A number of house and chillout projects from Russia and Ukraine this week address the issue of hard work. In an unpredictable environment, what makes more sense: diligence or spontaneity?
As the Sochi Winter Music Conference prepares to advertise itself for 2014, a tone of fiscal confidence informs the PR materials. That same hope and optimism is infectious among participants.
Over the course of several electronic recordings from Perm, Krasnodar, Tula, and St. Petersburg, a fondness emerges for the lo-fi technology of the 1990s. Bad machinery recalls happy times.
Moscow's Datenbits label is announcing fresh material from Russian and Latvian electronic musicians. Working on both sides of a political divide, they champion an erasure of stylistic boundaries.
Moscow's DAR Label is publishing some showcase albums of Slavic progressive- and tech-house. Despite the bold drama of those styles, they're tied to a melancholy reality.
Saint Petersburg's Electro Music Coalition has announced a compilation of young electro composers. The sci-fi romance behind their work soon gives way to the greater drama of actuality.
Online collaborations have brought new professional options to many Russian DJs. Nonetheless, those digital connections - paradoxically - also underscore one's inability to be somewhere else.
The Mad-Hop label has released an international collection of trap and juke recordings, involving a number of Slavic artists. Together they embody a philosophy that develops very close to home.
Two new St. Petersburg recordings romanticize the homeless, aimless experience of cosmonauts. Even in Moscow, a related desire is audible, even among the most goal-driven musicians.
The Sochi Winter Music Conference has just concluded on the shores of the Black Sea. It's clear that the SWMC's happy and trusting environment has some direct consequences for national business.
