Perceptions

Vlatko Georgiev is a composer, music producer, sound artist, performer, and educator based in New Zealand. His musical origins are rooted in Macedonia, and his portfolio spans diverse genres and formats, including radio and television commercials, music and sound design for computer games, documentaries, theatre productions, feature films, and children’s ballets. A special part of his creative work is dedicated to experimental electronic music. His acousmatic compositions have been presented in Japan, Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Macedonia, earning awards on several occasions.

Album review by Nenad Georgievski, Vintage Cafe website

Listening to Perceptions feels a bit like stepping onto a plane and lifting off into the unknown—not the literal unknown of travel, but the emotional and sonic unknown of encountering a new place and letting it speak to you. Vlatko Georgiev’s latest album is a carefully woven collection of acousmatic narratives, each track a different lens on the landscapes, cityscapes, and ecosystems of Aotearoa New Zealand, filtered through the attentive ears of a newcomer.

The journey begins with ‘Flight Back to Auckland,’ which sets the tone for the album’s immersive approach. Spoken announcements from flight attendants are subtly manipulated, layered, and looped into rhythmic patterns that mimic the push and pull of ascent. It’s at once experimental and intimate: you feel the mechanical motion of travel but also the emotional tug of leaving and arriving, of uncertainty and anticipation coexisting in the same space.

From there, ‘Grande Tūī’ shifts focus to nature, presenting the virtuosic, distinctive calls of the tūī, a bird emblematic of New Zealand’s identity. Georgiev teases these organic sounds with gentle electronic distortions—tiny shifts in pitch and texture—but never overwhelms their natural beauty. The effect is quietly magical: the mechanical intrusions are noticeable, but the birds’ voices persist, resilient and central, a reminder that the environment has its own rhythms that persist despite human interference.

‘Permanent Detour (Construction Time Again)’ takes a darker, more industrial turn. Here, rhythmic constructs arise from roadwork, machinery, and drones, forming a landscape that is organized yet uncomfortably tense. Brief forays into industrial hip-hop-like beats bring the sense of a city in perpetual motion without resolution. It’s not angry; it’s observant, capturing both the physical and emotional experience of navigating spaces designed for constant activity yet never quite reaching completion.

The album then softens into ‘Melancholic Dancing Chimes,’ an ambient meditation on guidance and learning. Echoing wind chimes dance in conversation with one another, guided gently like a mentor teaching a student. The textures are delicate and reflective, combining found sounds with subtle electronic shaping, creating a space that feels safe, quiet, and contemplative. It’s perhaps the most tender moment on the album, grounding the listener after the mechanical and natural turbulence of the earlier tracks.

Closing with ‘Weather Forecast,’ Georgiev turns his attention to climate and change, capturing the sudden shifts that define New Zealand’s weather. Birds, rain, wind, and thunder converge in layered textures, giving a sense of unpredictability that mirrors the larger experience of adapting to a new environment. The track, like the album as a whole, suggests a way of listening and existing that embraces flux rather than resisting it.

What makes ‘Perceptions’ so compelling is its attentiveness: Georgiev doesn’t simply reproduce sounds; he constructs experiences, guiding the listener through planes, forests, construction sites, and stormy skies, always with an ear for detail and nuance. The album is both a reflection on migration and a celebration of the sonic textures of a place, inviting the listener to find familiarity, challenge, and beauty in the act of attentive listening.