Three new dance recordings from Siberia arguably share a philosophical connection. Does their place of origin lead to a specific worldview - something that endures as their authors travel?
These musicians from Russia, Ukraine, and Lithuania all have new recordings to announce. They also embody a happy indifference to a surrounding world of public failure.
In a musical environment that is either frustrating or constantly changing, any claims to permanence will ring hollow. Four new releases speak in support of humility. Just in case...
Moscow's "Beryoza" community has published a second compilation reconsidering some Russian pop-songs of the 1990s. From provincial quarters comes a genuinely national worldview.
As professional pressures increase around young artists, three responses transpire: look fondly to the past, adopt a new onstage identity, or plow adamantly onwards...
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.
A Moscow duo decides to cut itself off from the world, in order to protect two private voices from public intrusion. Other kindred groups view those same social forces in much darker terms.
The theme of transience appears in some new recordings from St. Petersburg, Moscow, Vladimir, and Yekaterinburg. Somewhat strangely, a fleeting existence becomes synonymous with great beauty and potential.
A new garage and idm compilation from Moscow reemploys some motifs from classic science fiction. Both the music and its literary inspiration juxtapose private dreams and public reality.
From Kaunas in Lithuania, a couple of young producers use music as a form of immaterial, even ideal experience. Sound grants a sense of location and membership far from the material hassles of DIY enterprise.
