Plazmatick

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 Last year, after years of absence, he decided to publish his unpublished work from 2013, called epochal "Rusty Times", while after a few months he again conquered the new and for now the last long-playing "You're cuddling me".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.

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 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!

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.

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. 

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. 

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 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 ...

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!

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.

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: 

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First I would like to congratulate you for your efforts in making the album happen since 2013.I clearly remember what we have been discussing on back then, so do not worry. The only thing we need to note is, like how various things have been going on your side, my situation has also changed and this time we need Zen Foto to communicate for us in between. So regarding any financial conditions please discuss directly with Zen Foto. Personally, I hope you can send me two free copies of the album with your signature. Seiji Kurata -------- His wife told us he was happy to see the album jacket! For Zen Foto, it depends if you need Mr. Kurata to sign a contract/deal with any documents. If we need to translate any documents it would be great if you can pay us some handling fee for the time we use in translating the document. If there are no documents needed, then it would be great if you can just add our name on the credit of the album and for us to receive a copy of your album with your signature. (In that case, you can send us all 3 copies and we will send Mr. Kurata his 2 copies)   We would also like to ask you to put credit for Mr. Kurata, something like: Cover Photo: A Tattooed Man, rooftop of the Bungeiza Street Building, Ikebukuro, Tokyo, 1975 ©︎ Seiji Kurata  Best, Bonnie

On 2020-03-03 06:37, Bonnie wrote:

Dear Marko,

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.