Gost Zvuk
A new audio mix series where we call upon the most interesting artists/DJs/record labels and ask them to peer into the near future. How they take it from there is entirely open to interpretation. This week we enlist Russian label ГОСТ ЗВУК (Gost Zvuk) to guide us through what's boiling in one of the most healthy electronic scenes in the world.
About this mix
"GOST ZVUK represents local artists which are quite established in Russia, but still might be unfamiliar to the world. We don’t care about the genres, we care about the music, the message, the quality and deepness of our thoughts and actions. In this mix I tried to express the core vision of the label and demonstrate the work of the closest GOST circle of local producers, a mixture of scene’s veterans and young blood. A lot of gems there are going to be released this year.
I’m really glad there’s a lot of fruitful collaborations. The scene is boiling, in a way I’m seeing it as a futurist movement searching for the new ways of expression, kind of modern deep jazz scene, Russian electro bebop. On the other hand, there’s a process of rediscovering self identity going on. We have been left with a huge cultural heritage from USSR which is far beyond the classic soviet stereotypes. We also go deeper into the works and thoughts of the musicians, engineers and thinkers of the early 20th century. Sound is an amazing medium, it reflects the reality and culture in a most delicate manner. I believe these artists are changing the perception of modern Russia.
Today we are also releasing the third GOST vinyl from Oleg Buyanov also known as OL. It’s a significant landmark for the label and myself as we have been working back to back since RAD - our first music community which influenced the whole movement."
Boiler Room says...
Of 2014’s many highlights, one of our most notable advances was into Russian terrain. It had been a long time coming and the triumvirate of shows in Moscow and St Petersburg proved a resounding success, going off without a hitch. Well, almost: fervent geopolitical debates and the BR chatroom didn’t make the most natural of bedfellows (oops).
Looking beyond the banner acts of Lone, KiNK, Octave One and Luke Vibert, there was an embarrassment of local talent at each session. Pixelord, Unbroken Dub and a plethora of less well-known but no less impressive names came through (some of whom resurface here), all bringing serious wares. It only served to make us double down on our commitment to a Russian underground that was more vibrant than we had initially realised.
Gost Zvuk Russian Federation–to give the label its full name–are a central imprint/talent stable, and have corralled multiple strands of the burgeoning movement under one roof for this week’s Upfront. It runs the gamut from enormous, gulping electronica to passages of extreme serenity; sun-drenched house a la Pépé Bradock or Rising Sun, to stirring deep tech. There is serious artistry at work here.
Snippets of Soviet imagery are triggered along the way: grainy archive reels of Yuri Gagarin’s ascent to the stars; strafing across the Siberian hinterlands, blasted by whorls of frigid wind; and, probably unintentionally, this. Expertly-paced and bursting with character, there is no excuse to swerve this on grounds of unfamiliarity. Gost Zvuk have delivered a bold manifesto.
Tracklisting
Upfront mixes
Our weekly audio mix series where we call upon the most interesting artists/DJs/record labels and ask them to peer into the near future. How they take it from there is entirely open to interpretation.
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Mule Musiq
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Huntleys + Palmers
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