The importance of folkloric narratives and a premodern ethos endure for some Russian and Estonian performers. In each case, the allure of yesterday is imagined as some vaguely perceived source of light.
Various electronic recordings this week from Kiev, Ulan-Ude, Ekaterinburg, and Gomel speak less of free creation than of the search for verity. Local experience, however, does not always help.
A number of Russian electronic producers announce fresh material that finds surprising inspiration in dowdy locations. A shabby address is, it seems, no real obstacle for zealous dreamers.
The promise and scale of Soviet science fiction continue to inspire a wide range of young musicians. On occasion, the daunting distances of local geography foster similar imagery.
The Origami Sound label has announced a celebratory compilation LP, gathering one hundred tracks from two years of work. Among the Russian contributors, a collective worldview takes shape.
Various freedoms, both social and emotional, are pondered in some new electronic recordings from Russia. As the pressures upon liberty increase, one of the artists coins the generic tag "drowntempo."
The phenomenon of vaporwave has been gathering critical traction in the US. In a Russian context, though, the same sounds recall a very different social reality.
A number of electronic projects around Russia announce their demise this week. They attribute that vanishing act to the laws of nature or "entropy," even, in ways that slowly inform an entire worldview.
A range of new glitch and harsh-noise recordings finds inspiration in technical mistakes: glitchy patterns reflect various trials, errors, and rebirth. For that reason, digital metaphors soon become natural.
Novosibirsk's Echotourist organization has published a new album, designed to showcase a range of Siberian electronic artists. The worldview emerging from sixteen projects grows increasingly bleak.
