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LP
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SHUKAI 008LP
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Transilvania Smile is one of the first solo works (recorded in 1994) of Svitlana Nianio. During this time, Svitlana repeatedly visited Germany, where she had the experience of playing in parks and on the streets, gathering contacts of the local art scene. Her cooperation with the international choreographic group Pentamonia, based in Cologne and consisting of several girls who performed in theaters, took part in various performances, and were engaged in music. They met in the 1990s during joint performances with "Sugar-White Death." After that, they corresponded, and the idea of doing something together arose. Svitlana attended several of their performances, which inspired her to write music for a new project, and the band members helped to realize their creative ideas. Later, they started rehearsing together. The name "Transilvania Smile" was invented by the project participants, and it symbolized the mold on the mirror and the reflection of a smiling vampire. However, shortly before the premiere, they changed it to "Firefox", as the participants actively used flashlights and the play of light and shadows in the scenography. The premiere occurred in the local Urania theater, previously a gallery. Isabel Bartensein directed the choreography, and Svitlana played, sang, and improvised. She said it was an excellent experience for her and the band. Besides Cologne, they also performed in Aachen. Later, Michael Springer offered Svitlana to record this material in his "Phantom" studio. They had already worked together and recorded music for their project (Svitlana Okhrimenko / Phanton). Michael was also interested in the Ukrainian independent scene and participated in the creation of several compilations that featured bands from Kyiv and Kharkiv. Svetlana played the piano and harmonium in the studio and also sang. After the recording, the material was never released in its entirety. Two compositions appeared on the cassette compilation Shovaisia (Hide) in 1995, some episodes were re-recorded for the Kytytsi album in 1999, but for a long time, the full version of this recording remained practically unknown to listeners and was kept in Svitlana's and Michael's archives.
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LP
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SKR 008LP
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2023 repress; second edition of these recordings from 1995. Originally issued on LP in 2017. Svitlana Nianio has been active in the Ukrainian and Polish underground music scenes since the early '90s both as a solo artist and a prominent member of the now disbanded avant-rock outfit Cukor Bila Smert (Sugar White Death). Her music draws on aspects of modern composition and traditional Slavic music, with songs and experiments from that early period culminating in the 1999 album Kytytsi (Koka Records, Poland). Prior to that in 1995, Nianio recorded Lisova Kolekciya (Forest Collection) live in a simple home studio setting with Olexander Yurchenko and Konstantin Nazarenko. Less indebted to folk tradition than Kytytsi, Lisova Kolekciya was performed using Casio keyboards, electronics, and voice, positioning itself more in-line with Terry Riley's Shri Camel in its otherworldly reinterpretation of the ancient through modern means. Retaining aspects of traditional music in its use of spare instrumentation and haunting vocal melodies, this largely unknown album pushes at the edges of what folk music might be, resulting in music previously described as being "deeply rooted in primeval myths, creating a world of magic realism, in which the temporal dimension and the other world constantly move and permeate." Issued here officially for the first time after an extremely limited private cassette edition handed out to friends in 1996 -- where the recording was twinned with the album Znayesh Yak? Rozkazhi (Know How? Tell Me) -- Lisova Kolekciya comes packaged in a full color offset printed sleeve featuring artwork by Svitlana Nianio. Recorded in Kiev, Ukraine, 1995. Personnel: Svitlana Nianio - Casio MT-200, voice, texts; Olexander Yurchenko - Casio CTK-200; Konstantin Nazarenko - recording engineer, sound effects. Digital master by Sean McCann, 2017. Design by Andrew Chalk and Tom James Scott. Includes download code; edition of 300.
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