(Vital Weekly) The first release that Miguel A. Garcia and Ilia Belorukov worked together they had a release called Wolkokrotz, now they adopted that name to be the name of the apparently ongoing musical collaboration. Garcia simply gets credit for electronics, while Belorukov plays fluteophone, iVCS3 (which is a great app simulating the old VCS synth), samples, field recordings and electronics. The five pieces in this cassette were recorded during four different concerts in Switzerland in December 2016. There is no Bandcamp download for this, which is, I think, a pity since some of the music is pretty delicate and doesn't necessarily do well on cassette. Some of this is noise based, especially the opening of either side of the cassette and of course that fits quite well. It all sounds like one long track per side, in which they go through various motions. It is all improvised, obviously, and it all sounds very electronic. From loud surface based noise of 'Diretto' to the very quiet, almost ambient approach of 'Der Überlebende' (if I got that right of course). Throughout there is an interesting 'direct' approach to sound here, like it has been taped using a Walkman in front of the speakers (or maybe on stage taping the monitor sounds), which makes this rougher, even in it's more delicate places, such as the sonic overload of 'Sweet Poolside', which is deep drones and more object/surface scanning with contact microphones. This is an excellent release, going through from electronic to acoustic, from digital to analogue and from delicate to rough. That's what we like here at the VW HQ! - Frans De Waard

(Sound Projector) The cassette Atomnye Deti (EH? AURAL REPOSITORY 104) is by Wolkokrots, the duo of Ilia Belorukov and Miguel A García. I was mildly surprised to see these two highly prolific players working together, as given their international globe-hoping lifestyle it was only a matter of time before they met up, In fact they’ve been slinging hash in this informal arrangement for a few years now; these live recordings, from 2016 and made in a variety of European locales, might be among their earliest manifestations. Even the tape is oldish now, released in 2019, but we only just got a copy and hate to report it’s already sold out. Both our good friends play the expected array of electronic devices, including samples and field recordings thrown in, although Ilia stands out for his use of the “fluteophone” this time around. The duo play soft, play hard, go high, go low…and the tape as a whole lurks quietly in the chambers like some nameless shrew, before sometimes erupting with the fury of an enraged baboon. Ratio of this loud table-noise factor to that of the “mystery purring” effect is quite low, and Atomnye Deti is mostly a perplexing conundrum for the ears and mind. I mean the logic of the musicianly actions is very hard to understand, and an atmosphere of doubt is generated, Matter of fact I find this “doubty” vibe with a lot of projects where Belorukov is involved; he seems to bring ambiguity, consternation, and unanswered questions with him wherever he goes. Even the customs officers, as he checks in at the airport, are left wondering about their choice of career path as this traveller passes through. What else do we know? The title translates from Russian as Atomic Kids, the cover drawing is by Nick Hoffman, and one track has a sample from a pop song which must have been on the radio at the same time when they were doing their circuit-bending and cryptic drone emissions. - Ed Pinsent