Light in the Attic Records has announced a new compilation of Ukrainian music. Even the Forest Hums: Ukrainian Sonic Archives 1971-1996 arrives October 18. Billed as the first comprehensive collection of Ukrainian music recorded prior to, and immediately following, the Soviet Union’s collapse, it includes the 1971 song “Bunny,” by folk-rock group Kobza, and 1990’s “Play, the Violin, Play,” by Kyrylo Stetsenko, featuring a then-rising pop star named Tetiana Kocherhina. Check out both tracks below.
The varied tracklist for Even the Forest Hums includes songs by Vodohrai, Krok, Radiodelo, the Hostilnia, Ihor Tsymbrovsky, and Uksusnik—the first band from Gogol Bordello’s Eugene Hütz—among other artists. In addition to original cover artwork by folk painter Maria Prymachenko, the compilation includes historical liner notes by Kyiv-based writer and filmmaker Vitalii “Bard” Bardetskyi. A portion of proceeds will be donated to Livyj Bereh, a Kyiv-based volunteer group working to rebuild in the regions affected by the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Light in the Attic owner Matt Sullivan spent the past five years compiling this curated, chronological tracklist alongside producers David Mas, Mark “Frosty” McNeill, and Ukrainian label Shukai Records before their work was re-contextualized by the ongoing war. “We found ourselves in the midst of a larger political issue; what began as a broader overview of a sonically underrepresented region suddenly became quite the controversial project,” said Sullivan. “There were times when it felt impossible to bring this project to fruition, so to be sharing it with the world today is truly humbling and long overdue.”
Read Philip Sherburne’s “Innovative, Spirited, Resilient—Ukraine’s Electronic Scene Stands Tall” on the Pitch.
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