Detailed Reviews [David Kollar - 2020 - "10 Poems for Ronroco. Crime on the Bunny"]

Prolusion. Slovakian composer and musician David KOLLAR has been a recording solo artist for a decade or thereabouts, releasing music in the realms of ambient music as well as nu-jazz. Among his more recent productions we find the compilation "!0 Poems for Ronroco / Crime on the Bunny", which was released through the Slovakian label Hevhetia in 2020.

Analysis. The material for this compilation is pulled from four different releases: The EP "10 Poems for Ronroco", the singles "Crime on the Bunny" and "Coronomorphia", with the final and fourth part being the album "The Sound Behind the House". These four productions also represent four different aspects of the material Kollar creates, which probably is appropriate for a compilation album. "10 Poems for Ronroco'' focus on the serene and beautiful landscapes one can create when combining plucked guitars and drones in various manners. Haunting, with stunningly beautiful creations of light, melancholy and darkness all in place in these ten creations. The final of these has been expanded with delicate, laidback trumpet details, which does give this final track of this part of the compilation a distinct and unique vibe and presence, although for my sake I do prefer the previous nine cuts here. "Crime on the Bunny" is a 10 minute long creation that uses guitars, drums, trumpet and various effects to tell a story by way of music. Dark, aggressive and brutal, hardcore punk and twisted, malignant noise rock combines with drones and effects here to create some rather disturbing landscapes, concluding on a lighter and more majestic note that fits the story I guess is being told here. The details of the framework for the story is one I'll let those who purchase the actual album discover. "Coronomorphia ' is a shorter collection clocking in at just over 5 minutes in total, containing two different dronescapes developing to a finale. The first is based on harsh, twisted noisescapes and ends in a frantic, chaotic fray. The other focuses on softer, smoother drone textures, and concludes on a majestic, cosmic note. "The Sound Behind the House" is just that, a field recording from behind a specific house that clocks in at just over 52 minutes. The undisturbed sounds of nature and natural occurrences is the name of the game here, and as far as I can tell these are untreated recordings. A snapshot of the sounds behind a certain house at the time of the recordings, no more and no less.

Conclusion. The different sides of Kollar's work that are presented to us here are all high quality works of art. Execution, mix and production fits the premises perfectly, and the field recording is a high quality one too from what I can hear. For my sake I do not care all that much about the latter though, and the noisescape part of 'Coronomorphia' was also one that didn't quite match my own taste for this type of experimental music. But those who want to track down high quality and varied experimental music for their enjoyment should make a note about this album's existence, and either seek it out or inspect the individual parts of it that sounds most intriguing.

Progmessor: July 2021
The Rating Room