Little White Earbuds: Talking Shopcast with Udacha @ MNS |  |
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Posted: 08 Dec 2013 10:01 PM PST
 For a while there, Russia was practically silent. House and techno may have been global phenomenons by the 90s, but we heard precious little about it from the planet’s ninth most-populous nation. Recently, however, that’s begun to change. Alexey Kalik, who runs Udacha with his wife Oksana, can’t explain the quiet revolution. All he knows is, “three to four years ago, we had an absolutely different situation here.” At the time, there were no labels like Arma or Ethereal Sound, and artists Anton Zap were barely known outside the country. Now, though, having achieved a “certain level of self-expression,” Russians are finally beginning to attract international attention. 29-year-old Kalik, who produces under the moniker A5, is one of a number of artists and label owners helping to lift the lid from the native scene. “It’s difficult to say about the future,” he admits, “but I’m sure we will find a lot of new names.” Udacha, which means “luck” in Russian, has showcased a good number of them already, as well as cultivating an approachable and subtly unique brand of music. Its seven 12″s have been a tour de force fusion of house, jazz and good-natured synth weirdness. Udacha 5, for instance, is bookended by two slices of sharp jazz swagger, while the middle is dominated by Kurvenschreiber, a Russian trio who record their rambling, dream-like tracks live.  Oksana & Alexey Kalik |
