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.
Some fragile releases this week share a common interest in ailing forms of social enterprise. These sounds of breakdown and demise also hope, paradoxically, to prompt thoughts of civic improvement.
Four slow releases from Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Ulan-Ude turn their decelerated tempo into a consideration of weighty issues. Slowness becomes a vehicle for some musings on destiny in particular.
"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.
Some recent instrumental recordings have invested much energy in a certain form of modesty. By toying with irony and even anonymity, four introspective performers magnify the object of their attention.
Two labels - from Moscow and Omsk - announce a handful of new releases this week. They all concern some vague, enduring lacuna in modern society and whether Russia's endless expanse offers an alternative.
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.
Several new darkwave and glitch-hop recordings share some related concerns. They ponder the decline and demise inherent in material existence. Fatalism and decadence go head-to-head in response.
Several Russian synth-pop releases this week draw upon the traditions of the 1980s - duplicating the lo-fi sound of that same decade. As a result, Western glitz, low-grade tape, and late Soviet society all merge.
The theme of nostalgia emerges in new recordings from Kiev, Vilnius, and Babruysk (Belarus). Although they initially display a love for UK culture, these musings on the past begin to adopt a locally specific resonance.
