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...
In recent months, the excellent Rustypop Records have released material by a new off-shoot, going by the name of Terra Fantastica. Of all the bands housed at Rustypop, this novel project is closest to the membership and output of Flu GI; consequently, they're also based in the town of Lobnya, ju...
The Moscow ensemble Jasny-Svetly (i.e., Iasnyi-Svetlyi) take their name from a couple of Russian adjectives that, one might argue, evoke a folkloric air of brilliant clarity. Literally these two terms mean "bright" and "radiant." In the modern context of the web and the band's website, that bril...
Subwise Records is an independent netlabel, based in St Petersburg, specializing in electronica from new or little-known artists in northern Russia. The label's various venues online usually contain a small paragraph in their native tongue, sketching these endeavors for the uninitiated. Turned i...
Knara is a 28-year old R&B singer, originally from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, but currently based in Moscow. We mentioned her a few months ago in the context of a compilation album from Monolit Records, but now the singer has released her second full-fledged solo CD. Entitled "In Your Arms" (V tv...
Since the appearance of online music in Russia, the activity of amateur performers has been significant - at least for their small, local audiences. Tens of thousands of singers and musicians started using web-based hosting and broadcasting to overcome enormous distances and tiny budgets. On...
Russian rap and r&b have a difficult existence. Today's quintessentially American genres do not always travel well: a country like Russia has to overcome various obstacles in order to comfortably adopt them. Tales from the streets of New York or LA are often so profoundly "local" that th...
Who Knows? - often referred to by the simpler, less confusing moniker "WK?" - are a large, messy, and often marvelous outfit. They were founded in the summer of 1997, more specifically in the Moldovan capital of Kishinev. Judging by the recent picture above, those twelve years of work have p...
This is the second time that we've covered Laywer's work, but it's not getting any easier. The amount of promotional material is minimal, to put things mildly. We offer our previous biographical sketch that outlines his work in and around Odessa; he remains in the same city, so all of our...
A few months ago on a Kazakh hip-hop forum, discussions began regarding the identity of an impressive, but well-hidden MC, calling himself Vasiliy. Questions zipped back and forth, to see if anybody had information regarding his whereabouts.
"He's got amazing flow! And the rhymes are...
