Two new albums from Ukraine and Kazakhstan have just been released in ways that link trip- or abstract hip-hop to the slow and comfortable workings of nostalgia. // "Современный инструментальный хип-хоп – вещь тонкая, требующая особого подхода. Казалось бы, сэмпл лупом, бит, бочка – и произведение готово, а рунет покорен." Вот антидот...
Nick Tremo is the stage name of a fundamentally anonymous musician/DJ from the ancient Ukrainian town of Uzhgorod. He has been responsible for a couple of releases this year, both offered through the net label/aggregator Qulture. More specifically, in mid March a one-hour, fifteen track instrument...
Subwise Records is an independent netlabel, based in St Petersburg, to whom we've turned on numerous occasions - for a wide number of reasons and releases. Now, as when the label began, it specializes in electronica from new or little-known artists, often from northern Russia.
The project’s...
In the early 1980s, a electro/funk single was released by Afrika Bambaataa (and colleagues) called "Renegades of Funk." Thanks to the bold production work of Arthur Baker, it would go on to become not only a major dancefloor hit, but also an enduring social statement. The track, in short, suggests...
A little over one month ago, we found ourselves with a copy of Pixelord's super new EP, "Lucid Freaks" and paid it due attention. A couple of weeks later, another recording popped up from Pixelord's alter ego, Gultskra Artikler: that, too, was showcased on this site. And now, with almost startli...
Last week, the Lithuanian net-project Mondayjazz released a new mixtape/set from Moscow beat maestro Dza. It's currently promoted, in Russian, as "a mash-up made from tracks by all kinds of hip-hop performers, both from Russia and further afield. Banging beats for ya ears!"
Indeed.
It come...
This month has seen the release of a new album by Sevara Nazarkhan, whom Moscow's OpenSpace magazine recently called "the most internationally famous 30 year-old woman born in the Soviet Union." This new CD, published as the work of Sevara and El'f (an "alter-ego" of the singer), is titled Tak Leg...
On occasion we find ourselves brought (back) into the unpredictable release schedules of Moscow's How2Make records, which is always a surprise - and a pleasure. The label was formed six years ago by a couple of hard-working local musicians, Dza and Escapo, with the initial goal of publishing s...
Kirpichi ("Bricks") are a well-established St. Petersburg band who stroll confidently back and forth between rock and hip-hop registers; they do so in ways that clearly suggest The Beastie Boys as distant, kindred spirits. With this new release - "Glavklub" (Main Club) - they again move away fro...
Masha XII (aka "Masha Dvenadtsat'" or Masha 12) is a young poet and lyricist from Moscow. Her texts, often delivered personally, are used for a wide range of trip- and hip-hop tracks scattered around the web. As DJ Max Tau recently remarked in his Vrashchenie podcasts, she is less of a solo perf...
