Some fragile releases this week share a common interest in ailing forms of social enterprise. These sounds of breakdown and demise also hope, paradoxically, to prompt thoughts of civic improvement.
Two labels - from Moscow and Omsk - announce a handful of new releases this week. They all concern some vague, enduring lacuna in modern society and whether Russia's endless expanse offers an alternative.
Three Belarusian friends and colleagues have new releases on display. Their enthusiasm for techno or a related strictness emerges against the backdrop of some awful unpredictability in local history.
A small Russian music blog - DKHC - has gathered a collection of post-rock outfits from around the country. Claiming to be based in Siberia, the blog aims for a similarly grand sweep in its tracklist.
Three bands from Belarus and Ukraine offer new recordings in a range of unrelated styles from acoustic pop to post- and drone-rock. Across them all, however, lies a shared celebration of simplicity in a complex world.
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.
New shoegaze compositions from three Russian cities focus on absent objects of desire. Since these musicians are attracted by things ineffable, it makes sense that they'd abandon language. And they do.
Aesthetically, there might seem little in common between these recordings. Geographically, they are also far apart. yet when it comes to considerations of urban and rural existence, we find a considerable overlap.
Three electroacoustic projects from Krasnoyarsk, Moscow, and an unnamed Ukrainian location all consider the ephemeral nature of existence. Any levels of anxiety, however, quickly fade over time.
Various glitch and lo-fi recordings this week offer a nervous view of surrounding actuality. The brittle structure of these instrumentals speaks to a marked distance from confident self-statement.
