Three recordings from Saint Petersburg find themselves making social statements with tools taken from other towns and times. Cheap science fiction is especially enlightening.
The city of Yekaterinburg has a proud connection to the rock and protest songs of perestroika. Do any local bands from that city share the same convictions today?
For musicians working with minimal time and zero financial support, the role of teamwork is vital. Three new releases from Russia and Latvia celebrate joint effort.
Criticism of professional options in Russia and Ukraine is countered with a series of alternatives: psychedelia, fantasy, emigration––and virtual reality.
From Latvia, Lithuania, and Russia, four new releases appear, all inspired by a hip-hop tradition. They also voice a connection to other musical events of prior decades - together with their social impact.
As Yungchen Lhamo and Anton Batagov promote a collaboration grounded in Tibetan prayers, other Russian artists have a different view of distant places. Hope and horror begin to alternate.
Ultra Vague is a Ukrainian netlabel that recently celebrated its fifth anniversary. Not surprisingly, overlapping themes of hard work and fidelity run through a number of releases.
The members of Latvia's "Dirty Deal Audio" collective have published a compilation album in order to celebrate their successes in 2013. The overarching spirit of shared enterprise is genuinely striking.
Seventeen promising DJs, performers, and producers from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia come together in order to improve the general atmosphere of collaboration. A common worldview transpires.
An overview of five acclaimed Slavic rap projects shows a decreasing similarity with Western fashion. Many aspects of Western rap are overshadowed by a unique and very local philosophy.
