Full of Nothing

Tikhie Kamni – ‘Zemli’
A true gem – this quiet, intimate and easy to miss tape has appeared out of nowhere, really. A duo of Anastasia Tolchneva (Lovozero) and Fedor Pereverzev (Moa Pillar) have recorded “Zemli” (“Lands”) hiking, making field recordings and improvising while on the road – and what a soulful ambient record it is! No status, no background, no ego, no bullshit. Heartfelt folk vistas make way for ethereal Cocteau Twins-style cuts, deep drones, aural accidents and minimalist piano. These songs are sonic diaries of young people exploring Russia’s valleys and hills, rivers and lakes. Not intended for a release, the personal recordings possess that strange magic lots of “psychedelic collage” records lack. Hmot’s “Barricades” (fon47) is a wholly different affair: modular synthesizers meet meticulously-crafted minimal house and techno from Siberia. Stanislav Sharifullin hails from Lesosibirsk (the city name literally translates “forest + Siberia”). Stanislav used to run Gimme5, the Russian label responsible for shaping local Beats-scene. He then created a dark masterpiece “Lost in Taiga” with Nocow and has deliberately kept his profile rather low except releases such as “Oneirology” EP. Nowadays Hmot runs an impeccable tape label Klammklang and is bringing Berlin’s unique CTM festival to Siberian towns of Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk. Tags like “local”, “shadowy” & “organic” seem to be the guiding principles for Hmot. “Barricades” EP feels like taiga, an endless barren area punctuated by pines and spruces. Hum and buzz of strange modular trajections meet piano + string samples and field recordings layered over hard-panned clickety-clack techno and house templates. White cassettes have been pro-dubbed at Go Tape, Russia, with ascetic design by Anya Kuts screen-printed on thick cardstock. Limited runs of 50 copies each, with instant download of the digital album and/or download coupons.

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