quête:courtesy

Alex Andrikopolous AKA Lex (Athens) released his brilliant debut album Waving in 2022 on Leng and he now returns with an EP combining fine remixes of tracks from Waving alongside two new previously unheard cuts.

The remixes are undeniably special. Fittingly, the EP begins with the first of these, a sensationally sun-soaked revision of one of Andrikopolous’s most Balearic moments – previous single ‘Punta Allen’ – by former Nuphonic fusionists and FAR label founders Faze Action. The Lee brothers’ take is one of those sunset-friendly workouts that wraps glistening guitar licks, steel pan style motifs, Lex’s gorgeous lead lines, hazy electric piano solos and life-affirming keyboard riffs around rolling nu-disco beats and a new rubbery bassline courtesy of Robin Lee himself. It has the feel of a pool-side anthem in the making.

Just as potent is the typically quirky and hard-to-pigeonhole revision of ‘Prezend’ by Manchester maverick Ruf Dug. Here he offers up a genuinely revolutionary rework, re-imaging the track as a sparse-but-colourful fusion of vintage acid house bass, saucer-eyed piano riffs, dubbed-out synth sounds, jacking lo-fi drum machine beats and squelchy TB-303 tweaks. While fresh and undeniably contemporary, the remix has an alluringly nostalgic, retro-futurist vibe.

Clustered around these two top-notch revisions is a pair of previously unreleased Lex originals. He joins forces with regular collaborator Locke once more on ‘Libre De Amor’, an infectious chunk of, low-slung dub disco marked out by weighty bass, jammed-out electric piano motifs, spacey pads, intergalactic effects and mazy synth solos. Dotted with additional percussion hits and echoing female vocal snippets, it’s one of the pair’s most potent dancefloor workouts of recent times.

To round off a rock-solid EP, the Athens-based veteran blurs the boundaries between stripped-back, late-80s house nostalgia and nu-disco. ‘Super Awake’ boasts cowbell-sporting Chicago house beats and acid house inspired bass, on to which he’s layered all manner of colourful synth sounds, jangly piano stabs and spacey electronics. Throw in some typically immersive chords and progressively more psychedelic TB-303 motifs, and you have a genuinely triumphant conclusion to a formidably floor-focused EP.

Arguably one of the best punk albums of the 70s, The Boys self-titled debut (produced by Dangerfield & Steel) is a cult UK classic. The album is filled with the pop punk gems, the kind of immediate salvos that would elevate Buzzcocks into the charts. In the intervening years, the history of punk rock has been written and re-written and a whole heap of bands have been sidelined. The Boys’ debut album, re-mastered here still sounds as fresh and immediate as it did back then and it also includes two classic punk rock singles in ‘I Don’t Care’ and ‘First Time’ (the latter, along with The Undertones "Teenage Kicks", the ultimate punk anthem of teenage romance and adolescent angst). Along with the Sex Pistols, Clash and the Damned, The Boys were part of the first wave of the mid-1970’s UK punk explosion. Armed with an arsenal of killer Steel/Dangerfield songs The Boys became the first UK punk band to sign an album deal in January 1977 and subsequently released two albums, their self-titled debut and the follow-up “Alternative Chartbusters” in quick succession. Highly regarded by the music press and their contemporaries, yet somehow criminally ignored by a wider punk audience, unable to grasp their heritage of vintage rock ‘n’ roll that went back to Chuck Berry courtesy of The Beatles. Their well-crafted songs, together with Steel and Dangerfield’s layered harmonies, even led to them being described as ‘The Beatles of Punk’.

A punk classic, gloriously anthemic power pop from the cult UK outfit. On 17 March 1978, a mere six months after the release of their self-titled debut, The Boys second album “Alternative Chartbusters” was released (once again, produced by Dangerfield & Steel). As AllMusic recognises, “Alternative Chartbusters” was way ahead of its time, a buried treasure that only got dusted off much later: “Condemned at the time for offering up little more than a straight carbon copy of its predecessor, the second Boys’ album has since ascended to the pantheon of power pop greats, a combination of the band's own inestimable position at the forefront of what, by early 1978, was already a burgeoning movement, and their seemingly effortless grasp of the rudiments of, indeed, a great pop song.” Along with the Sex Pistols, Clash and the Damned, The Boys were part of the first wave of the mid-1970’s UK punk explosion. Armed with an arsenal of killer Steel/Dangerfield songs The Boys became the first UK punk band to sign an album deal in January 1977 and subsequently released two albums, their self-titled debut and the follow-up “Alternative Chartbusters” in quick succession. Highly regarded by the music press and their contemporaries, yet somehow criminally ignored by a wider punk audience, unable to grasp their heritage of vintage rock ‘n’ roll that went back to Chuck Berry courtesy of The Beatles. Their well-crafted songs, together with Steel and Dangerfield’s layered harmonies, even led to them being described as ‘The Beatles of Punk’

The first EP of somewhere… drops courtesy of Otis with four driving tracks. Hard, stripped back cuts on the A side and rhythmic, spacey soundscapes on the flipside. Keep your ear to the ground for this one.

Returning after three years with their second studio album, Double Dog Dare, WHITE DOG have been revelling in a state of creative flux and are poised to share their revelations with the world. Formed in 2015 in Austin, Texas, White Dog began with a shared vision of blazing, fuzzed-out rock that drew gleefully from their home city's rich cultural melting pot. Emboldened by an us-against-the-world gang mentality and inspired by everything from dusty roots rock to explosive old school prog, the band's self-titled album emerged in 2021, courtesy of natural home Rise Above Records, and immediately stood out as a sophisticated, earthy and characterful new strain of retro rambunctiousness.
Recorded over a period of eight days at Stuart Sikes Audio (with engineer Andrew McCalla) in Austin, Double Dog Dare takes all of the debut album's deftly assembled ingredients and allows them to fly free, liberated from expectation. At times mellower than its predecessor, at others strident and ferocious, these new songs showcase White Dog's organic development, with elements of everything from wistful southern rock to crusty-eyed jazz rock finding a place. Somehow even more fluid and fiery than before, this band are growing and expanding before our ears.
Now free to peddle their incendiary wares, they return to the stage with their strongest material to date, and a newfound enthusiasm for giving The Riff the respect and imagination it deserves.

Returning after three years with their second studio album, Double Dog Dare, WHITE DOG have been revelling in a state of creative flux and are poised to share their revelations with the world. Formed in 2015 in Austin, Texas, White Dog began with a shared vision of blazing, fuzzed-out rock that drew gleefully from their home city's rich cultural melting pot. Emboldened by an us-against-the-world gang mentality and inspired by everything from dusty roots rock to explosive old school prog, the band's self-titled album emerged in 2021, courtesy of natural home Rise Above Records, and immediately stood out as a sophisticated, earthy and characterful new strain of retro rambunctiousness.
Recorded over a period of eight days at Stuart Sikes Audio (with engineer Andrew McCalla) in Austin, Double Dog Dare takes all of the debut album's deftly assembled ingredients and allows them to fly free, liberated from expectation. At times mellower than its predecessor, at others strident and ferocious, these new songs showcase White Dog's organic development, with elements of everything from wistful southern rock to crusty-eyed jazz rock finding a place. Somehow even more fluid and fiery than before, this band are growing and expanding before our ears.
Now free to peddle their incendiary wares, they return to the stage with their strongest material to date, and a newfound enthusiasm for giving The Riff the respect and imagination it deserves.

South African Warrick Sony is a ground breaking composer who was behind the Kalahari Surfers project which now gets a vital spotlight courtesy of Emotional Rescue. This compilation shows how effortlessly eclectic his sound was - from jive rhythms to jazz, tabla to political speeches and much more in between. A Hindu pacifist who was once conscripted into the South African Defense Force, he founded this group as a way out getting his ides out there, calling on other musicians as and when he needed them. It was the first radical white anti-apartheid pop in South Africa and as this vital collection shows it explored polyrhythms, slow motorik, dub sound collage and even a goofy cover of Nancy Sinatra.

Repress!

This is Love & Resistance by Crooked Man.
His first single on Vicious Charm and now available on vinyl.

Love & Resistance is 9:59 of beautiful electronic soul music. The dreamy vocals come courtesy of Carmen Squire. A perfect combination.

While the A-side oozes class & sophistication - the B-side is a different beast entirely. Nemesis is a dirty, sweaty mid tempo club track that is hard to resist.
Nemesister is the more dubbier sibling.

Released digitally in January the record was loved & admired across the DJ spectrum.

Honey Dijon, The Blessed Madonna, Luke Unabomber, Tim Sweeney, Luke Solomon, Gilles Peterson, Roisin Murphy, Nick Fanciulli, Fred Everything, Colleen Cosmo Murphy, Andreas Baumecker & Bill Brewster all showed it some love…

With time, we come to understand the way the joy of connection is mirrored by the void of loss, how the constancy of love is matched only by the impermanence of life, the simple idea that we could not create light if we did not risk the dark - we'd never need to. So it is with METZ, a band once known for blowing out eardrums with songs of joyous rage who have, over their past few records, begun exploring ways to turn abrasiveness into atmospherics, the evolution of their sound not only a reflection of the maturing of the band themselves but also of a changed world that demands nuance and compassion to comprehend and to survive. It was a journey already underway on 2020's Atlas Vending, but one that reaches new heights on Up On Gravity Hill, where the Canadian trio creates a kaleidoscopic sonic world as tender as it is dark, aided once again by engineer Seth Manchester (Mdou Moctar, Lingua Ignota, Battles, The Body). Deep, detailed, and unyieldingly personal, it is not only METZ's most powerful record to date but also their most beautiful. Still three punks from Ontario at heart, guitarist and vocalist Alex Edkins, drummer Hayden Menzies, and bassist Chris Slorach waste no time as opener "No Reservation/Love Comes Crashing" sweeps in like a wave, sonically and thematically setting the scene for the record to come. A dynamic song about feeling suspended in stasis, layers of dissonance melt into a restlessly heady outro marked by escalating crescendos of shimmering noise that reach for the stars - and is that a violin quivering brightly beneath those elegant swells of guitar, those charging drum fills, those intricate bass lines? It is indeed, courtesy of composer Owen Pallett; his presence an immediate indicator that METZ are thinking more cinematically than ever before. The change is partially inspired by Edkins' work as a scorer for film and television and his pop-leaning solo project, Weird Nightmare, where, he says, he learned to write more intuitively, letting his emotions lead the way. But make no mistake: Up On Gravity Hill is a total band effort, the work of three musicians who have been playing together for over a decade, with all the trust that entails. For those who believe in the power of the rock band to exemplify the highest resonance of human connection, there is much on Up On Gravity Hill to lift the spirit, a puzzle worth repeated listening to unlock or just to get lost in again and again. Rather than the music being flattened into a single plane, the band explores "the space above the cymbals," resulting in some of the most spacious, sympathetic, and accessible songs - could we call them pop? - of their career. If this seems contradictory, well, METZ has always been something of a contradiction. "We've never been heavy enough for metal or hardcore purists, but we're way too heavy for indie rock. We just don't have a lane - and that's okay. We exist outside the lines of delineation. I think this record is even more like that," says Edkins.

11 Years Voodoo Down Records celebrates a decade-plus milestone of music from the titular label, which was launched by three friends in Brooklyn in late 2012 and later split across both sides of the Atlantic.
Their 17th vinyl release is their first double 12”, compiling tracks from a selection of the artists that helped them hone their sound: STL, who featured on the first release on the label; October, a recurring favorite who came out of a techno hiatus to cut demos for this release; Tobias., who first appeared on the label in 2015; JXTPS, the recent roster addition from Melbourne; MadderModes, the Manchester duo who debuted on the Empirical Evidence EP; and as always, the label founders themselves: L’estasi Dell’oro, 12 x 12, and N’conduit.
These tracks run the gamut of sounds that have been a staple of the label over the years: upbeat drone techno from L’estasi Dell’oro leading off the release with “Get GOO ing”, dusty dub techno courtesy of STL on “Dungeon CeLL”, head-trip hypnotic techno from Tobias. on “Public Eye”, downtempo melodic from 12 x 12, punchy peak-time techno from JXTPS and N’conduit, and a raw acid techno groover from October.

This release celebrates a decade plus of music on the label. It also marks the return of STL, Tobias., and October to the label with all original material. October coming off a long hiatus, and will follow up with a mini-album later on the label.
The first 2x12” compilation released on the label, and along with the release we will be adding the label’s back catalog on major digital streaming platforms.
Touring by 12 x 12 and L’estasi Dell’oro planned in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia during the last weeks of 2024, and in LA, NYC, Denver following later in the year.

Smudge All Stars is Richie Stevens' audio intelligence collective. Richie is the son of the late John Stevens, a pioneer of British free jazz, and a gifted drummer, percussionist and producer in his own right. His talents have found him in constant demand, working with everyone from Horace Andy and Joss Stone to Boy George and Damon Albarn. Now, with Smudge All Stars, Richie leads a funk/soul ensemble that draws on his friendships with many leading black British, Jamaican and US musicians.

Smudge All Stars is Richie’s musical vision writ large. This is a party album in the old school P-funk tradition, all instrumentation is recorded live with Stevens calling on the original Horny Horns Fred Wesley and Peewee Ellis to help build a fat brass groove for the authentic P-Funk vibe and George Clinton vocals for the ultimate seal of funk approval.

The 8-track musical extravaganza commences with ‘Brutal Funk’; a rousing psychedelic funk workout that encompasses a delicious groove cooked up by the famed Jamiroquai member DJ D-Zire and the powerful vocals of British soul singer Mary Pearce. ‘Up is Just a Place Feat. George Clinton’ continues the party vibes by bringing none other than the P-Funk master himself together with Mary Pearce, MWS, Derek 'Dr Mouthquake' Green and the decorated British soul singer-songwriter Omar for a full flavoured aural delight. Cue tight rapping, funky beats and scratching alongside slap bass and a slice of synth for good measure.

Other highlights include, ‘Freaky Toe’ which opts for a smoother groove than its predecessors with seductive vocals courtesy of Soul II Soul’s Charlotte Kelly. ‘B Side’ sees Mary Pearce join Derek 'Dr Mouthquake' Green for another upbeat affair, accompanied by the legendary American trombonist Fred Wesley (James Brown, Parliament-Funkadelic) who adds a distinctive touch to the track.

This 4 track 45RPM 7inch comes to you courtesy of Copacetic Frequency Productions. 2 vocal cuts by Ozzie Dee & Izaba, a melodica cut by Ray Ranking & the version by label owner Dawehdread.

Engineered & mixed by Dawehdread & Kingsway at Earth Works Amsterdam.

Pure unadulterated boogie fire from the Gold Mink vaults, which combined the power of James Bedford with the production genius of Roy Ayers back in ’81. With original copies trading hands for £150+ it’s high time a remastered and officially licensed reissue came around.

A firm favourite of the likes of Mr Scruff and Sadar Bahar, ‘Just Keep My Boogie’ is that uplifting slice of boogie that is a tried and tested dancefloor bomb. The brightest of funk keys dance around delicious little guitar licks as those infectious vocals burrow their way into your brain.

Take to the B side for another staple, and go-to gem, for some of the biggest around including, Antal, Hunee, Ge-ology and Sadar Bahar. ‘Happy Music’ is one of those funk-heavy, mesmerising cuts that seemingly evaporates all prior worries and instantly injects the urge to dance, no matter the scenario.

Two certified must-haves on either side of a 12 inch, gold for sure.

Licensed from Uno Melodic Records, Inc, courtesy of Expansion Records.

Talman15 Courtesy of Our Long Time Friend Jorge Savoretti ( Bass Culture, Savor ) - Including a Phat Remix From Reflex Blue ( Craigie Knows, Limousine Dream )....

When the grunge explosion of the early `90s elevated Seattle's flannel-clad misfits out of the divey clubs of downtown and into the mainstream, a new generation of restless artists filled the void left in the Pacific Northwest's underground music scene. The under-21 crowd making music in the wake of Nevermind seemed even less enamored with the slick production values, classic rock nods, and testosterone-fueled moshing culture that came with the Zeitgeist, favoring their own kind of Revolution Summer-style pivot away from the popular sounds of the era towards a more emotionally nuanced, melodic, and inclusive style of punk. The Puget Sound trio Lync perfectly captured the spirit of that era, blending the passionate chaos of the DC and San Diego scenes with the rough-hewn DIY pop sensibilities of Olympia's thriving indie community into one unified sound. Though they were only a band for two years, they helped define the next era of the Northwest underground, inspiring countless other artists and instigating the creation of beloved records from the region. After being out of print for over a decade, the band's sole LP These Are Not Fall Colors has been remastered and expanded into a 2xLP with the inclusion of "Can't Tie Yet"_a compilation track from the album's recording session_into a deluxe edition available courtesy of Suicide Squeeze Records. Originally released on K Records in the summer of '94 just a few months before the band called it quits, These Are Not Fall Colors is a boisterous collection of scrappy basement-show anthems played on duct-taped-together gear. Led by the off-kilter melodies of late singer/guitarist Sam Jayne and hammered into place by the driving bass of James Bertram and drum battery of David Schneider, the album's eleven songs channel that undefinable sound of the early `90s before descriptors like "post-hardcore" and "emo" became pejorative terms. Sure, you get a sense of the more sophisticated mid-tempo punk approach on songs like "B" and "Silverspoon Glasses," and maybe catch wind of wistful songwriting on "Pennies to Save" and "Cue Cards," but Lync seemed to cull their ideas from whatever bits of inspiration they could find in the gray gloom and geographic isolation of western Washington, absorbing it all and churning it together into a style uniquely their own. Despite Lync's short existence, modest aspirations, and DIY approach, their work had a ripple effect. Jayne would go on to make music under the moniker of Love As Laughter. Built to Spill's Doug Martsch was so enamored by the album that he enlisted Bertram and Schneider to serve as his rhythm section on the There's Nothing Wrong with Love tour. These Are Not Fall Colors engineer Phil Ek would go on to help record and produce records by Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses, and The Shins. Early bassist Isaac Brock and These Are Not Fall Colors album art contributor Jeremiah Green would go on to form Modest Mouse. Bertram and Green would also go on to form the revered indie rock group Red Stars Theory. At times it feels like you could pick any major Northwest indie rock group from the `90s and `00s and trace their DNA back to Lync. The deluxe edition of These Are Not Fall Colors comes pressed on 180g vinyl and packaged in a gatefold cover with printed inner sleeves and expanded artwork by Jesse LeDoux. The 2xLP also features an 18x24 poster with extensive liner notes by Brian Cook. Altogether, this new version of These Are Not Fall Colors not only brings this celebrated classic back into analog libraries of old fans, it also provides new context and appreciation for Lync's ongoing impact on both a local and international level.

Skudge appears courtesy of Lazy Reflex Complex for the label's third instalment. Skudge delivers two signature style cuts along with an ominous rework of 'Departure' by 543ff. The flip side is delivered by label head 543ff; three techno tools to make crowds move. Mastered by Audiosculpture.

IZIPHO SOUL are incredibly proud to announce our 100th 7” single!

LAWRENCE BEAMEN - THINKING OF YOU

The unsurpassable bass-baritone voice of LAWRENCE BEAMEN originally recorded THINKING OF YOU in 2008. After years of pleas for a vinyl release; it’s finally here and sounding fresher than ever.

THE 7 REMIX courtesy of Don Turney at DKS Productions has added a magic touch and beefed up this classic even further!

Arranged and produced by Narada Michael Walden and Lawrence Beamen. Music Produced by Narada Michael Walden. Lyrics by Lawrence Beamen.

On the flip is a new recording entitled BEEN A LONG TIME - a banger of a tune, straight outta Oakland, California.

Packaged in a hole backed picture sleeve.

Back in stock ! With his 1966 debut for Atlantic, jazz vibraphonist and marimba player Dave Pike and an all-star lineup produced a perfect blend of Jazz, Latin, Soul and R&B that stands the test of time. Produced by Pike’s frequent collaborator Herbie Mann, "Jazz for the Jet Set" featured a young Herbie Hancock on organ (an instrument he rarely played again), Clark Terry on trumpet, Billy Butler on guitar, Grady Tate on drums, and many other talented musicians. From an artistic perspective, the album marked a pivotal time in Pike’s career, where he began to move away from straight ahead jazz and forge a relationship with soul music, Latin rhythms, pop arrangements and more experimental styles. With this official re-issue courtesy of Nature Sounds, "Jazz For The Jet Set" is now back on limited-edition vinyl while supplies last.

One of the most successful and enjoyable debuts in history, The Cars' self-titled album doubles as a greatest-hits collection. That's because not one song here is unrecognized or unknown. A huge reason why the Boston quintet became America's most popular new-wave band, The Cars launched eight tracks still regularly heard on radio stations everywhere. Consider the hit list: "You're All I've Got Tonight." "Good Times Roll." "Just What I Needed." "Moving in Stereo." "My Best Friend's Girl." "Don't Cha Stop." If you're a fan of pop music, this album is mandatory. Just call it the best new-wave rock album ever made.

And now, The Cars sounds better than it has in any previous incarnation. Mastered from the original analogue tapes, Mobile Fidelity's numbered-edition LP allows the music's oscillating rhythms, futuristic keyboard passages, panned stereo images, and rippling textures to be experienced like never before. The songs take on a surreal quality, the Cars manipulating the vibrant music at will to mesmerize the listeners' senses and hold them at bay. Mobile Fidelity's pressing epitomizes the sensation of "moving in stereo."

Led by Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr, the Cars managed to unite then-disparate styles: bubblegum pop melodies, angular art rock, progressive arrangements, and terse minimalism. Orr's low, understated singing and Ocasek's cool, detached vocals lend shades of doubt and double meaning to the lyrics, which are further counterbalanced by orchestral keyboard flourishes and electronic beats. The brilliant arrangements also benefit from a laidback cool and understated irony that remain uncommon in the over-the-top world of mainstream music. Obsessed with incorporating the latest technologies and sounds into its palette, the band spiced its tunes with delightfully quirky accents — country-tinged guitar fills, echoing Syndrums, reggae splashes, hard-rock tones, robotic pulses.

The results are the sounds of a creative landmark. At once accessible and eccentric, edgy and catchy, The Cars explodes with emotion, energy, and hooks. It's impossible not to get caught up humming and singing along to every song, an appeal that comes courtesy of Roy Thomas Baker's stellar production. The legendary producer, best known for his work with Queen, ensured that the record seamlessly packed a smooth midrange, spacious imaging, and call-and-answer choruses in one tight package. Baker's trademark touches with harmony vocals abound.

"The MoFi disc is much better than the original in every way. It's more dynamic, much more natural on top, and all three dimensions have a lot bigger space. This disc is great from start to finish, but "Moving in Stereo" will blow you away on a great system in a big room."
—Jeff Dorgay, TONEAudio

The founders of Cukor Bila Smert’ (Ukrainian: Цукор– Біла Смерть, English: Sugar – White Death) band were Svitlana Okhrimenko (a.k.a. Svitlana Nianio), Oleksandr Kohanovs’kyi, and Tamila Mazur, who studied at the Reinhold Glier Kyiv Academy of Music in 1984-1988. In the summer of 1988, they got acquainted with Eugene Taran, a young guitarist and artist. He joined the band and also became the ideologist of Sugar – White Death. Moreover, Eugene coined the name for the band: the irony towards the Yellow Press. The musicians gathered at Kohanovs’kyi’s house, where they spent their free time not only playing music but also listening to and discussing new records and thinking about the conception of their new project.



For two years, the band recorded a few home-made albums, such as “Rhododendrons Coral Aspides” in 1988 (which is considered lost), where Kostyantyn Dovzhenko took part as a guitarist and sound engineer. He also replaced Taran during the recording session because Eugene was passing an exam at that time. The band also recorded another album – “Lilies and Amaralises,” in 1989, which is also considered lost. Eugene remembers that the band made a lot of recordings but did not pay so much attention to them. Sugar – White Death played live occasionally but spent more time creating their own sound, which was named by Oleksii Dekhtyar (a founder of “Ivanov Down”) as a “sugar calypso sound.” At that time, the music was mostly created by Oleksandr Kohanovs’kyi, and the lyrics were written by Svitlana Okhrimenko and Eugene Taran.



In February 1990, a quartet came to the Scientists House Studio in Kyiv, where they had one studio session only, recorded by Valerii Papchenko. Musicians played live for about one take. This session was represented on the “Mannered Music” compilation by several blocks – “Venus with Long Neck,” “The New Sissies,” and “Rhododendrons Coral Aspides,” which was shortened to “Rhododendrons” on the cassette (two songs from which – “Summer Will Not Come” and “The Great Hen-Yuan’ River,” dedicated to Grigorii Khoroshylov, the sinologist from Kyiv). The compilation cover design was created by Eugene Taran. Later, this tape got to Vlodek Nakonechnyj, the founder of Koka Records, a young Polish label, who released “Mannered Music” on cassettes and made efforts to invite Sugar – White Death to play several gigs in Poland.



In November 1990, Sugar – White Death played their last gig as a quartet in Kharkiv. They were invited by Sergii Myasoyedov, who curated the art association “Nova Scena” (The New Scene). The band played selected tracks from the albums “The New Sissies” and “The Shellfishes in Gold Wrappers” (the last one is also considered lost). Due to Sergii Myasoyedov's efforts, the performance was documented: he saved a lot of photos and fragments of soundboard recordings on reel-to-reel tape.



Later, Oleksandr Kohanovs’kyi and Tamila Mazur left Sugar – White Death: Oleksandr founded his own project Pan Kifared, and Tamila became a bass player of Shake Hi-Fi (whose co-founder was Eugene Taran). Sugar became a duo of Svitlana and Eugene. They started to focus on their next work: “Antinoy Is Leaving” in late 1990.



In 1992, they were also invited by Sergii Myasoyedov for a studio session in Kharkiv, where due to the efforts of Oleksandr Vakulenko, Sugar recorded the new album called “All Secrets Of A Poem”. Some tracks from the work (“Dead Ceremony,” “Vienna Is Sleeping,” and “Untitled”) were released on their next and last album, “Selo” (“The Village”). The rest compositions were published as a part of the compilation for the first time.



In the autumn of 1992, the musicians went to Poland, where Vlodek Nakonechnyj, who wanted Sugar to come to a “real” studio, organized their last recording session. Although the journey’s beginning was unsuccessful (Eugene’s guitar was taken away by a customs officer when crossing the border), the musicians worked fast during the session at the Arek Was studio at Marki on an 8-track reel-to-reel machine. Boleslav Blazhchyk took part as a cellist, playing the parts created by Svitlana. The album was completed in three days – the musicians spent two days recording and one-day mixing, mostly done by Eugene Taran. In 1993, this work was released as “Selo” (“The Village”) album on cassette tapes by Koka Records (remastered by Tadeusz Sudnik). Later, Sugar – White Death was disbanded.



Credits:



Cukor Bila Smert’: Svitlana Okhrimenko (lyrics, keyboards, piano, vocals), Eugene Taran (lyrics, keyboards, guitar), Oleksandr Kohanovs’kyi (piano, A1-B2), Tamila Mazur (cello, A1-B2), Boleslaw Blaszczyk (cello, C5-D6)

Cover photo by Vlad Urazovs’kiy

Photo archive courtesy: Vlad Urazovs’kiy, Vlodek Nakonechnyj (Koka Records),

Oleh Yuhrinov, Sergii Myasoyedov

Audio archive courtesy: Vlodek Nakonechnyj (Koka Records), Guido Erfen,

Sergii Myasoyedov

Liner notes: Vlad Yakovlev

Compiled by Dmytro Nikolaienko, Dmytro Prutkin and Sasha Tsapenko

© ? Shukai / Cukor Bila Smert’

2024