LadyDot Review: Roman Andor Krotil

Roman Andor Krotil – a man of many talents and author of masterful Electro Swing remixes.
Top produced tracks by Masha Ray, The Soulmate Project and ROMZN

It’s kind of funny, because I came up with the topic for this review (actually an article combined with reviews)… in half an hour. Why did it come to this? Today was supposed to be a review of one of the latest Electro Swing singles. Unfortunately, it so happened that the release of this single was postponed probably by a few weeks. And I had to completely change the concept two days before the review submission deadline. I just went on Instagram @electroswing and… I was immediately dazzled.

I remembered that there is someone in our Electro Swing family who, with his musical achievements, undoubtedly deserves to have a separate article dedicated to him. That person is Roman Andor Krotil. Does the name ring a bell? Read on and you will surely find that you have already listened to his works many times. I will tell you what I have been able to find out about Roman and review for you some of his singles that he has created in his various musical projects.

Roman Andor Krotil’s impressive versatility

Multi-instrumentalists have always inspired great admiration in me. Not only because of the fact that they have mastered the art of playing multiple instruments. Above all, I am incredibly impressed by their tenacity of purpose, their willingness to practice for hours on end and their incredible creativity. The great art is to find an idea for yourself – and Roman Andor Krotil undoubtedly has one. On his profiles on Instagram, we can watch videos where he playfully shows us his compositions, combining the sounds of different instruments and at the same time creating truly original compositions.

I love his versatility and his love for many musical genres. Metal, classical music, Balkan rhythms, electronic music and other genres absolutely have no secrets from him. I have to confess to you that I like this a lot – because thanks to his work I was reminded of how much I loved metal, the sharp sound of the guitar and the blending of sounds of seemingly incompatible instruments.

Roman Andor Krotil and Masha Ray

Anyone who listens to Electro Swing is bound to be familiar with Masha Ray. And who of you knew that Roman Andor Krotil is the main producer of this project’s tracks? Ha! Among other things, he worked with the great guys from the Balduin duo (Martin, Benedikt, greetings to you all! :)) for the song “Dirty Dazzler”.

Oh, I cannot describe to you how much I love this song! Masha’s brilliant vocals fully deserve the perfect musical setting. “Dirty Dazzler” not only lulls us fantastically with its Electro Swing rhythm, but it is also incredibly electrifying and makes us feel as if we are witnessing some really intriguing story with romance and foul play in the background. I like such unexpected twists and turns!

In May 2021, Masha Ray released her album ‘Electro Swing’. Be sure to listen to all the songs. Masha’s wonderfully sweet and, on the other hand, powerful and energetic vocals and rich melodies, based on so many instruments that I can’t count them all – the success of this release is undoubtedly due to two incredibly talented people. And one of them, of course, is Roman. My favourite tracks from this album: “Hasta La Vista”, “Eye Candy”, “Grannies”… Okay, I won’t go on listing, because simply all the songs are great!

Roman Andor Krotil as ROMZN

Many artists create remixes of songs. Roman does it really well – he created the ROMZN project, which is dedicated precisely to remixes of the Electro Swing songs we love.

On 7 October, he released a new remix – this time he reached for a track by Victor Ghastly’s Electric Timebomb project – ‘Voodoo’. In my review of the Roaring Halloween (Electro Swing 1) compilation, which you can read HERE, I already wrote about how I loved the original version with Victor’s emotive vocals. ROMZN has made something really cool out of it, with even more of an Electro Swing vibe. The accelerated tempo, the clear keyboard sound and the clean brass sounds are definitely something I love. ‘Voodoo’ in his version sounds simply perfect.

Also included in the collection of remixes by ROMZN is the track ‘Hasta La Vista’ for Masha Ray. It’s amazing to see him revisit songs he created some time ago. By doing so, Roman shows us that he is an artist who is not afraid to reach back to his earlier compositions to give them a new sound and a completely new quality. And he does it fantastically!

Roman Andor Krotil and The Soulmate Project

I can’t describe how much I love funk. I’ll let you in on a secret: when I was studying journalism, I wrote my thesis on the musical culture of the 1970s. As you can guess, I wrote there mainly about rock (especially psychedelic rock, ahh, I love that genre!) and funk. Funk is the sound of the bass and drums that get my heart pounding. It’s a raging brass section that lights up my day. It’s the guitar that’s impossible to forget. And those choruses… That’s exactly how I can describe the track ‘Maximize Your Hormones’.

The Soulmate Project also experiments with soul and disco in this track, bringing a new quality to the music market. ‘Maximize Your Hormones’ is a real masterpiece. Every time I listen to this track, I feel that euphoria that I get when enjoying compositions by cult funk groups: Earth, Wind & Fire, Kool & The Gang and Sly & The Family Stone.

A huge musical surprise for me is the mini-album ‘Vintage Revisited’, which is an outstanding combination of Electro Swing, swing hop, pop and I only discovered it while doing research and the author of all these compositions is, of course, Roman Andor Krotil. From these eight tracks I have selected my favourites, which undoubtedly include ‘Swinging & Dancing’, ‘My Boots’, ‘Golden Superstar’ and ‘It’s Going Down’.

Quick Summary

As you can see for yourself, Roman Andor Krotil is a multi-talented artist. He not only creates his own excellent compositions, but also helps other artists to achieve the perfect musical sound. And besides that… he makes excellent remixes that are perfectly polished. In this article I have focused on Roman’s Electro Swing projects, but I know he does a whole lot of other musical things.

Who knows what Roman Andor Krotil will surprise us with next? One thing is for sure: I will certainly be watching the further development of his career with great interest. And I will be rooting for him to achieve what he fully deserves: worldwide success! :)

Written & reviewed by LadyDot (Ja, Wizeruk) Date: 2022-10-24

Bio – LadyDot

Anna (LadyDot) was born in ’94, but always felt she came from the Golden Twenties. “Polka” in Polish means “girl from Poland”, so she’s “Polka in polka dots”. She loves vintage style and spontaneous travels around Europe. But her greatest love (apart from her husband) is of course music, especially Electro Swing.

On her own Blog www.jawizeruk.pl she writes about various music genres. She is a copywriter, so writing is her strong point. Anna likes singing (not only in the shower!) and cooking (especially Italian and Hungarian cuisine).