A handful of recordings this week from northern towns ponder the role of dancefloor melancholy. Various sonic and textual kinds of dolor merge to create an original view of sadness - within entertainment.
"Vovne" is a wide-ranging musical collaborative, centered in the Siberian cities of Tomsk and Kemerovo. Across considerable distances, a shared philosophy comes slowly into view, born of late Soviet experimentation.
Three Belarusian friends and colleagues have new releases on display. Their enthusiasm for techno or a related strictness emerges against the backdrop of some awful unpredictability in local history.
A small Russian music blog - DKHC - has gathered a collection of post-rock outfits from around the country. Claiming to be based in Siberia, the blog aims for a similarly grand sweep in its tracklist.
Aesthetically, there might seem little in common between these recordings. Geographically, they are also far apart. yet when it comes to considerations of urban and rural existence, we find a considerable overlap.
Three electroacoustic projects from Krasnoyarsk, Moscow, and an unnamed Ukrainian location all consider the ephemeral nature of existence. Any levels of anxiety, however, quickly fade over time.
Exponents of harsh sound across Russia have shown a certain unity of late. Despite the apparent disorder and discord that resonates through these recordings, a manifest harmony exists on the level of worldview.
A young netlabel from Novosibirsk - Jeto Records - produces the kind of noise that counters any tales of social or economic stability. Jeto's musicians draw unnerving soundcapes that lie just beyond the outskirts of a boomtown.
Some recent recordings from Tallinn and Moscow use glitch and drone textures in order to ponder the difficult creation of stable meaning against a backdrop of fractured and/or fleeting actuality.
Origami Sound and Gimme5 are two netlabels with connections to artists in St. Petersburg and Siberia. From those locations we hear the competing sounds of science fiction and classic romanticism, side by side.
