|
Mad-Hop (Volume Four, 2012)
Mad-Hop began as a tiny group of abstract hip-hop aficionados on Last.FM a couple of years ago. As interest grew, so did the styles under investigation: discussions started to touch upon idm, dubstep... "and anything else that's ill or mad, with an unrepeatable style." US jargon thus ran throughout an international forum. The traditions of American hip-hop were, in a similar manner, borrowed, studied - and then tossed about with gay abandon.
This snowballing hedonism has now led to a fourth Mad-Hop compilation, which appeared online a few days ago. In the words of the editors: "For this fourth edition, we've joined forces with all our favorite labels - the ones that set the standard for the kind of futuristic sounds we love so much. We feel that supporting those labels is just as important as supporting beatmakers or producers." As Mad-Hop grows in size and influence - to the point where it now deliberately avoids any mention of a (fixed, predominant) hometown - so the community spirit from Last.FM endures. New, small collectives are first recognized and then fostered in very distant locations - most of which have no name.
Setting the standard for the kind of futuristic sounds we love so much
The 2012 compilation from within this busy network contains music from at least three Russian projects long celebrated on this site: Pixelord (Aleksey Devyanin), 813 (Aleksandr Goryachev), and Wols (Evgeny Shchukin and Alexander Tochilkin). Those artists alone map out a considerable distance - north to south, from Moscow to Krasnodar - while the entire compilation is graced with artwork (above) from neighboring Slavs in Poland and Slovenia. And so this "glitchy subworld" continues to grow, outpost by outpost.
Pixelord (Aleksei Devyanin)
For that reason, it's interesting to see how some of Pixelord's fans on Soundcloud have likened these sounds to the Star Trek spinoff Deep Space Nine. Pixelord's earlier catalog was undoubtedly rooted in 8-bit and chiptune arpeggios from late Soviet computer games: the scale of his sci-fi narratives is apparently growing fast. Deep Space Nine was set far in the future (circa 2370 AD) and based in the stable outpost of an intergalactic station. That relationship between distance and development is significant, as we'll see.
Deep Space Nine....Dope. I love this Future Sound! (Soundcloud)
Because "DS9" was set on a station, rather than a roaming starship, characters were involved in longer, more consistently social plots. The classic Star Trek episodes had moved swiftly from planet to planet, stressing themes of travel, rapid contrast, and conflict. As the show's creator said at the time, the use of a bigger, more established, and populated base meant characters came to "learn that actions have consequences." They - through their present acts - came to ponder the likelihood of further social options, be they personal or public. Friendships became working relationships, nurturing new collectives in the process. That kind of networking is impossible at warp speed - in flight from one's enemy, or while passing through a meteor shower...
Space depots fostered new satelites, so to speak - and families produced new generations. It's interesting, therefore, to see how Mad-Hop's admirers liken these new sci-fi instrumentals, built on a chiptune heritage, to tales of civic stability, rather than to endless, intrepid travel. Networking looks more attractive than the unpredictability of homeless swashbuckling.
Wols (Evgeny Shchukin and Alexander Tochilkin, Krasnodar)
One can imagine how these metaphors of a frontier spirit and small outposts would appeal to distant Russian musicians. Living many time zones away from a major city must itself be an experience suitable for most science fiction plots. On that note, it's worth paying attention to a young collective of producers who go by the name of The Mannkeyz. This band of well-hidden newcomers tends to release material through the Dystopiaq organization - which came into being much like Mad-Hop.
Dystopiaq started just over three years ago in Columbus, Ohio. Finding friends and supporters around the state, it then - thanks to the web - developed an outpost in Tokyo. Nowadays Dystopiaq tends to describe itself as follows: "The label releases consistently unique and interesting cuts from around the world. We focus primarily on electronic music, but have no issue with other styles!"
Consistently unique and interesting cuts
As a result of that potential inclusiveness - and a desire to ignore political geography, the project explains its modus operandi elsewhere in briefer and more romantic terms. Once more, a global sweep is imagined from humble beginnings: "This is a new DIY crew, based in various spots in the world." Movement continues outwards, one key-stroke at a time.
Mix-Toor (aka Tima Abstract, Makhachkala)
The newest of those global "spots" is built both online and in physical space by The Mannkeyz, who include four Russian musicians in their ranks: Oh!Dee (Moscow), Az Matter (Vladikavkaz), Ivan Htrspltn (Ulan-Ude) and Mix-Toor (aka Tima Abstract, resident of Makhachkala). Together with Moldovan colleague Rozzy, these performers like to focus their collective efforts on "abstract beats and 'illbient scapes.'" Work patterns are then arranged in the spirit of some neo-socialist enterprise, making (vaguely ironic) use of antique rhetoric: "We're winding things up - and increasing the number of releases. We're setting new records with each and every compilation!" One can imagine the flutter of massed banners and the collective roar of a crowd in the background.
We're setting new records with each and every compilation!
From the viewpoint of non-Russian audiences, it's the inclusion of Makhachkala that surprises. Home to roughly 400,000 people, Makhachkala is the center of the Republic of Dagestan - well over a thousand miles from Moscow by road. The city was founded as a lone fortress: its early significance as a military outpost was underscored by Russia's intention to call the town Petrovskoe, after Peter the Great. This was because the fortress marked the very edge of imperial influence - or so it seemed to Moscow; a clear and unambiguous symbol was needed for the empire's periphery. Nowadays, of course, the region is occasionally witness to other, equally lamentable conflicts, but whatever the political or ethnic tensions may be, local music-makers and their colleagues tend to imagine these physical distances in terms of a grander, more fantastic realm.
Young intrepid artists imagine themselves as digital pioneers. The hassles of creative movement across one nation or planet, even, are viewed through the consoling prism of а televisual movement between planets. Watching episodes of Star Trek probably helps: we need not remind people of the series' opening monolog.
The flight from physical experience takes other forms. Local beatmaker Mix-Toor says that before composing a new track, he always utters the Islamic phrase "Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim," which is often translated into English as "In the name of God, the most kindly and merciful." Traditionally spoken before an important challenge or endeavor, it here accompanies the passage of some cherished music into new, social, and unpredictable realms. Mix-Toor adds: "Many thanks to everybody listening to my tracks. I'm always happy to repay you in kind!" Social bonds are sought in unknown places: divine assistance would clearly be welcome.
Drawing either upon that heavenly support system or science fiction(!), a sense of pioneering movement accompanies both these compilations. Helped by international labels that themselves began as modest DIY collectives, the musicians on "Mad-Hop 4" and the Dystopiaq CD hope to repeat the same evolutionary pattern. Put differently, any centrifugal growth would ideally begin with a small, enthused collaboration. It would develop through mutual care and attention, and then give rise to other kindred groups - in increasingly distant venues.
A human is ultimately the sum of his experiences
The romance of that audible networking does not wane. In one episode of Deep Space Nine, it was suggested that "a human is ultimately the sum of his experiences." In which case, everybody should keep moving and instigating new collectives or fan bases, further from home. As that happens, one of these musicians - 813 - continues going to work as a Moscow fireman. As we see below, he probably has no trouble bridging the experiences of an artist and an astronaut.
813 (Alexander Goryachev, at work in Moscow)
Comments
Login / Register