Several Russian synth-pop releases this week draw upon the traditions of the 1980s - duplicating the lo-fi sound of that same decade. As a result, Western glitz, low-grade tape, and late Soviet society all merge.
A well-respected culture magazine in St. Petersburg has just published a list of the city's most promising electronic projects. We look at four dance-oriented artists on that list and consider their common outlook.
Three Baltic instrumentalists look back upon audio-visual phenomena of their childhood. What results is a new respect for simplicity in adult experience - set to an equally simple, occasionally nostalgic soundtrack.
Here we focus upon new recordings from three cities: Samara, Barnaul, and Syktyvkar. All of those locations might suffer from assumptions of "provinciality," yet one needs to consider the style(s) in question. Some actually benefit from great distance...
Three recent publications from Moscow have been closely tied to aspects of the capital's nightlife. In fact, on some occasions the music even reflects the history or outlook of the venue from which it comes.
These four musicians all have telling relationships to the past. They approach the future's opportunity for innovation with one eye upon childhood - or the hometowns thereof. The past - in all cases - shapes a demanding future.
The Moscow techno and house label Pro-Tez is busy with several new releases, despite the appearance of summer. Here we pay attention to three publications - and the minimalist outlook that unifies them all. What, in other words, is the appeal of restraint and understatement?
Here we extend - and complete - the coverage of our first compilation album. This second text looks at the work of the remaining six projects, all the way from Moscow to Minsk - with a few stops in between at St Petersburg, Krasnodar, Petrozavodsk, and even the nightclubs of Prague.
One of the new changes at FFM involves regular compilation albums, free for downloading and (wide!) distribution. The first of these albums is designed to celebrate new minimal works from both Russia and Belarus.
This week, Error Broadcast announces the publication of nineteen remixes, all based upon Dza's 2010 release "Five-Finger Discount." A limited number of copies will appear on cassette - for locally specific reasons
