After the first compilation released in 2003, the 56Stuff team has decided to continue with the Different Listening series and here’s the result. As with the first album, the second part is an exciting collection of lounge and downtempo tracks composed by artists from different corners of the ex-Soviet republics. Although the artist selection is nearly identical to the first compilation, the one undeniably noticeable feature is the improvement in production and overall sound quality. Call it experience or coincidence, but the progression is definitely there...

This is quite an international compilation with contributions from artists of Russia, Belarus, Germany and even Brazil. The description on the cover says “acid jazz, downtempo, lounge” and 56Stuff deliver just that – nice and chilled downtempo tracks, without focusing on experimentation. If you like labels like Mole Listening Pearls or Ninja Tune, then you should definitely give this CD a try.
After a short and bizarre intro, the compilation kicks off with Strike’s spy-like guitar. It is followed by a nice track from YaD, who sounds...

This is the first compilation from Kuurort Records - a new addition to the expanding musical landscape of cold and mysterious Estonia. Neighbours of Kohvi Records and based in the city of Tallinn, Kuurort Records are dedicated to ambient/chillout music or as they like to call it “faraway sound”. Presented on this CD compilation are home and guest artists from Estonia, Latvia and even Iceland. Stylistically, the tracks are quite varied, however they all do fit the ambient/faraway description, and the selection is a definite success. In other words - this compilation is simply beautiful...

Volokno is a collaborative audio-visual project of electronic duo Evgeniy Droomoff/Sound Meccano (Latvia) and visual artist DelRay (Canada). The CD, packaged in a beautifully designed digipack with a booklet, contains four audio tracks, one video piece, and special Digital Fibre software. The music is rather delicate and fragile, very much related to granular microsound, and inspired...

This compilation CD comes from Slovenia, and was released as part of the annual electronic festival Progress, which took place in the city of Ljubljana in the summer of 2004. The idea of the festival is to celebrate the electronic scene of Eastern Europe by bringing together various acts from the region for a three day long event. Therefore, this compilation is truly multicultural, blending together the sounds of such countries as Slovenia, Poland, Latvia, Russia and many more. The design and packaging is superb – the CD comes in a quality cardboard digipack sleeve, accompanied by a very informative booklet...

This is a split release of two Estonian artists Barbariz and Pastacas. Barbariz is Eero Barndõk, animation artist and painter, who stepped into the world of music by accident. Open to experiments, he combines synthesizers and drums machines with traditional instruments such as acoustic guitar or flute. Perhaps that’s what brought him together with Ramo Teder (aka Pastacas) who uses acoustic instruments and his own voice to produce most of his tracks. Both artists may be similar in approach, but their sound is quite different. Barbariz is very noisy, rough and “all over the place”, while Pastacas...

This is just the second release by the up and coming Chelyabinsk’s Dars Records, but it already promises good things to come. They’ve managed to attract several renowned Russian electronica names, along with undiscovered and lesser known talent. This album offers an overview of the current Eastern European electronic scene that is well alive and clicking.
The CD kicks off with Parable - spacey minimal piece by Andrey Kiritchenko, the Ukrainian artist known for his releases on Ad Noiseam and running his own label Nexsound. This is followed by EU’s beautiful mutation...

This compilation was the debut release for Dars Records from the Ural city of Chelyabinsk. The title gives a good clue about the essence of this CD. Bringing together artists from different parts of Russia and former Soviet republics, IDM…ZOOM is definitely a good start for a label. Most of the presented projects are not widely known in the West, mainly because some of them are very young and others have had much exposure outside of Russia yet. However, some fans will definitely recognise a few names like Supremus Plastice (SP), who released...

Downtempo compilation from Citadel Records, presenting its home artists and several well respected guests (Tetris, Ozone Cocktail). MGI start the CD with Voyage, funky breaks infused by vocals in French. Aleka’s track is kind of sad and very emotional, and there are strong associations with Bjork, in terms of singing and general mood of the track. Successful combination of electronic percussion...

Both artists need no introduction to the fans of Russian electronica, with releases and appearances on labels like Art-Tek, Bip-Hop, Merck, Neo Ouija, Toytronic, Pitchcadet. This EP is the debut release of Shaped Harmonics (and the only vinyl release of the label), which came out in 2001 and quickly became a hard to find classic...

Great compilation from 2000 featuring rare and exclusive tracks from today's stars of Russian electronic scene, such as SCSI-9, Lazyfish, Fizzarum, SolarX, EU and Novel23. The CD reflects very well what Art-Tek is about, and quality of material is definitely one of the points here! The tracks range from melodic idm to distorted electronica with a truly bizarre DSP piece from SolarX. Despite the age of this CD it still sounds very attractive and interesting. In other words - recommended;) ...

Elkampilation.001 was released as a result of electronic event ELKA, which was organised in Minsk (Belarus) in summer 2002 by art/promo project Zavod Kubik. The aim of the event was to bring together various electronic artists from Belarus for one experimental concert, and to offer some sort of alternative to the local music scene, which was mostly dedicated to house parties. Nobody could predict that this event will start series of monthly electronic parties in Minsk (The System of Electronic Madness - organised by promo group Electrokids) as well as second ELKA event in summer 2003. All artists on this album...

Great selection of quality tracks! The music varies from beautiful ambient to moving electronica. Some tracks are very minimal, others are more melodic and accessible. Label owners Autism present two outstanding moody tracks. I/DEX is very good as usual - dubby and atmospheric. Harmash and –ED bring massive ambient pieces. All of the tracks fit together nicely, to combine a brilliant compilation CD. Highly recommended.

Yumshan is the latest addition to the New Song from an Ancient Land series– a special remix project dedicated to traditional folklore art of the Volga and Udmurt regions. As with the first album, the work is done by the usual Kama artists: [V]arga, Klax, Gattaca, Sporloto and others. There are 10 tracks in total, varying in style from electro to ambient. All the pieces are based on folklore songs performed on traditional and long-forgotten Udmurt instruments. Some of the artists used folklore recordings as an inspiration for new creations...

Recently named as the new ‘capital of Russian electronic music’ by The Wire magazine, the city of Izhevsk continues to release quality music through the extremely active Kama Records. This time they present a nice compilation of shiny electro-ish tunes, which will work very well on the dance floor, and provide an energy burst for those who prefer home listening. Most tracks on the compilation are produced by home-grown Izhevsk electronic projects, featuring tracks from the already renowned D-Pulse, Sportloto and Loggerhead along with...

This is a split compilation release of two Russian labels – Legkie and Kama records. Legkie is Moscow based label, considered to be one of the main electronic record companies in Russia, mostly dealing with lounge and easy listening. Here they team up with Kama to present the best of electronica from Izhevsk (yes, that town again), and people familiar with the label will recognize many names on the tracklist. There are no specific style restrictions here, the music is very varied, from dark disturbed ambient and electronica to jazzy beats and house. The CD starts off in a very positive mood...

The sub title of this compilation is Music for Izhevsk Airport. You’re probably thinking of Brian Eno now? Well, Kama records wanted to give everyone an opportunity to feel the mood and atmosphere of Izhevsk’s airport, in the form of ambient and electronica sounds. The journey to the airport starts straight from the exquisite cardboard CD cover. It’s designed beautifully; inside - lots of different cards and inserts, as well as the story of the airport. The music here is not entirely ambient, but ambience is definitely the basis of all the tracks. From dark and very deep compositions to more melodic and rhythmic, this album...

The title may suggest something cheesy and reminiscent of bands like Deep Forest or Enigma, but it’s not. In fact, this is a very interesting and diverse compilation of remixes on authentic folklore songs of the Udmurt Republic in Russia. New Song from an Ancient Land is actually part of a series of several CDs released in the city of Izhevsk by Kama Records, with the assistance of ethnographers and local government, and representing unprocessed field recordings of Udmurt family choirs...

Electropop revival happened everywhere, and Izhevsk is not an exception. This is an international compilation, offering 15 electro/synth pop tracks by artists from Russia, Spain, Austria, Sweden, Japan and USA. The usual Izhevsk crew is obviously here with Cocoa Tunez, Loggerhead, Klax. Gerhard Potuznik from Austria delivers a great vocal track on top of massive electro beats. La Casa Azul and La Monja Enana sing in Spanish and their style could be described as “kindergarten pop”. While some tracks here stick to the typical electroclash thing, most of the pieces are more than that. This is an interesting...

Great compilation from the city of Izhevsk. The opening piece by Cocoa Tunez starts the journey very smoothly, with lazy bleeps and floating Rhodes. The following Rhythm2 by Yucca is very sleepy and dreamy, and definitely requires a glass of wine. Then things start moving again with crazy piece by Klax, followed by Hubble Bubble from Amalthea - great funny melody, delayed chords and hip-hop rhythm, excellent track! It’s hard to say what the best tracks on this album are; they’re all exceptional and unique, travelling from ambient and idm to electropop and downtempo, there are even some guitars...

Those who are not familiar with Izhevsk, will be quite surprised about the high quality (and amount) of music from this strange city in Russia. For many years electronic bands from Izhevsk have been making great tracks, and a lot of the material was released on labels in Moscow or St. Petersburg. At the moment Kama Records is probably the most reputable label from Izhevsk, which delivers regular compilations of local artists. Fitness is a very moving/grooving mix CD, presenting some of the most prominent artists in Izhevsk, as well as two guest artists from the UK. This is a nice collection of house/electro-disco from Izhevsk’s favourites...