Ukrainian Vanguard

Do you know that the most advanced musicians of the electronic vanguard in Kyiv and Kharkiv have rallied around a small independent music label called Next Sound? To those who might raise an eyebrow at the concept behind the name, it should be understood as “sounds of the future.”

The music that is being cultivated by Next Sound extends beyond the limits of any known genre. As far as freedom of self-expression is concerned, its “sound experiments” bear a certain similarity to individual elements of what is known as free jazz, in the sense that the freedom and directions of the creative quest are unlimited. Limits can only be found within the individual embarking on this quest. Imagine switching from an ordinary plane to a spacecraft that zooms into the boundless void free of conventional coordinates and terrestrial scenery. The musical products of Next Sound do the same thing. Its CDs are in a class by themselves. In our age of all-encompassing uniformity, every product bearing the Next Sound label is a work of art in its own right. Instead of conventional plastic CD cases, Next Sound uses out of the ordinary casings made of regular hard paper with the liner notes printed by the silk-screening method. Tucked inside the case are handmade leaflets and flyers added as a bonus. Such warm and touching handmade packaging sharply contrasts with the otherworldly contents of the CDs.

The Kyiv division of this unique label is managed by Dmytro Fedorenko, a.k.a. KOTRA. Under this name he releases his solo productions and his colleagues’ CD compilations. The first wave of interest in experimental electronic music swept through Ukraine in the early 1990s. Such bands as Pan-Kifared, Ivan Samshyt, Tsukor—Bila Smert [Sugar is white death], Blemish, Yarn, Zviriata Sufiny, and others formed a kind of electronic underground. In the mid-1990s the renowned promoter Vitaliy Bardetsky launched the Sale Records label to release and popularize the best in electronic music. Achieving a balance between alternative and commercial music, Bardetsky succeeded in occupying a small niche in Ukraine’s music market. From time to time Sale Records pleases its fans with fairly good releases, but they haven’t released anything special in the last while. Next Sound has now ushered in the third wave. In terms of substance this is a qualitatively new phenomenon.

“Around 2000 a number of activists and I decided to create a small label to promote noncommercial productions by a certain community of musicians,” says Dmytro Fedorenko (KOTRA). “By that time a critical mass of experimental productions had already formed, so we began with my album called “TEK.” We had hardly registered the label and printed covers for the first album when the campaign against CD piracy started in Ukraine, and parliament passed a bill on mandatory licensing by the SBU, control labels, etc. This, of course, stalled our releases, since we were not a commercial project and had no funds to cover legal costs. At the same time I found out about a kindred spirit in Kharkiv — an informal group that had also registered its own Next Sound label and produced several releases in the “ambient trend.” The Kharkiv movement was started by Andriy Kyrychenko and the groups Mohlas, Siddhartha, and others. It turned out that Andriy was collaborating with several independent Western labels and sending his releases abroad and communicating actively with his colleagues in the West. I joined them and started sending my materials. Together we have produced several compilations and begun circulating them. So far it is a business in name only, since there is no financial payoff, which is normal. Most importantly, new enthusiasts are joining us, and each week we receive several demo CDs from people who want to work with us. Interestingly enough, we are receiving proposals from abroad, which is proof of the high regard for us from people who, believe me, have a lot to compare with.

“Over the five years of its existence Next Sound has extended its range of styles from meditative ambient to some really harsh noise projects. Most importantly, we are always in the mainstream of world experimental music, since we have established close ties with recording giants in England, Germany, and Japan. Now we don’t feel as though we are some backwater label. Over the past year we have turned our attention to experimental and electronic academic music. We are preparing to release an album by Alla Zahaikevych, the famous composer who wrote the music for Oles Sanin’s film Mamai. We plan to release several albums by Oleksandr Nesterov. He creates gorgeous music, but the CDs that he has already released are lying gathering dust for lack of adequate proposals. I would also like to stress that we are absolutely independent, in particular because we haven’t accepted a single cent from any sponsors.”

These days Next Sound is the only label that represents Ukraine’s contemporary vanguard musicians in the world. Dmytro Fedorenko and his colleagues spend their own money to produce promotional copies of CDs and send them to recording companies all over Europe. Their efforts are being rewarded. Germany hosts the world’s biggest festival, Club-Transmediale, which lasts a whole week and showcases the latest in video art, interactive installations, and experimental music. All the members of Next Sound — KOTRA, Zavoloka, Andriy Kyrychenko, Mohlas, and others — are a constant fixture at the festival. Given the fact that Transmediale is an analog of the Venice Biennale for artists, its participants automatically qualify for festivals in other countries. In Poland, Slovakia, Austria, etc., our vanguard experimentalists have successfully presented Ukraine’s vanguard scene.

Unfortunately, our vanguard experimentalists are further proof of the truism that our artists in all genres — from opera to rock-and- roll — are better known abroad than at home. Occasionally, though, they emerge from the underground to stage infrequent but major events. In early summer Kyiv hosted “Details of Sound,” a festival founded and organized by the independent labels Next Sound and Robotek along with the Association of Ukrainian Composers. It was the first international festival of experimental music, which slightly lifted the veil of secrecy off the explorers of the nature of sounds. In particular, KOTRA examines the physiological impact of sound on the human body. To break sound into its various components he uses oscillographs, homemade generators, and other exotic tools. Other composers have their own gadgets and gimmicks, but together they create the impression of an open creative laboratory, where creativity is synonymous with the unknown and exclusive. All this is embodied in an innovative quest for new horizons in the world of sounds free of clichОs and banalities.