No.13 x 2011

A Russian record from 1988? Yes, this is avant-garde electronic composer Michail Chekalins first album release, but the material is actually recorded between 1984 and 85.
Chekalin, who studied classical composition and was a trained pianist from a young age, has been called “one of the most radical and innovative synthesists around, not only in Russia but globally” (Audion, 1993, Great Britain). And due to his fascination with a very broad set of tastes, from free-form jazz to psychedelic rock to electronics, he was allegedly an outcast in the russian academic music scene.
This song is in translation called Symphobreak, and is one of the albums highlights due to its slightly funky groove. Most of the album is quite trippy and experimental.


MIKHAIL CHEKALIN - SYMPHOBREAK

No.37 x 2010 / The Saucer People Guest Blog No.4

How_Beezar is a former Russian punk, indie & trip-hop drummer who spent ten years playing in a variety of bands before sucumbing to the sheer joy of the deep disco re-edit. One of his re-works is destined to create a tsunami of interest in DJ circles and here is a rare chance to jump on the bandwagon before it has even pulled out of hype station. The original track is by Russian artist/composer Yury Antonov and is called ‘I Remember‘ (or ‘I Reminisce‘ depending on the translation). It features on the soundtrack of the 1981 Russian film ‘Take Care Of The Women! and it is worth hearing the original just to grasp how radical the edit really is and plus you get a chance to watch some serious early eighties Soviet nightclub action!

Don't just take my word for it, here is what DJ legend and author of "Saturday Night Forever:Story Of Disco" Jussi Kantonen had to say about the track "Severely and rapidly addictive. Also very beautiful and sinister at the same time, like advanced science". If that wasn't enough, it has the seal of approval from the guys behind Overfitting Disco who commented "...the definitive dope indeed, now, a bootleg label must pick this one up, fast".

Until this gets released either officially or in bootleg form, feel free to send it, post it and generally spread it's love around in the smug knowledge you heard about it first! You can also get more of How_Beezar's amazing collection of edits by visiting his LiveJournal page. Also check out his incredible collection of proto-house and proto-techno tracks called "Tracks That Left Their Time Behind 1977-1983"

YURY ANTONOV - I REMEMBER (HOW_BEEZAR RE-EDIT 2010)

No.10 x 2010

I found this crazy Russian record from 1983 at an outdoor yardsale last summer. As with most east-european records, the english subtitles sound riddiculuosly awkward when out of context. Which is much the same these days with the cut and paste language of Babelfish.
Anyway, there are some spaced out disco vibes on two of the tracks, and I decided to do an edit of one of these. Anastasia starts off with some cowbell action straight out of some farm, and the bouncy guitar'n'strings groove is coupled with schmaltzy but charming vocals. There are however some excellent breaks thrown in here and there that make this a killer on the dancefloor. Насладитесь!


YURI ANTONOV - ANASTASIA (RIZZOLO EDIT)