The Pop Corporation

The good folks at Light in the Attic have a brilliant compilation out called ‘Even the Forest Hums: Ukrainian Sonic Archives 1971-1996‘ which looks at the Ukraine music scene from the aforementioned dates – obviously, during this time, the region was under strict Soviet control, so there’s a lot to dig into spiritually too.

The label says that the compilation features music “recorded prior to, and immediately following, the USSR’s collapse. From subtly dissenting Soviet-era singles to DIY recordings from Kyiv’s vibrant underground scene, the compilation chronicles the development of Ukraine’s rich musical landscape through rare folk, rock, jazz, and electronic recordings.”

There’s a vinyl edition which is a real thing of beauty (and you can see it below) which is a 2xLP affair with gatefold sleeve, gorgeous artwork, a 20 page booklet with photos and extensive liner notes and essays and, the records themselves come in clear blue sky and sunflower yellow. The compact disc version isn’t too shabby either, with a hardbound 64 page booklet.

Light in the Attic are also going to donate some of the proceeds to Livyj Bereh who are a Kyiv-based volunteer group that are doing everything they can to rebuild Ukraine during war.

“Music has always pulled Ukrainians out of the abyss,” writes Vitalii ‘Bard’Bardetskyi in his liner notes for Even the Forest Hums: Ukrainian Sonic Archives 1971-1996. “When there is no hope for the future, there is still music. At such moments, the whole nation resonates under a groove. Music, breaking through the concrete of various colonial systems, is an incredible, often illogical, way to preserve dignity.”

The music itself features DIY recordings, subtle digs at the Soviet powers that be, Western beat, electronics, post-punk, and loads of inventive ways that show how artists worked under a ruthless embargo. “Only state-authorised performers who had gone through hellish rounds of the permit system could record at the few monopolistic, state-run studios,” continues Bardetskyi; “some of the artists managed, even under difficult ideological circumstances, to build a whole aesthetic platform which was essentially anti-Soviet.”

“This resulted in a whole scene that combined central-eastern Ukrainian vocal polyphony, Carpathian rhythms, and overseas grooves,” in an era of music that Bardetskyi refers to as “Mustache Funk.”

Here’s a video explaining more, but this is a wonderful release that will find a home in just about any record collection. Click here to pre-order your copy now.