Eastern Haze: May
Our second installment of the explorations of the freshest beats, tunes and all sorts of aural weirdness from the region of Eastern Europe starts with a crash course for the uninitiated. Easterndaze Vol 2: Judgment Day is a collaboration between Polish experimental label AudioTong and the Easterndaze project, a compilation which charts some noteworthy up-and-coming producers with an emphasis on the synth-driven, psych-inspired, mutant bass-infused.
Starting off with a friendly vibe, it follows with a dichotomy of female voices, each utilized in a different and experimental way. A tropical gangsta from Gdansk then lures with his uncanny atmospheres, while Hipdiebattery coos with her sweet singing (reminiscent at times of Zola Jesus). Intermezzo. Weirdness, rhythmic noisy structures appear courtesy of Slovakia’s leading noiseniks poo and a promising new Czech tape manipulation project. You can download the whole thing for free here.
Easterndaze 2: Judgement Day by Various Artists
In need of more audio abandon? This new podcast documents Slovak analogue fiends Jamka, an ebullient journey into fierce electronic noodling that presents an urban sonic dystopia with a dash of hope.
Local pop created during the communism of the ‘80s has been mostly shunned by the young generation of musicians in the region, pushed to the outer recesses of collective memory. In a few cases, however, the music created and released by state owned record labels back in the day bore some inspiring examples. A new tribute EP featuring reworkings of Vašo Patejdl, a leading ‘80s synthpop producer from Slovakia, features a fine selection of Slovak and Czech remixers, each of whom approached the original with their own trademark style.
Two more tips from Hungary by EB’s András G. Varga on the quick endnote.
Headshotboyz, emerging from Hungary’s blooming so-called future beats scene, dropped a new EP:
Volkova Sisters second Hope EP made its debut with a full stream on Electronic Beats recently. The most experimental song off the record has been treated to a diverse array of remixes by an assortment of some of the region’s up-and-coming producers, including the Polish Gazella, the young Hungarian beatmaker Polyklinik as well as his Bucharest-based colleague Minus.
cover image: Jan Gemrot
Published May 31, 2012.