Oleksandr Demianenko - In Memory Of... CS

heavyweight recycled paper j-cards
copper foil stamped artwork
recycled plastic cassette shells + cases
duplicated at a carbon-neutral facility

Though recorded before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022, Oleksandr Demianenko’s 𝐼𝑛 𝑀𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑂𝑓... cassette very much serves as a meditation on the importance of preserving art, culture and roots at a time when war threatens to erase all of them. Dedicated to the memory of the late Olga Fedoseevna Sergeeva (1922-2002), a folk artist whose voice is featured in legendary director Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1983 film 𝑁𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑔ℎ𝑖𝑎, Demianenko immerses tape-looped snippets of Sergeeva’s singing - culled from field recordings made in her village - in layers of synthesizers and pedals. The result is an invocational auditory experience that, bridging the worlds of traditional folk music and modern ambient, coaxes Sergeeva’s spirit out of the past and into our tumultuous present. The fact that Demianenko used first-takes exclusively only intensifies the living presence already embedded in this striking music.

At the same time, 𝐼𝑛 𝑀𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑂𝑓... contains deeply personal dimensions for Demianenko. “As a child, I spent a lot of time in my homeland. I often heard the folk singing of my grandmother and her friends,” he says. “To me, [this music] is also a fond memory of my childhood and adolescence in my native village in the forests of Ukraine.” So while the pieces certainly exude the aforementioned somberness, they’re also gently pastoral and heartening reminders of a homeland and Demianenko’s love for Ukraine.

Label: Enmossed \ Psychic Liberation