Some press and radio references:
Reviews:
Rockerilla magazine, Mirco Salvadori (Italy)
EN: … a real journey into the mystery that governs our passage on this earth, the memory that is renewed thanks to an incredible mix between the archaic and the modern, between PAST AND PRESENT.
News:
Sonofmarketing – Slovakian composer announces a new album
Spectator.sme.sk – Alapastel to release a new album on US label
Acloser listen – fall music preview, modern composition
Hudba.sk – Americké vydavateľstvo vydá mystický slovenský album
Fullmoonzine – Alapastel vydáva album na americkom labeli
Hudba.sk – Alapastel vydáva druhý album Ceremony na americkom labeli Lost Tribe Sound
LALA Slovak Music Explorer – October
Pavol Barabáš – Čo ovplyvnil film Tieň Jaguára
Live reports:
Hudba.sk – reportáž z World Music Festival Bratislava Tomáš Garai: “Hudba je to určite svetová. A do prostredia tohto kostola sa akýmsi zvláštnym spôsobom hodí. Hudobný mozog a autor projektu Alapastel Lukáš Bulko mi za svojim aparátovým pultíkom pripomína kňaza, ktorý svojich veriacich poslucháčov stále viac a viac namáča do svojho mystického sveta. Na mohutných basových kobercoch sa obratne pohybujú vysoké tóny šikovného huslistu Jána Kružliaka mladšieho. Celkový obraz dotvára Kristína Kluvánek svojím hlasom, perkusiami a ladnými pohybmi. “
EN: “The music is definitely world class. And it fits into the environment of this church in a special way. The musical brain and author of the Alapastel project, Lukáš Bulko, reminds me of a priest behind his console, who is dipping his faithful listeners more and more into his mystical world. The high notes of the skilful violinist Ján Kružliak Jr. move deftly on the massive bass carpets. Kristína Kluvánek completes the overall picture with her voice, percussion and graceful movements.”
SK o koncerte Alapastel: “Koncertnú sieň kostola Klarisky zaplavila hudba, ktorú môžeme označiť autorovými slovami ako liečivý ceremoniál hudobných meditácii a modlitieb za svet. Naozaj stačilo zavrieť oči a nechať sa unášať svetom liečivých zvukov a zvukových efektov. Husľové motívy a melodické vyhrávky, pískané melódie a upokojujúce zvuky fujary, klavíra, šejkrov a perkusívnych bubnov s voľnými rytmickými figúrami, dopĺňali zvukové efekty a hlboké sprievodné tóny, aby v poslucháčoch vytvorili očarujúco príjemnú a podmanivú meditatívnu, miestami aj zádumčivú atmosféru. Tú umocňoval anjelsky krásny vokál Kristíny Kluvánek a jej intuitívne tanečné a pohybové figúry. V záverečnej piesni ich koncertu sa k vystúpeniu pridali dve speváčky, členky speváckej skupiny NEHA a spoločne v pútavých viachlasoch interpretovali pieseň našich predkov s názvom Bride of the Mountains z prvého albumu Alapastel z roku 2018 (Hidden for the eyes).”
5.11.2022 – live at Ladovna, Bytča – report by Vlado Ďurajka, aka Autumnist: ” Alapastel som doteraz povazoval za hudbu svetovych kvalit, po vcerajsom koncerte v Ladovni by som este na hodnoteni trochu pridal. Absolutne delikatny zvuk, cely set bez hlucheho miesta co je pri takejto jemnej hudbe dost tazke dosiahnut. Krajsie znejuce husle som zrejme este nepocul. Pri pomerne slusnej navsteve v publiku uplne ticho, kazdemu z toho asi odletel dekel. Ak budete mat moznost, urcite na to chodte.”
Interviews:
Alapastel – Ceremony (documentary) – Short documentary about album Ceremony, interview with Lukáš Bulko (Alapastel) & Ján Kružliak Jr. with english subtitles (published 27.11.2021) – Youtube
Radio_FM, Hudba Sveta_FM, Interview with Alapastel in Slovak language (13.10.2021) – Soundcloud
Hudba.sk – Alapastel o novom albume Ceremony: Hudba je mysteriózne médium (30.11.2021)
Marek Danko: “Aktuálny album Ceremony ide v každom ohľade ešte ďalej. Je rozsiahlejší, má väčšiu hĺbku, presvedčivejšie pracuje s náladami a rozprestiera sa na území viacerých žánrov.”…“Lukáš Bulko svoju pokojne plynúcu hudbu inovuje a obohacuje experimentmi, disonantnými ruchmi, gradáciou a melódiami, ktoré sa vlastne melódiami ani nedajú nazvať. Sú to len vodítka či náznaky, na ktoré po skončení skladby zabudnete, no budete si pamätať najmä to, že ide o veľmi návykové motívy, vyvolávajúce stav hypnózy so zimomriavkami. Precítenie obsahovej náplne Ceremony si vyžaduje zvláštne rozpoloženie a veľa trpezlivosti. Sústrediť sa počas celých 74 minút dá veľa námahy a nájdu sa aj slabšie miesta, keďže to kvantum materiálu je obrovské. Ak si však platňu rozkúskujete, dočkáte sa luxusných zážitkov. O tom, aký prístup k hudbe má samotný autor, sa dočítate viac v našom rozhovore.”
Fullmoonzine.cz – Vstupní prohlídka: Alapastel (04.04.2022)
“Hudba jako meditace, cestování v mysli, šamanské obřady? Proč ne. Alapastel je velmi přemýšlivý autor.”
Best of 2021 lists:
https://lowlightmixes.podbean.com/e/bestfavorite-ambient-of-2021
#3 favorite ambient album of 2021, Alapastel – Ceremony!
“I made the list with a top 5 and then listed everything else alphabetically. It’s way too hard to say this one is #14 while that one is #22. That being said I totally loved the top 3 on this list.”
Selected Radio & mix appearances:
Sterrenplanten (Mass to Free Us, 17.9.2021)
Lowlightmix (New World Healing Centre, 3.10.2021)
(“And then there are two albums from Lost Tribe Sound that haven’t been released yet but they will both be on my year-end favorites list. They are mastroKristo – Departures and Alapastel – Ceremony. They are both part of Lost Tribe Sound’s Salt & Gravity series, which is fantastic.”)
It’s Just Music Baby! An extra show – Autumn Mix October 2021 (In the Service of Life, 13.10.2021)
Radio_FM, Hudba Sveta_FM, Interview with Alapastel (Mass to free Us, In the Service of Life, Releaseness, 13.10.2021)
Radio_FM, Mental_FM (21.9. Releaseness, Transmission, 28.9. Transmission, 12.10. Transmission, 2.10. New World Healing Centre, 19.10. Mass to Free Us)
Radio E-Lodie – Luxemburg (16.10.2021, Transmission)
Radio alHara – Palestine, Jim White + Spirodon mix (29.10.2021, In The Service Of Life)
Part Timer – 2022 OEP guest mix (2.3.2022, New World Healing Centre)
Free City Radio – Underground Sounds mix, 28/03/2022, CKUT 90.3fm (28.3.2022 ,Flight Over Utopia & Goodnight, Valley of the Roses)
Senzor AM 583 – Salt And Gravity +1 (Lost Tribe Sound label special) (24.6.2022, In The Service Of Life)
Reviews:
“While the footprints we leave behind in our own lives – both for good and for bad – will vanish without a trace, Hidden for the Eyes leaves behind a soulprint.”…You have to take good care of things that do not belong to you. You have to nurture and look after your temporary home. ‘Walk as if you’re kissing the ground with your feet’ isn’t restricted to Buddhism – it’s a message for us all.”
Simon Chandler, Bandcamp Daily – Ten Musicians Updating Electroacoustic Music for the 21st Century
“Richly orchestrated and featuring sumptuous vocal performances from Alex Lukáčová and Marián Hrdina, its stirring instrumentation is almost undetectably morphed via electroacoustic production.”
Mike Lazarev, Headphone Commute
“Alapastel is a labour of love, both from the Slovakian composer and producer Lukáš Bulko, of course, but also from James Murray who carefully handcrafted this limited edition “for people who treasure beautiful audio artefacts.”
“Alapastel expands the borders of post-classical music.”
“totally different”
(* Noteworthy thing about this track by track – vocal & instrumental analysis of whole album is that the author of this analysis deliberately does not visit artists pages, read booklets, or listen to music from the address someone recommends. He does not want to be affected, so only perceives the recording based on listening and its name.)
Textura.org (Canada)
“an undeniably remarkable level of craft, with multiple genres intrepidly tackled like it’s the most natural thing in the world. … To call Hidden For The Eyes assured hardly does it justice. ”
Brightly Off-Coloured Discophile, albumaday263779177
“there are people like Lukáš that work really fucking hard. They include unique sounding singers and solid arrangements behind months of planning and hard work. In their layers you can hear the late nights, the breakthroughs, and the plateaus, all in the pursuit of a personal and intimate sounding record. And it’s a fucking shame when these efforts disappear into a pile of ostentatious indolence that smells exactly like yesterday’s salmon rolls coming out the back end of a ballsy cow.“
Marek Danko, Hudba.sk (Slovakia)
SK: “V marci je trochu unáhlené hovoriť o platni roka, ale táto nahrávka by prvenstvo v kategórii najväčšie tuzemské prekvapenie mohla získať s jasným prehľadom.”
EN: “In March, it’s a little rashly to talk about the platinum of the year, but this record would be the first in the category of the biggest domestic surprise to gain with a clear overview.”
Raffaello Russo, Music Won’t Save You (Italy)
IT: “Lungo l’intero corso di Hidden for the Eyes si percepisce un senso di solennità e di consapevolezza creativa davvero sorprendente per un’opera prima e invece gestito da Bulko con consumato equilibrio nel dosare ariose suggestioni atmosferiche e passaggi di pronunciata intensità cinematica… Hidden for the Eyes sia non soltanto un’opera musicale di coinvolgente lucidità ma una proposta di affascinante sinestesia creativa, alla quale dischiudere anche occhi e cuore.”
EN: “Along the entire course of Hidden for the Eyes you perceive a sense of solemnity and creative awareness really surprising for a work before and instead managed by Bulko with consummate balance in dosing airy atmospheric suggestions and passages of pronounced kinematic intensity … Hidden for the Eyes is not only a musical work of engaging lucidity but a proposal of fascinating creative synaesthesia, to which also open eyes and heart.”
François Bousquet, Ether Real (France)
FR: “Avec sa belle longueur d’ensemble, Hidden for the Eyes se fait alors nettement plus intéressant que ce qu’on pouvait imaginer de prime abord.”
EN: “With its beautiful overall length, Hidden for the Eyes is then much more interesting than one could imagine at first glance.“
Radio Študent, FM 89,3 (Slovenia)
SLO: “Ideja ponovnega obujenja narave je vse prej kot dolgočasna, v takšnem življenju se skriva občutek počasno razvijajoče se miline. Prav takšen občutek idilične narave pa bi nas lahko preplavil tudi ob natančnem prisluhnenju albumu Hidden For The Eyes”
EN: “The idea of re-training of nature is all but boring, in such a life a feeling of slowly evolving grace is hidden. Such a feeling of idyllic nature could overwhelm us with precise listening to the album”
Jan Willem, Subjectivisten (Netherlands)
NED: “Bulko heeft een uiterst vrije manier van muziek maken, wat heel veel bijzondere, unieke momenten oplevert. En niet onbelangrijk, ook van een immense schoonheid. Maar luister vooral zelf middels onderstaande link!”
EN: “Bulko has an extremely free way of making music, which yields many special, unique moments. And not unimportant, also of immense beauty.”
Rudy Carrera, A miscellany of tastefull…
“a mesmerizing blend of contemporary classical music, a touch of musique concrète, and maybe a speck of post-rock in a way not dissimilar to Ólafur Arnalds.”
Valtazar Zauberquelle (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
BAN: “To mu zapis razlikuje od mora naslova na koji je stavljena oznaka neoklasicizma.”
EN: “This record distinguishes from the sea of the titles on which the neoclassicism mark is put.”
Exclusive pre-release track premiers:
Bride of the Mountains, Slowcrat Records premiere
Solar System for Nina, Fluid Radio premiere
Demon, Headphone Commute premiere
News:
XLR8R – Slovakian Composer Lukáš Bulko (a.k.a Alapastel) Preps Beautiful Electronic Ambient Album
Hudba.sk – Debut slovenského projektu Alapastel ešte nevyšiel a už má vo svete skvelé ohlasy
Hudba.sk – Britské vydavateľstvo vydá Slovákovi debutový album. Nahrával ho osem rokov
Sonofmarketing – SATURDAY COME SLOW #9/2018: THE BEST MUSIC OF THE WEEK
Sonofmarketing – [Streaming]: Alapastel – “Bride Of The Mountains”
Soap Company – March Recommends (“Transmission compositions from Slovakian producer Lukáš Bulko. Otherworldly, outlying but with real spiritual skeletons”)
Zapiskiosztuce.pl – Ambientowe rekomendacje – marzec 2018 (“rewelacja” / “reveal!“)
Part-time audiophile – Monthly Spins: June, by Joe Surdna (“a reflective and thoughtful sonic journey … lavish and brilliant record worthy of many deep listens.”)
Nový Popular – Dobrá hudba z Wegartu (apríl 2018) (“Už pred samotným vydaním nazbieral množstvo pozitívnych ohlasov od hudobných profesionálov, ku ktorým sa jeho hudba, vďaka šéfovi vydavateľstva Slowcraft Jamesovi Murrayovi, dostala v predstihu.“)
RedBull Music – Calm amongst the noise: 8 essential ambient artists you need to know (“a beautiful collage of neo-classical and electronic music, with hint of Slovak folk roots. I grew up in Slovakia and this is the first album of proud folk influences – inspired by classical compositions, yet made in a modern way – that I have heard coming out from my country before. It is delicately balanced, emotional and powerful music, and Alapastel is the new artist to watch. I can feel that this is just the beginning of his journey…“)
RedBull Music – Diese 8 Ambient-Künstler solltest du kennen!
Hudba.sk – Jeden z objavov roka 2018 Alapastel predstavuje glitch-artový videoklip Démon
Interviews:
Red Bull Slovensko – Rozhovor Mesiaca: Alapastel
Radio_FM – Mental_FM – best Slovak experimental music of 2018 – audio profile (od 1:19:27, predchádzala mu skladba Frozen Lakes Fog and Snow (Live) od času 1:14:12.)
Deutsch: https://dersi.rtvs.sk/clanky/kultur/187031/hidden-for-the-eyes-das-debutalbum-von-alapastel
Compilations:
Ostrov Hudby 3 (Frozen Lakes, Fog and Snow Live)
Best of World music from Slovakia 2016 – 2018 (Bride of the Mountains).
Best of 2018 lists:
(Marek Danko: EN: “Alapastel goes even further – his debut is for me the top Slovak album of the year, connecting ethno, ambient and classical music to an incredibly strong whole. With the support of English publisher Slowcraft Records, his author’s name came to the world before the album officially came out. It is a pity that more attention has not been paid by the Slovak media.”
SK: “Alapastel ide ešte ďalej – jeho debut je pre mňa top slovenským albumom roka, spájajúcim ethno, ambient a vážnu hudbu do neskutočne silného celku. S podporou anglického vydavateľstva Slowcraft Records sa meno jeho autora dostalo do sveta ešte skôr než album oficiálne vyšiel. Škoda, že mu aj v slovenských médiách nebola venovaná väčšia pozornosť.”)
(James Murray: “This album is a hugely successful demonstration of what dedication, talent, and sensitivity can achieve when directed together in a sustained, honest, and open-hearted way.”)
Best of decade 2010-2019
Selected Radio & mix appearances:
BBC 6, 15.4.2018 Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone, (Bride of the Mountains, “beautiful edition“)
Rádio_FM: D2_FM (24.2.2018, interview with Lukáš Bulko 1:17:33 & Bride of the Mountains, 24.3.2018 Seashell & Solar System for Nina, 5.5. Seashell), Osmička – slovak alternative chart (8.4.2018 interview with Lukáš Bulko 7:44-20:13 + song Seashell, 15.4.2018, 15.4.,22.4.(1st place),29.4.(2nd place),6.5.(5th place), 13.5.(3rd place)27.5.(7th place)) Hudba Sveta_FM, 7.3.2018 (Bride of the Mountains, 23.1.2019 – RadioHlavy nomnácie world music/folk) Pomalá hudba (1.4.2018 Ecounter, 8.4.2018 Encounter, 15.4.2018 Bride of the Mountains, 22.4. Bride of the Moutains, 29.4. Seashell, 6.5. Encounter, 27.5.2018,…, 12.8. Seashell, 27.9. Peaceful Soul…), Experimental_FM 2.4.2018 (Encounter, Seashell. Bride of the Mountains, Frozen Lakes, Fog and Snow, 10.4.2018 – special Slovak edition), Mental FM (24.7. Peaceful Soul in Calm Ocean, 31.7.2018)Fallgrapp Mixtape 13.5.(Bride of the Mountains), Nová hudba ktorej veríme (14.5. Seashell,24.5. Seashell).
https://dersi.rtvs.sk/clanky/kultur/187031/hidden-for-the-eyes-das-debutalbum-von-alapastel
Rádio_Devín: Folkfórum (18.10.2018, Seashell, Bride of the Mountains)
Resonance FM radio show Analogue Chat (Interview with James Murray, Slowcraft Records, include songs: Encounter & Frozen Lakes, Fog and Snow)
Concertzender Nederland – 230 Volt. Contemporary Electronic Music #55 (song – Peaceful Soul In Calm Ocean), (11.3.2018, DreamScenes March, song Demon) DreamScenes Special (11.8.2019)
Tome to the Weather Machine Podcast 022 (song – Bride of the Mountains)
Netil Radio – Morning Transition -15th April 2018 – Sunday’s album of the week (whole album from 22:40) “this may easily be my album of the year“, Netil Radio – Morning Transition – 11th March 2018 (song – Bride of the Mountains)
Soundart Radio – Its Just Music Baby. (closing song – Encounter)
Neotropic Radio Show on Reel Rebels Radio Volume 3 2018 (opening song – Tousled)
DreamScenes – March 2018 (song – Demon)
The Seventh Wave 160318 Electronica Radio Show (song – Demon)
Resonance FM – A Duck in a Tree 2018-02-24 | Now and Wherever (song – Peaceful Soul in Calm Ocean)
Headphone Commute Mix – Celestial Waters by James Murray (song – Peaceful Soul in Calm Ocean)
Serbian Radio and Television – Noćne promenade (whole album)
Lithuanian Laima Persik – DiMENSiONS#43 (song – Peaceful Soul in Calm Ocean is “..an oceanic evocation of serenity, inner expansion and boundless inspiration.”)
Senzor AM 352 – Subjectivisten / Netherlands, 5.4.2018 (Seashell, Bride Of The Mountain, Demon)
CJSW 90,9FM, Calgary, Canada (25.3.2018, played at 42:59 and sweetly introduced at 1:04:25) (2.9.2018, Tousled)
Radio 1 – Velká Sedma (Czech chart, 2 weeks 24.4., 8.5.2018)
Radio Naba (Riga, Latvia, 2011) – Rasols show by DJ Snobo. (Seashell – 2009 version)
Radio Q37 – Stranger Than Paradise 177 (31.5.2018, Encounter)
Red Bull Music – Ambient Session as a part of Field Maneuvers new Ambient Cafe promotion by Miro SundayMusiq (august 2018, Solar System for Nina)
Outpost – On repeat in the Outpost office (october 2018, Bride of the Mountains)
CRMK radio – The Garden of Earthly Delights (30.11.2018, Frozen Lakes, Fog and Snow)
ALAPASTEL 