Four slow releases from Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Ulan-Ude turn their decelerated tempo into a consideration of weighty issues. Slowness becomes a vehicle for some musings on destiny in particular.
The St. Petersburg netlabel Subwise has announced four new releases from around Russia. Taken together, they are a snapshot of material difficulty - and suggest how collaborative enterprise might offer solutions.
Some recent instrumental recordings have invested much energy in a certain form of modesty. By toying with irony and even anonymity, four introspective performers magnify the object of their attention.
A number of producers from suburban Moscow and Krasnodar strive to bridge the gap between daydreams and actuality. As everyday experience refuses to play along, the scale of romantic wistfulness only grows...
Four new recordings from bass and hip-hop producers touch upon the issue of standards. Worried by the growing popularity - and falling quality - of much bass music, these artists ponder a need for new values or virtues.
We look at the remaining attendees of Sochi's Red Bull "Bass Camp." Although these young men operate within the very public domain of sonic performance art, the role of introspection and imagination is uppermost.
Several new darkwave and glitch-hop recordings share some related concerns. They ponder the decline and demise inherent in material existence. Fatalism and decadence go head-to-head in response.
A host of excellent glitch-hop recordings has appeared this week: all the way from the Pacific Coast to rural Lithuania. Many of them share an enthusiasm for metaphors of flight, fantasy, and family.
We look at two new compilations from Mad-Hop and Dystopiaq. Both involve Russian beatmakers, yet are international in design. Those growing spaces lead to some popular sci-fi references - and talk of distant planets...
The theme of nostalgia emerges in new recordings from Kiev, Vilnius, and Babruysk (Belarus). Although they initially display a love for UK culture, these musings on the past begin to adopt a locally specific resonance.
