the profession will award the prize in a total of 18 categories.
The audience can support their favorites by voting on the website of the award www.ambasador.hr until February 26, 2021, while the voting of the profession will last from February 13 to 28, 2021.Through open public applications, 50 proposals were received, and as many as 770 proposals in the pre-nomination cycle were submitted by 80 members of the expert working group from Croatia and the region. This year, a lifetime achievement award will be given, which will be decided by the Founder of the award and the Supervisory Board of the Ambassador.
Electronic music for your home. This is the first and simplest recommendation with the album "Maziš mi se" which was revived by the reawakened Plazmatick just a few weeks after the release of the comeback longplay "Rusty Times".
In his latest release, there is more than enough party material pulled to the fore with the introductory "Sand", the technoid crane "Neonpunk" and the announcing single "Picnic", but this is only the first quarter of the album boldly spread over 80 minutes. Below, the ambient background, tailor-made for a well-sounded living room, is slowly revealed. Post-trip-hop “Lunar” calls for morning coffee, while the slow-moving “I don’t let the wind touch you” fits best with late-night daydreaming. "Kinki" is another irresistible challenge for all hardened partygoers, and first of all for those older from the Plasmatic generation 40+ who remember the adventurous journey of EGOBOO bits. On this voyage, Aesqe, Blashko, Plazmatick, and The Sound of the Ship plotted the longitude and latitude of domestic experimental electronics. Although it sounds just a little nostalgic and not at all old-fashioned, the album "Maziš mi se" is a kind of reminiscence of this pioneering endeavor.
PLAZMATICK - “Maziš mi se / #cuddlycuddly” ALBUM REVIEW
In an era when the form of the album is becoming 'traditional' and swallowed by canapé songs for YouTube, 'You cuddle yourself' is an album, in the full sense of the word and in that sense old-fashioned - it is heard as one ride, without traffic signs, and the line of demarcation between genres it is ignited in the revolutionary fraternization of everything under a common denominator.
There are "Swedish actions", and there is also a Swedish massage. The popular “gentle massage” from Scandinavia, literally professional caressing with long, light touches, in a 2010 study - blissful science - has been proven to help build immunity, reduce stress, blood pressure and inflammatory processes. A 2014 study by Canadian psychologists addressed the effects of the practical application of "Swedish action", ie cuddling after sex, proving what instinctively may have been known - cuddling "causes" an increase in sexual pleasure and relationship quality.
On first listening, “#cuddlycuddly” doesn’t sound like a cuddling soundtrack, and instead of a Swedish massage, except for a few songs that reduce pressure, you get a fierce deep tissue massage. After “Rusty Times,” an LP released in 2020, amid a tornado of corrosion that shakes the fabric of Western society, comes an invitation to a party. "Rusty times" speaks the language of noir, glistening like a torn neon reflection in the night bars of the asphalt, illuminated by the menacing cool of the katana yakuza. "#cuddlycuddly" offers a kind of consolation, caressing your ears as your body makes you dance. Less Carpenter, more Ibiza.
Both albums are a celebratory cake, but even though Plazmatick has been on the scene for 20 years, the snacks of "#Cuddlycuddly" are sweeter slices of his opus. It may be starting to say goodbye to puberty, but Plazmatick’s production sounds fresher than ever. The playfulness with the forms based on the kinetics of the dance floor is almost childish, as much as, paradoxically, a reflection of musical maturation. The game is both a key and a door. In an era when the form of the album becomes "traditional" and swallowed by canapé songs for YouTube, "#Cuddlycuddly" is an album, in the full sense of the word and in that sense old-fashioned - it is heard as one ride, without traffic signs, and the line of demarcation between genres it is ignited in the revolutionary fraternization of everything under the common denominator of dance.
A journey through the last about 40 years of electronic music, in which genres overtake, brake, greet, tour at traffic lights and show each other a middle finger through a window with a smile. So, for example, "Sand" is at its core a romantic Balearic postcard that blooms in trance in the hands of the postman with dilated pupils, and then attacks you straight from the sky, like a cloud obscuring the view of the sunset from the edge of a sandy beach. “Neonpunk” is an epic return to Tokyo from the anime of the 1980s, a retro 4-to-the-floor animatronics that speeds on Akira’s motorcycle from electro to bladener dystopia screaming infectious synths, leaving a mark on the road of digital music history. The headlines can also be misleading - as soon as you spread the "Picnic" blanket in the shade of the meadow, you realize that you are in the middle of the "Enterprise" holodeck, where you are raving at two in the afternoon and you are not sure if you are awake from the day before. Nicolas Jaar would love “Me and You,” and the ambient glitch beat “Always Starts Well” is worthy of the best parts of the Boards of Canada opus. “Old Plazma” is perhaps the loudest in “Kinky,” an attack of percussion, celebrating His Majesty’s drum in a rolling breakbeat; almost-so-rock drums colliding with techno built “Post-Consumerism,” the dreams of shopping malls turned into a nightmare with the appearance of zombies in shop windows. One of the melodic and atmospheric highlights of the album is certainly "Fog", and a similar spirit is bathed in "I don't let the wind touch you", which achieves a similar effect of emotional luxury by excellent manipulation of the human voice, one indication of this "organic instrument" on the album. The title track sounds like swimming under a waterfall in the jungle, while an alligator watches you in the distance, too tired to jump and bite, but present enough to create nervousness. "Lunar" is closer to industrial than you would like it to be, while with "Haunted" you can sacrifice chickens at a voodoo ceremony. Or you don't have to. Unlike listening to "#Cuddlycuddly" That should already be on the must list.
Rating: 9/10
Velimir Grgić - ravnododna.com 2020.
PDV, in early September, presented an interesting edition of a somewhat forgotten domestic author.
Plazmatick is the stage name behind Marko Mihalinec, a versatile author, producer, designer and writer. His love of music and creative expression began to combine as early as the mid-90s.
At the beginning of the new millennium, he was active through Zagreb's EGOBOO.bits, label, digital platform and production team that dealt with the development of free software, sound production and media theory. Plazmatick has released three albums for EGOBOO.bits, and it is also connected with the beginnings of the VJ scene in Croatia, since his performance in the Zagreb hall S.K.U.C. (Spider), in 2000, was among the first to be accompanied by author's visual projections ...In recent years, Mihalinec has created music for film, theater and television - the "Love is Love" campaign, which is banned on HRT, the "Violence leaves traces" campaign, the "When it rings?" TV series, and documentary '' Sick '' (2015). In the meantime, out of his own taste, he continued to produce electronic music, and the material created in 2013, this year, in agreement with PDV Records, he pulled out of the drawer and released as the album "Rusty Times".
The title of the album obviously refers to the current time in which we live, because Plazmatick's music, even after seven years, does not sound rusty. In fact, if that information had not been disclosed, the album could have been described as eclectic, with retro elements of post-dubstep / UK bass and even electro music. Post-dubstep bass line and opens the album through the thing "Samurai". But Plazmatick will reach for this sound only in the second half of the album, on "Dim" and "Horizont". In the meantime, it evokes a cosmic-ambient atmosphere, which is the true sound image of the entire album. Through the highly electrode "Supernova" and "The Old Man", to the almost transcendental, title stuff "Rusty Times" or "Stay Home" and "Dystopia", Plazmatick's musical range sounds very impressive and, we are looking forward to his new material ...
Plazmatick "Hrđava vremena / Rusty Times" (PDV Records): Seductive electronic ambient music
The music on the album "Rusty Times" is as interesting as the biography of the author who composed it, as well as the information it was used for. Behind the name Plazmatick is Marko Mihalinec, who has been creating ambient electronic music for years, and released his first three albums in the 1990s for the independent label Egoboo.bits, which operated within the Multimedia Institute in Zagreb.
He is the author of music for film, theater and television, co-author of two publicist works dedicated to film and co-author of the Croatian horror novel "Crisis". He is also called a pioneer of new media in Croatia because he is actually primarily engaged in graphic design and new media. So it's no surprise that one such creative composed music that reached Japan and served as the soundtrack for a memorial exhibition by renowned Japanese photographer Seiji Kurata held in Tokyo during July and August this year - although the complete album was actually recorded back in 2013 but has not been published so far. The album was released on vinyl in Croatia by PDV Records in a limited edition of 100 copies, while the mastering of the album is signed by Thaddeus Moore, who mastered the album in his studio in Oregon, USA. In short, when someone with such a creative past, who explores art from multiple aspects, decides to record an album based on electronic ambient music, it is clear that it is also an extraordinary work. Ten electronically seductive compositions that simultaneously offer a specific emotion close to cinematic expression, present Mihalinec as a serious electronic music composer who thinks, feels and offers music through his arranging and composing creativity. Powerful and gentle at the same time, strong and timid, but damn exciting, so it's no wonder that his musical creativity was recognized in Japan as well. A musical background of liberated imagination for which it is enough to close your eyes. Very good!
Plazmatick - Hrđava vremena / Rusty Times (PDV Records, 2020.)
To the time readers (like me) of the long-defunct, and for many formative (again, like me) formative pop culture magazine Nomad, the name Plazmatick might be familiar. Behind him is Marko Mihalinec, who could be known by his birth name to fans of trash cinema as a co-author of the cult book "Yellow Subtitle" together with Velimir Grgić.
Mihalinec is a graphic designer by primary interest, and after his initial interest in drum'n'bass, he mainly focused his musical efforts on the fields of film and special-purpose music. Recorded back in 2013, the album "Rusty Times" was used as the soundtrack of a memorial exhibition by Japanese photographer Sei Kurata, whose photo adorns the album cover. As for the album itself, it definitely shows the signs of the times, due to the hint of the then popular postdubstep sound, and due to the noir-neon synths also current through the mega-influential soundtrack of the movie "Drive".
This is not a note about the album, but just an audio and contextual reference. The album is brilliantly, in detail and crystal clear produced, and those who like thoughtful, suggestive and extremely cinematic music will have a lot to enjoy. It is the real move of PDV Records to release it on September 11 as a limited vinyl release as it is probably the best format for such wide and open music.
Seiji Kurata was born in Chūō-ku, Tokyo, 1945. He graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1968. He taught in secondary school and worked in oils, printmaking, and experimental movies.
He practised under Daidō Moriyama in an independent photography workshop in 1976.
Kurata won the fifth Kimura Ihei Award in 1980 for his first book, Flash Up. For the black-and-white photographs here, Kurata used flash and a medium format camera, resulting in a detailed portrait of a world of bōsōzoku, gangsters, rightists, strippers, transvestites, and so on but in his "highly polished, detailed" work, Kurata "has an unerring instinct for pictures that suggest stories". Photo Cabaret and 80's Family continued in this direction. This Japanese work of Kurata's is anthologized in his later volume Japan.
Kurata won the PSJ award in 1992. A long stay in Mongolia in 1994 led to the book Toransu Ajia, which continued color work of the Asian mainland started with Dai-Ajia.
In 1999 Kurata's book Japan won the Kodansha Publishing Culture Award for a work of photography.
Prints of Kurata's photographs are in the permanent collections of ICP (New York), the Brooklyn Museum, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography.
He died on 27 February 2020.
Kurata-san’s work had tremendous breadth in subject matter and technique. Carefully, he would work out how best to photograph each diverse subject, whether it should be in medium-format, large-format, black and white or colour, long exposure, with or without flash. In this he was truly a craftsman as well as an artist. He had graduated in Art from the Tokyo National University of Fine Art and Music, where he specialised in painting. And yet he ended up a photographic artist and worked as an engineer, with a workshop, to make a living outside of photography. But above all Kurata-san was an artist, always thoughtful and careful from conception through execution and presentation. We always used to acknowledge that, despite being the most difficult, Kurata-san was a maverick, but a maverick genius and the purest artist we worked with. - Mark Pearson
E-mails with Kurata-san:
On 2013/02/01, at 9:47, Marko Mihalinec wrote:
Hello,
I'm musician from Croatia (SE Europe), I've made a music album and am very interested in buying publishing rights for Seiji Kurata's photo to use as a album cover.
It's the photo from the cover of thebook Flash up (yakuza with samurai sword on top of the building).
I've tried via his official page but still no response, so I'm sending you an e-mail as I've found his link via your magazine.
Kind regards,
Marko
On 5.2.2013 3:40, Yoichi Nagata FMJ wrote:
Hello Marko, I will talk to Kurata, but I don't know about your music. Please send me your sample of music and your profile.
Yoichi Nagata
FractionMagazineJapan
Tue, 05 Feb 2013 11:26:46 +0100
Hello Yoichi,
thanks so much for the reply.
This si the link to one of the song from this new album:
https://jumbo.iskon.hr/download/b2125b8c-029c-4c91-97dc-293e208c8920
It's called Stari se, it means Getting Older. The most inevitable fact of every second of your life.
The whole vibe on the album is movie Drive and sensibility of Danish film director Nicholas Winding Refn.
This is my music in video:
http://vimeo.com/11338125
This is my profile:
http://www.myspace.com/plazmatick
I've attached the basic idea of layout and would do limited edition CD and LP.
Thank you for your time and help,
Marko
2/24/2013 u 10:32 PM, 永田 陽一
Seiji Kurata will grant permission for the usage of his images limited to 100 CDs and LPs each. If the number of distributions is increased, his images cannot be used.
Seiji Kurata would like to receive 10 each of the CDs and LPs free of charge. (The 10 pieces each do not have to be from the 100 pieces, but and be additional.)
Seiji Kurata does not like the design he received. Would it be possible for you to submit other bolder designs?
We would like permission to use your music at future Seiji Kurata exhibitions or slide shows.
Seiji Kurata would like to use digital files reproduced from his vintage prints.
On 2019-11-21
Hello,
hope you can help me.
I started negotiation with Mr. Seiji Kurata back in 2014 regarding using his photo as album cover for my music project Plazmatick.
He was very interested and offered me an option to publish only 100 physical copies. After years of searching, I've managed to find a music label that would publish this album in very limitied edition and would like to get a contact with Mr. Kurata to finalize this project. Some time has past but it turned out for the best and wouldn't like to miss this opportunity.
Last time, the negotiations with Mr. Kurata were handled by Mr. Yoichi Nagata of fractionmagazinejapan.com but this site is now offline.
I hope you can help me get in touch with Mr. Kurata or Mr. Nagata
Thank you very much for any help and keep up with the excellent work!
Marko
On 2019-11-21 05:31, Bonnie wrote:
Hi Marko, This is Bonnie from Zen Foto. Thank you for your message. I have worked with Mr. Nagata before and have been trying to contact him after getting your message, but there is no response from him yet. Mr. Kurata is actually not in a good condition right now, he was admitted to the hospital a few weeks ago. We are working on a project together but we had to pause it as well. His wife called us yesterday and said he condition is somewhat stable now, but he can't really talk much yet. I will keep you posted if I hear anything!
Best, Bonnie
On 2019-12-12 06:45, Bonnie wrote:
Dear Marko, Sorry for the delay. Unfortunately, Mr. Nagata did not get back to me afterall. Mr. Kurata has been slowly getting better. We contact with his wife from time to time but there is no immediate reply. We will try to contact her again now about this. If Kurata san is ok with the project, how should we proceed? I think you would still need to negotiate the terms with him because he's probably forgotten the details.
Best,Bonnie
On 2019-12-18 08:55, Bonnie wrote:
Dear Marko, I am happy to let you know that Kurata san remembers his deal with you and he is still happy to participate! Here is his message for you, passed to us by his wife, and I have translated it into English:
Hope this email finds you well. It is very sad for me to have to inform you that Mr. Kurata has passed away. We just got the news from his wife. Please take care in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak everywhere. All the best,
Bonnie
On 2020-10-15 06:37, Bonnie wrote:
Dear Marko,
Thank you for sending over the LPs. We are all very happy to see the result!
Your record is now displayed in our shelf with Kurata's books.
Mrs Kurata is also very happy to see the record. She said she is thankful that the record is complete as you and Mr Kurata really clicked. She said hi to you and he must be very happy to see it.
Thank you!
We wish you the best, please stay safe and take care in this strange year.
Best wishes from Tokyo,
Bonnie
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Kurata Seiji Memorial Exhibition “Eros Lost / Flash Up”
Dates: July 3 (Fri) — August 1 (Sat), 2020
In memory of Kurata Seiji (1945-2020), Zen Foto Gallery will present “Eros Lost / Flash Up”, an exhibition of two series of works by the artist. After publishing "Flash Up" (2013) and "AKB 80's" (2016) with Kurata, Zen Foto has been working with him on publishing a new edition of his nude photography in the past two years. Sadly, Kurata has passed away before the completion of the publication in February 2020. Over a 40-year career, Kurata continued his dialogue with the camera. His works are highly regarded for his continual explorations into both the conception of his subjects and the techniques of image-making. This exhibition will feature approximately 6 works from his representative series "Flash Up" from the 1970s and 12 works from the series “Eros Lost” from the late 1980s. Distinctive from his other series, “Eros Lost” was shot mostly indoors and staged with lighting and scripts. Kurata experimentally sculpted the portraits of humans in conjunction with mechanical installations, theatrical performances, objects, and interior decoration. The dynamism of nudity, motion, and avidity was depicted within the images.
Additionally, the music album "Rusty Times" (to be released in Fall 2020) by the Croatian music creator Plazmatick (Marko Mihalinec) is played at this exhibition. This is a collaboration promise made between Kurata and Plazmatick before Kurata passed away.
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