VA — Music to Play with an Axe (2016) (rec. 2011—2015)

Hi everyone, we’re happy to announce that finally we managed to release the physical tape of our “Best of”. This C90 compilation includes 27 tracks, released in the web in 2011—2015. This very limited edition (50 copies) is “almost totally handmade”.

Design & photo by Hipstor Smith

If you want to get a copy or even more, feel free to post a comment or write to Hipstor Smith, the coordinator of this project (you may need to sign up). Unfortunately, tapes are not free, but I believe that price won’t be much higher than postal costs. If you’re a member of Russian social network VK, you may win a copy if you take part in the repost contest!

In the tracklist, you will find songs by artists about whom you might have already read in our blog, like Лосины Маршала Потемкина, Grey Lenses, Acid Socks, Hipstor Smith, Nervoese Leute, Man With a Dictaphone, as well as by artists about whom we haven’t written a post yet, like Алёна Кидун, Константин Охотный (a side project of Man with a Dictaphone), Шумотрон and Concern Void (a band which released only 1 song).

The music varies from Russian neofolk to lo-fi synthpop, from ambient to post-industrial.

The tapes and tape boxes were manually painted black, check out the enormous amount of care we invested in this release!

Design by Hipstor Smith

 We hope this is only the first physical release, and the next will follow soon!

Sincerely yours,

John “Grey Lenses” Grey

Алексей Сергеевский — Одна дорога (2016) (rec. 1998—2009)

Hi, we’re back with a new release which is actually a sampler of recording made during 11 years since 1998 to 2009. In 2013 our fellows from Tatu Mentu reissued this outstanding songwriter by releasing a sampler «Городское утро» (City Morning), but this sampler includes a lot of unreleased stuff.

Алексей Сергеевский (Alexey Sergeevsky) is a prolific singer-songwriter, very original in a venue of modern Russian bard music, closer to folk than to “regular” bards. He started his creative activities in a school duo named «Горизонт» (“The Skyline”) but soon he carried on as a solo artist, member of some bard clubs, participant of bard fests, gigs, etc. During the latest years he retired from songwriting due to lack of time, such a common issue, unfortunately.

Photos by Alena Kidun

I can’t say for sure what makes Alexey different from the bunch of bards wearing similar sweaters… maybe he’s sadder, darker and closer to folk, but that’s a fact I’ve already mentioned.

So let’s switch to songs. The motive of solitude is extremely common here, it’s represented in almost every song, just look at the titles: «Одна дорога» (One road), «Один» (Alone — which is scarring my heart with the line “Again I cannot go away”), «Одиноко» (Lonely), «Одной тебе» (Only for You).

Typical Russian folk motivation can be heard in song «Как-нибудь» (Somehow), another typical thing is a comparison between spiritual values and money in song «Деньги решают все» (Money Can Solve Any Problem).

Amongst my favorites can be found awesome «Паранойя» (Paranoia), a disease which characterizes any modernist cultural situation (both in previous century and now):

“We are all sick with one common disease

Very soon we will die”

“The risk of being tainted is as high as it can be”

The song «Разные» (Different) is a hyperbolic dichotomy between the rich and the poor, and the final «Одной тебе» (Only for You), the longest song, leaves you in a melancholic state of mind, desperately desiring to take a walk to make your head think fresher.

It’s only the man and the guitar and the somberness!

Just listen to this proper Russian Loner Folk! 

Download for free (mp3, VBR)

Sincerely yours,

John “Grey Lenses” Grey