Katarína Máliková
According to Oliver Rehák from Denník N, Katarína Máliková’s album Pustvopol has been one of the most distinctive debuts on our music scenes over the last years. Four nominations in the Radio_Head Awards certainly confirm what he says. The album has already crossed Slovakian borders as it reached number 11 on World Music Charts Europe in March. A magical combination of folk, electronic as well as classical music performed by Katarína Máliková and her band is coming to Pohoda 2017.
08. March 2017
Katarína Máliková grew up in a peculiar village of Polomka, Horehronie (Upper Hron River Region). Since childhood, she was singing and dancing in a local folklore ensemble. After elementary school of arts, she continued improving her music skills at conservatory in Banská Bystrica, The Academy of Performing Arts and Academy of Arts. In her music, she combines folk inspirations with classical music education and untraditional ensemble featuring: flutist Katarína Turčinová, violinist Andrej Turčin, pianist Klaudia Kosmeľová, accordionist Ondrej Druga and, the latest additions to this band, violinist Žaneta Mariňáková, double bass player Janko Tomek and drummer Tomáš Hríbik.
Her debut titled Pustvopol was released in November 2016 via Slnko Records and immediately caught critics’ as well as the public’s attention. With 4 nominations in the categories of Album of the Year, Album of the Year (critics’ choice), Debut of the Year, and Worldmusic / Folk, she’s a clear favorite of this year’s Radio_Head Awards organized by Rádio_FM. Her album is a mix of her own songs and original adaptations of folk music from the villages such as Šumiac, Telgárt or Polomka. In an interview for Hudba sveta_FM discussing the selection of songs for Pustvopol, she says: “When you are going through the folklore from Horehronie region, you come across all sorts of things… from a fairy tale to heads that were chopped off and some horror motifs… And when you start to examine it more thoroughly, you’ll also discover darker and more mysterious staff.”
Her original production that offers a mix of acoustic instruments and electronica, dreamy ensembles and strong vocals has been praised home and abroad. As Hudba.sk lists, “In the latest release of World Music Charts Europe (WMCE), the talented musician from Horehronie region has scored better than the veteran bands and big names of world music scene such as African Grammy Awards winners Tinariwen, respected Polish band Warsaw Village Band, Cuban-Senegalese duo Omar Sosa & Seckou Keita, Indian musician Debashish Bhattacharya or a well-known Hungarian Cimbaliband.” Thorsten Bednarz, a broadcaster of Deutschlandradio Kultur has been full of praise for the album as well: “Imagine a new version by one of these great fairy tale movies out of Czechoslovakia in the 70s, but done by David Lynch. This one would be the soundtrack to it. Based on old rooted musical traditions but played in an almost futuristic way - it is dark, somehow frightening but you definitely wanna hear it until the bitter end.”
Vladimír Potančok of Hudba sveta_FM (World Music) program concludes his review with these words: “It’s going to be very exciting to watch the next steps of this artists, who has set a high standard for several genres at the same time, including the so-called world music. Let’s hope this is not the last thing Katarína recorded and we are looking forward to the sequel. And they say volcanos became extinct in Slovakia!” We keep our fingers crossed for Katka at RHA and look forward to her concert at Pohoda.