The Moldovia-based club avant-garde stalwart WULFFLUW XCIV goes back to long length format with Index_0 where his signature blend of primitive rhythms and sharp sound design melt into chaotic and hypermodern soundscapes
When Nikita Nakonechnyi aka WULFFLUW XCIV announces new music, you know this will be quite a sonic and aesthetic event. For the past six years or so, the Moldovia-based artist released music in labels such as Nyege Nyege sub label Hakuna Kulala (for the Ngoma Injection LP) or on Moa Pillar’s ПИР (Peer) imprint, known for gathering a exciting new generation of Slavic producers and DJ from the likes of Rapid Antics, ccontrary or UNCIA, to only name a few. Known for breaking frontiers made between all aspects of musical traditions, whether they came from South / North America, Africa, Asia or Europe, WULFFLUW XCIV aims to create a musical soundscape where art is projected beyond geographical boundaries. Thus, he pursued his universal mission to connect people worldwide while imposing his vision of twisted, somehow « deconstructed » club spirit.
The formula remains quite intact for this new album called Index_0, although Nakonechnyi gave it another dimension by using some vinyl cutting techniques long way gone, the X-Ray plates. As he informed me a bit before the publishing of this read, X-Ray plates or « bone music », appeared in the mid-20th century as a way to circumvent censorship.
In the era of prohibition, underground engineers manually cut out forbidden music on decommissioned medical images – the same ones that once recorded broken bones and traces of diseases. These ghostly recordings, filled with crackling and rustling, were passed from hand to hand, deteriorating with each listening »
WULFFLUW XCIV
Nowadays, only a few people are able to use this technique, as the custom machines they use can only work with a kind X-Ray film which production has long ceased.
Despite the material fragility induced by using such a ancient medium to share his art, WULFFLUW XCIV has never been as modern and thinking forward with the musical identity he brings on Index_0 where you will hear a cascada of worldwide-taken rhythmic elements, from Baile Funk to Gabber, through Tribal, Jersey and Gqom reminiscences, all of them colliding into an ultra complex but yet emotionally strong set of sound design aspects. Not to forget that the artist was himself obliged to move from place to place since the Russian – Ukrainian conflict began. Has he puts it in the manifesto going with this new project, the album is « a fractured reflection of modern existence. It is a diary of dissolution, an intimate yet raw exploration of identity in a world where horror and beauty intertwine ».
Before the full release of Index_0, you can now listen to the single « Dale » above this article. The track blends traces of noise, Baile Funk and Latin-club music as well as Neo-metal structures at some points, with gentle synth and robotic field recordings that create a unique mixture of both melancholia and harshness. Alternating between moments of melodic accalmies and drum-fueled fierceness, the result is as bold as the whole album suggests: non-stop jumps from modern violence and human fragility, a sincere way to soundtrack an era encapsulated in digital dependence and near-to-death capitalism. A masterpiece to show how electronic music is far from being out of political aspects, has never been and will never be.
WULFFLUW XCIV will release his new LP Index_0 on very rare X-Ray Vinyl format and also digitally this Friday 4th of April 2025. You can already purchase it through this Bandcamp.
