“Elements of the experimental style of The BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop… pop, electronica, classical… far greater than the sum of its parts”
Review Graveyard, UK
“The theme and variations that make up Svjetlana Bukvich’s UNRAVELING THE LINEAR could be the score for a quantum mechanics mystery, with its kinetic energy, contrasting moods and carefully etched backgrounds energised by an electronic tape. Eventually, however, it enters a serenely beautiful world and finishes with a nice little epilogue.”
“As a composer, Svjetlana Bukvich has made a career out of jumping off cliffs and landing on her feet. Few other artists are able to bridge such a seemingly ridiculous number of styles without seeming the least bit out of place. Most, but not all, of her vibrant, dramatic, often darkly bristling compositions are electroacoustic, imbued with irrepressible joie de vivre as well as both a striking clarity and embrace of the absurd… Fans of acts as diverse as Radiohead, Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, exploding pianist Kathleen Supové and postminimalist composers like David Lang will love this stuff. Her new album EXTENSION is by turns surreal, futuristic, troubling and triumphant”
“a sweeping conversation between the natural and technological… elements of the experimental style of The BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop’s output in the ’70s, musical theatre as well as opera mixing together everything from American minimalism, art and progressive rock, German classicism, Italian polyphony, Russian romanticism, jazz, and ethnic idioms. The album flits between pop, electronica, classical… It’s this melting pot of styles that makes this album far greater than the sum of its parts. At times a thing of beauty, at others a thoughtful self-reflective piece of modern art, EXTENSION is an engaging and thoroughly enjoyable album”
— Review Graveyard ▶ UK
“an artistic response to overcoming or crossing the “threshold of pain”… in a manner so memorable that you not only enjoy the beauty of sound of her music in the present, but somehow can also enjoy the memory of it once it has passed… [Ms Bukvich] was probably feeling the same way about music as Mr [Eric] Dolphy and grappling with the consequences of ephemera. Being able to transcribe that experience to the music of her (own) heart and mind takes some ingenuity; something that Ms Bukvich has in spades… a true musical Epicurean, but whose sound of music is not only prolonged in the sensualist realm but also arouses in us a feeling of hope that is quite palpable”
— World Music Report ▶Canada
“Bukvich is one of the notable musicians who have embraced the energetic complexity of prog-rock via contemporary composition (and to dispel any reactionary social beliefs, prog-rock is cool, just ask Steve Reich). Her trademarks are sonority, color, texture, and a feeling for the metaphysical, and her collaboration with [Carolyn] Dorfman has earned raves“
— The Brooklyn Rail▶ New York
“EXTENSION has become an exciting and different album… electronics range from sequences that could have been made by (Philip) Glass, via something that could have been almost Sami or Native American and are reminiscent of her homeland and hometown of Sarajevo, a city that since the 1984 Winter Olympics, the war in the Balkans, and reconstruction, has been something that is firmly entrenched in the souls of those who experienced it, either close to, or at a distance… and it is Ms Bukvich’s compositions and electronic games that fascinate most… the record has really become an innovation for my ears. Beautiful!”
— Salt-Peanuts ▶Norway
“completely unique… a beginning of a new aesthetic paradigm,where the most important thing is flow“
— Sonograma ▶ Spain
“movie-like vocal dramafrom a sotto voce “if I cannot love you” to an impassioned “I love you so”, electronics furnishing an exclamation point“
“stunning opera with electronic synth eruptions… a unique ‘no-genre’ appeal with vague impressions of Björk’s enrapturing bass lines… gorgeous violin parts… mysterious movements, elevated by sparkling harp“
“Svjetlana Bukvich writes electronic and acoustic pieces that are passionate, articulate, sophisticated and moving“
—SoundWordSight Arts Magazine▶ New York
“highly atypical… fascinating… soars with a darker qualityof chanting like qualities and meditative ideas… operatic… a cinematic quality as sweeping beauty enters the affair… Ms Bukvich manipulates style, time and musical history in a few that few would dare to try to“
— Take Effect ▶ Houston TX
“The action grows more urgent, even frantic, impelled by Svjetlana Bukvich’s dramatic, special-effects score“
“the work fuses driving rhythms and non-western microtonal tunings with a groove–filled background track that at times crosses into the genre of ambient electronica. The result is a pleasing blend of Eastern European flavors and vibrant urban energy… a compelling performance, bringing out the sensuality, exoticism, and vitality of the music“
— New Music Connoisseur, New York
“stories of trial and triumph… powerfully intuitive choral voices… a sonic experience… cavernous chords… an exuberant lightness… exhilaration…a clear visceral reaction from the listener… Ms Bukvich looked to be worshipping at an altar of music“
— Woman Around Town, New York
“astounding… mind expanding stuff…Svjetlana’s music projects listeners into another universe where imagination and creativity are in overdrive. Her songs are unpredictable, magical, and often times otherworldly. EVOLUTION is a resounding success on all levels”
—babysue magazine ▶ Atlanta GA
“a wicked-cool arrangement and sound that pulls you in and won’t let go… The minimoog & amplified violin came together quick like lightning and energized the place. Ms Bukvich’s creation is one that stood out beyond the dark of the place on the edge of reason”
— Studio-Phoenix▶ New York
“dark romantic sound…Inspired by a book about a Bosnian dervish monastery, the piece brings the world of Bosnian Christian Orthodox music idioms together with the sounds of urban New York“
— The Glass▶ New York
“powerful and atmospheric work, evocative of the sacred”