One Year Later

Yesterday marked one year since Ukraine was invaded by Russia. I wrote a couple of posts around that time, hardly daring imagine that twelve months later, the people of Ukraine would still be fighting for their freedom, their identity, their homes, their very lives. 

One year. Twelve months. Three hundred and sixty five days. Eight thousand, seven hundred and sixty six hours. Five hundred and twenty five thousand, nine hundred and sixty minutes. Thirty one million, five hundred and thirty six thousand seconds. I can't begin to imagine what it must be like to live every moment in the heart of a war.

 

It makes me think not just of Ukraine but other countries whose people have lived with war, or my parents' and grandparents' generations, who had lived experience of war's devastating effect on home soil. I frequently feel guilty when I find life difficult, challenging, at times overwhelming when I look around me and see what is going on elsewhere in the world. 

The Ukrainian people, led by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, have shown a strength and resilience that is nothing less than astonishing and a lesson for us all. I wrote a year ago about overhearing colleagues complaining about their treatment at work and comparing it with what was happening in Ukraine and Russia. Today, people were noisily complaining about the shortage of tomatoes, cucumbers and other food - mostly 'out of season' items or food no longer grown in significant quantities in the UK - which juxtaposed and jarred with the minute's silence and reflection on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

 

I wonder, if we were to be subjected to an invasion, a conflict on our home soil, could we as a people manage thirty one million, five hundred and thirty six thousand seconds and counting? Half? A third? A twelfth of that? 

A little under a year ago, I wrote about Ukrainian duo Ptakh_Jung aka Anton Dehtiarov and Volodymyr Babushkin, in particular their song Dnipro, inspired by and named after the country's fourth largest city, At that point, the song had been out for a couple of months, released in December 2020 well before the invasion began but which resonated in the new context and environment that it existed in.

Ptakh_Jung started posting music via Soundcloud in 2016 and there are some beautiful ambient/piano-led pieces, taken from gigs or film soundtracks. YouTube also has plenty of live performance excerpts. Bandcamp has their officially released music available for purchase. Apart from the aforementioned and recommended Dnipro, their first release in 2018 was the Black Period EP/mini-album, a "cosmological fantasy" played out over four songs and just over half an hour. In 2020, the third track, Monika, was edited to accompany the short film/video that leads off this post. 

 

Sadly, there have been no further releases from Ptakh_Jung since Dnipro in December 2020. Their Facebook page has also been quiet, the last post photos from a gig in Kyiv in May 2021. I hope they're safe and well. My thoughts, hopes and wishes are with them and their families.

Can Anyone Ever Really Get The Chemistry, You Know?

This selection has been done completely on the fly this morning and entirely made up of new digital purchases in the past couple of days, mostly via Bandcamp Friday. It's a reasonably relaxed affair, with occasional musical prods to get your attention.

Swiss Adam introduced me to Andres Y Xavi last year and their collaborations with Rolo McGinty (The Woodentops) were fantastic. What Do You See In Me originally appeared as a dub and it's just been released as an EP, with two further Xavi dubs and a trio of excellent Balearic remixes from Max Essa. I've gone for the full vocal to start things off, Rolo in fine form against a gentle acoustic backdrop and the promise of a beautiful summer to come.

 

Dan Wainwright, another Bagging Area recommendation, released his latest album From The Ground Up in January. Two listens in and I'm loving it. In the promo info Dan describes this as a very personal record that "tells a story through metaphor about being neurodiverse and learning to accept and love [himself] as being unique". If you've enjoyed Dan's music as I have, then this album takes it to whole other level.

 

I stumbled across Ribas Abbas whilst down a Bandcamp rabbit hole, and I'm glad I did. Based in Amsterdam, Ribas' music appears to be a mix of originals and re-edits, all available as a free/name your price download. I've started with two re-edits, one by Christine & The Queens and the other, featured here, a re-edit of Pilooski's 2015 song Completely Sun, featuring Jarvis Cocker.

 

In fact, you get three divine JCs for your trouble (though sadly not this one). Aside from Jarvis Cocker, Julian Cope and John Cale both get the re-edit/remix treatment, courtesy of Paisley Dark Records and their excellent Edits Box series. As is there weren't reason enough to buy, on Bandcamp Friday all of the artists agreed to donate every penny spent on releases to the fund raiser United Help Ukraine, with the label match funding donations up to £100. 

 

I enthused about the new Trentemøller album, Memoria, last month but after streaming it for the last couple of weeks, I have finally got around to buying it. Lisbet Fritze is the perfect choice of vocalist for the album, as evidenced in current single, No More Kissing In The Rain. 

 

On a similar retro vibe, I belated picked up The Divine Comedy's most recent album, Office Politics. Not what I expected - in a good way - with Neil Hannon channeling his inner Goldfrapp on this song. This is preceded by Sleaford Mods, remixed by the Hartnoll brothers to great effect. Parental advisory: you might want to skip this one as, true to form, there's a lot of effin' and jeffin' going on.

 

Xan Tyler makes a welcome return to these pages, following 2021's collaboration with Mad Professor, Clarion Call, which I loved. Whilst I'm looking forward to a new Xan Tyler album this year, this selection steps back to 2020 and Let It Come Down, essentially a solo project by legendary producer Kramer. So far, just the one album - Songs We Sang in Our Dreams - predominantly instrumentals with Xan providing vocals on a couple of tracks, including this beauty.

 

Closing the selection is the wonderful Dnipro by Ukrainian duo Ptakh_Jung, which I discovered earlier this week, and the brilliant Catherine Anne Davies aka The Anchoress. Following last month's cover of R.E.M., here is a wonderful version of The Tradition by Halsey, Davies accompanied by Charlie Cawood to haunting effect. 

 

A perfect way to close the selection, and a prompt to further explore the vast musical soundscapes these artists have created. Buy now.

 

1) What Do You See In Me (Max Essa Extended Vocal Mix): Andres Y Xavi ft. Rolo McGinty (2022)

2) Underwater Cities: Dan Wainwright (2022)

3) Completely Sun (Ribas Abbas Remix): Pilooski ft. Jarvis Cocker (2020)

4) I Don't Rate You (Orbital Remix): Sleaford Mods (2021)

5) Infernal Machines (Album Version): The Divine Comedy (2019)

6) No More Kissing In The Rain: Trentemøller ft. Lisbet Fritze (2022)

7) They Were On Hard Drugs (Matt Gunn Edit): Julian Cope (2022)

8) Hush Hush: Horton Jupiter vs. John Cale (2021)

9) Don't Let It Go To Your Head: Cleo Sol (2021)

10) Pennies: Let It Come Down (Kramer & Xan Tyler) (2020)

11) Dnipro: Ptakh_Jung (2020)

12) The Tradition (Cover of Halsey): The Anchoress (2022)

 

Can Anyone Ever Really Get The Chemistry, You Know? (1:02:34)

Dnipro

As I wake up to another day of work, routine, safety, I realise how fortunate I am to have this freedom, this luxury. The people of Ukraine are not so fortunate as they continue to face down invading forces from Russia, with loss of their homes, their country, their families, their own lives, a continual threat and reality.

 

At work yesterday, I heard a group of colleagues expressing their frustration and anger at how they felt they had been treated. Not to denigrate their opinions, this is how they felt and they made valid points, but I couldn't help thinking of those in Russia demonstrating against the invasion of Ukraine at great risk to themselves and their families. Again, how fortunate I am to live in a country where people can - and do - have the freedom to express themselves and vehemently disagree with the actions of their government.

 

Fellow bloggers have been posting songs by The Ukrainians this week, formed in 1990 following The Wedding Present's seminal John Peel sessions (and album) a couple of years previously.

I've also been prompted to explore more artists from Ukraine, which led me to discover Kyiv-based duo Ptakh_Jung aka Anton Dehtiarov (keyboards) and Volodymyr Babushkin (guitar). Taken from their Bandcamp biog, Ptakh_Jung "combine contemporary classical with electronic, post-rock, ambient, elements of grunge and noise. They define their music as post-classical and electronic impressionism." Which is a pretty fair description.

 

Since 2018, there has been an EP and couple of singles. I was particularly drawn to their most recent, Dnipro, released in December 2020.

 

The initial seconds of piano swirl immediately calls to mind I Don't Like Mondays by The Boomtown Rats, but it very quickly sidesteps into a pulsing house beat, with insistent, cascading piano and rolling bassline. It's all over in under four minutes and could easily go on for twice that length. 

 

Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth largest city and there was a moving BBC News report earlier this week about how the city was preparing to defend itself from the invading Russian forces.

 

My thoughts are with those fighting for the peace and freedoms that I, by luck of birth and geography, all too often take for granted.

 

Dnipro: Ptakh_Jung

 

Ptakh_Jung on Soundcloud