Plato Newsroom #12

Palina, Горящий Жираф, Nochy and more fresh Belarusian music

08.12.2023

newsroom

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. Here is the twelfth episode of the Neswroom project, a news podcast from the Radio Plato team, in which we talk about new Belarusian music.

In today's episode:

Горящий Жираф mighty flow on the new "Deep Hustle" EP;
"Расскажи мне" single by charming A.Mantis with Awlnight's beats out on Sidechain label;
Longplay album by lyrical ravers Nochy;
Long-awaited album "Ни берега, ни дна" by Palina;
New single "Рассветом" by indie pop project of Соня Король;
Psychedelic ballads of «Свечение Чёрного».

Get comfortable and let's dig in!

We're kicking off with a fresh "Deep Hustle" EP from the Belarusian hip hop maestro Жора 359 a.k.a. Горящий Жираф. His musical carreer is closely tied to the Rap Crew artist community that has recently celebrated its 10th birthday recently. Жора 359's solo project is all about untamed artistry and incredible flow, which allow him to masterfully combine the street gangster persona with the playful ironic attitude. Here's what he has to say about the new release:

— I wrote the "Deep Hustle" back in 2021, when I was transferred to open prison facility. A wonderful beatmaker Dirthythree out of Chelyabinsk sent me a pack of his fresh beats. The idea behind the EP was born out of the eponymous poem I wrote while still in prison. It was about how dark deeds can't lead you to the path of light. So this release became my own search for the path of light, so to speak.

I was recording it while still in the open prison facility, sneaking into the studio for 10 minutes here, 20 minutes there. The final part was already recorded in Miensk with Radjn's help. He is also featuring on one of the tracks, besides helping out with the mix of the entire thing, as well as mastering and publishing.

The cover art is by the artist Raman Kaminski. The original artwork was rejected by the streaming services so its initial design can only be seen on Soundcloud.

Next up in today's episode is the singer A.Mantis. She used to sing in the band CherryVata and release trip hop and neo-soul produced by the beatmaker Awlnight under the moniker Stealurmind. Her latest single "Расскажи мне о себе" was released by our good friends at Sidechain label. Quite by chance, as it turns out, but her collaboration with Awlnight was no coincidence. More on that by Ania, hiding behind the A.Mantis alias:

— About a year ago we decided to collaborate on a track with the Sidechain project. They played me some random beats to choose from, like at a blind tasting. It was symbolic that the beat I chose turned out to be by Awlnight. So in a way, this track can be considered a spontaneous continuation of our Stealurmind project from back in the day. We worked on it at the Sidechain studio. Ain Souf helped out with the recording and mixing.

The lyrics are a sublimation of yet another love story. The lyrics "tell me about yourself, tell me the truth" are about the desire to be sincere with one another, stop playing stupid games and using each other. To me this resonates with the lyrics of one of my favorite tracks by MJ Cole "Sincere".

In the meantime in Warsaw a Belarusian band Nochy releases a longplay album called "Ціхі акіян". We have already covered their track "Муж не ідзе" which, along a few other singles, is actually included on this album. Nochy is an indie pop band melding electropop and folk, while occasionally making a leap towards the dancefloor with distinctly rave sounds in their arrangements. The band's founders Julia and Pavel talk us through the album.

— The "Ціхі акіян" album turned out to be a focus point showing us the future direction for the band. This album help us understand what our sound is, our themes and language. This is also our first experience of working on songs and arrangements in exile: from Miensk to Kyiv, from Kyiv to Warsaw. This kind of existence dictates a very diiferent vibe of course.

This album's lyrics feature both personal and other people's stories. It turned out very emotional and multicolored. Lyrically-cheerful content-wise. And all in all, the mix of dance songs with atmospheric lyrics gives us a distinctive vibe.

The next artist does not require an introduction for the Belarusian listener. And, indeed, this is an album long-awaited by many. ”Ни берега, ни дна" is the second longplay album under alias Palina, formerly known as Palina Respublika. This release is a testament to Palina conquering new heights both lyrically and, especially, musically. Let's give a word to the artist:

— Generally I never sit down to write an album. I have something like a repository in which I store different ideas. And at a certain point, when enough working material is generated, I feel like I can make a complete piece of music.

I face the same kinds of obstacles in my art as I do in my daily life. Making music requires a lot of concentration, time, and, at least for me, a peaceful state of mind. However, on the other hand, our surrounding reality is very heavy. But for the artist in the general sense of the word, this actually provides a very fertile ground, lots of new overtones and impressions.

Young singer Соня Король is back in our selection, we have previously covered her collab with beatmaker Radjin. Her sound is sensual modern soul music with sincere lyrics. The new single "Рассветом" adheres to that formula as well. Соня herself tells us about the creation of the single:

— I was walking home from work one summer evening when I suddenly realized I need to get down to the Pharm Sound Lab studio and record something asap. I log into Splice, grab a guitar, quickly drum up the beat from Тима Белорусских's track "Под звездопадом". Then I record the vocals and send the whole thing to my friend Vova from Latvia to lay bown a bassline to. The track was mixed and mastered by Radjin.

Closing out this week's selection is the album titled "II" by «Свечение Чёрного». This album is a collection of slow-chugging psychedelic ballads with elements of shamanism, mysticism and, of course, despair. Let's take a listen, but first, here's the project's founder Roma:

— The project was conceived in autumn of 2019. This paradoxical phase «свечение чёрного» (‘glow of black’ in Russian - translator's note) got stuck and my head and I realized that it describes the mood of my music perfectly. It was a one man project from the very start, although I have collaborated with other musicians and artists. For instance, this album features vocals from A.Mantis and Renard.

I took my time putting together this album, the recordings were rather spontaneous. I often use a looper pedal when improvising. I like stacking up layer upon a layer into a dense saturated wall of sound, which I then use as the base for a track. There are some weird instruments featured on the album as well. Besides djembe, I use a one of a kind percussion instrument which I call the snake. Basically it is the fruit of an acacia tree that I brought from sunny Thailand.

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That's it for today. This was the Newsroom podcast — the music news show by the Radio Plato team, where we gather info about the news of the Belarusian electronic music scene. The podcast is brought to you by our team: Reemotto, Stwone, Helga, Krik, Schmoltz , Nadya Ya, Stereobeaver and KorneJ. Cover art by chernova.ya.

If you're a Belarusian making music, share it with us on social networks and we'll share it with the world in our next episodes. Subscribe to the podcast on streaming platforms, support us on Patreon, or simply Paypal us a donation – this helps us do more cool stuff. See you on the otherside!