DTF Magazine continues its series of mixes featuring both new names and already recognized heroes of the Ukrainian electronic scene. In the new episode, Kyiv-based musician, promoter and founder of ‘Polygon’ label Garik Pledov (PLEDOV) presents a selection of little-known Ukrainian electronic music, unreleased tracks and different styles. He also briefly introduces each artist whose track he has selected
In total there are 22 tracks by 11 artists in the mix. It includes techno, house, electro, garage, breakbeat, hip-hop, dubstep, trance, experimental music and deep house.
According to the musician, at first he wanted to ‘collect slow ‘podcast’ electro, mixing it with tracks by Ukrainian producers’, but after leaving a message that he was looking for artists for the mix, he received about 100 tracks. The final version was a selection of exclusively Ukrainian music.
‘With this mix we wanted to show not only the versatility of Ukrainian electronic music, but also the versatility of musicians, to reveal the artists as much as possible. That’s why most of them are repeated, and the collected tracks are mostly unreleased releases, demos, fresh material or music that remained in the shadows’, Garik Pledov says. The final mastering of the mix was done by Slimjuh.
PLEDOV about the artists whose tracks he chose for the mix
‘I wanted to start the podcast with something ‘non-electronic’, hip-hop, a little jazzy and funky. Jeremy is a very accomplished musician and DJ. I love his approach to writing. All instrumental parts are personally written by him, and played either by the author or other musicians. The scratching in the tracks is also done by him. These are not classic samples, as I thought during the first listen, but full-fledged author’s material’.
‘A young and promising producer who is about to present an unusual release on musician Alex Savage’s label called ‘Progressive Future’. None of the tracks used have ever been released before. They are very different, but all have a unique and unusual style and selection of sounds’.
‘Igor is probably one of the most versatile and powerful producers in Ukraine. His recent debut DNB release under the pseudonym Geyera is a very deep adult work that I would advise everyone to listen to, whether you like DNB or not. For the mix I used his work from his ‘Bien-aimé’ release and some unreleased tracks’.
‘I’ve been following his work since the time of the existence of Kyiv’s River Port club. I’ve always been mesmerized by his deep sound and variety of moods, even within one track. Mark is a very cool DJ, and his recent recording from his performance at K41 is 100% worth checking out’.
‘He is an artist with a very wide genre and performative spectrum, with high professionalism. Zhora is not only a producer, but also a singer, DJ and live performer. His performance at last year’s ‘Brudnyi Pes’ festival, where he played his tracks using fruit, is very impressive. Unfortunately, there is no recording left, but I highly recommend checking out his work and the work of his label ‘Never Be Normal’. His released works are in the mix — it’s mostly a contrast of low timbres and euphoric and atmospheric tones. It’s very groovy music’.
‘Project of Yaroslav Maiak, a member of the electronic pop band TONKA. Under this pseudonym the musician reveals himself with a minimalistic and purely electronic side. For the mix I took his unreleased track ‘Ljutic’. It is a slow and deep work, which attracted my attention with its unusual form’.
‘I’m surprised I hadn’t heard anything about this producer and DJ until now. The atmospheric trance sound of the track ‘Neogen’ from the new EP is mesmerizing’.
‘Andrey sent me about 10 tracks, and if I had the opportunity, I would dedicate a whole mix to him. The artist specializes mainly in techno, but you can find interesting ‘broken’ works in his repertoire. Andrey also hosts his own music podcast and has more than 30 tracks, some of which were released on well-known European labels’.
‘This is an unrecognized (so far) musical genius of our time. Misha is actively collaborating with RUSIIICK on their debut album ‘REACTOR’. It combines modern electro, old-school breakbeat (big beat) sound and punk. He also writes in the genres of DNB, hip-hop, minimal, participated in the creation of jingles for the festival ‘Dirty Dog’ and collaborates with the pop scene, where he mixes and masters materials, plays electric guitar. The podcast includes his remix of the track ‘Zhraya’, released as part of the August compilation ‘Kyiv Military’’.
‘Unfortunately, I don’t know much about this artist except that he is from Odesa and has great skills in writing music. The musician plays live shows and has a lot of cool releases’.
‘I think a lot of people have heard of Sasha. She’s an activist, adept at electro, a great DJ and producer. She is a regular guest of ‘Polygon’ label. Both works selected for the mix have not been released yet, but are about to be presented on one famous label, the name of which Sasha asked to keep secret’.
Tracklist:
- Jeremy Star — What i Wanna Say [Own Art LP]
- 2. Jeremy Star — Now Is Time [Own Art LP]
- 3. Jeremy Star — From Da Hood [Own Art LP]
- 4. Jeremy Star — Send mind In Motion [unreleased]
- 5. Mootney — NEST [unreleased]
- Peshka — Averuna [Neo Violence VA]
- Bunht — Ljutik [unreleased]
- Shjva — Neogen
- victor.b — did [MK-1 LP]
- SVZZ — untitled [unreleased]
- SVZZ — Weird (Bonus)
- Archer Hubart & JorDee — Feel
- Peshka — Your Behind [unreleased]
- SVZZ — untitled [unreleased]
- Mootney — Liquid Ruby [unreleased]
- victor.b — suit [MK-1 LP]
- Peshka — Blow Your Mind [unreleased]
- Andrey Sirotkin — Imperfection Is Beautiful [single]
- victor.b — nocturnal overtune [Shadowbound Odyssey EP]
- SVZZ — BYSS [Bien-aimé EP]
- Poly Chain — untitled [unreleased]
- Paat., RUSIIICK — «Зграя» (Sub.Stance remix)
- Poly Chain — untitled [unreleased]
Listen to other mixes from the DTF Magazine Mix series on our SoundCloud.
More about PLEDOV
Garik Pledov comes from the community that emerged on the basis of Keller club. Together with Daria Kolosova and Eugene Berchy he was a part of ‘Materia’ promo group, where he was in charge of booking and hospitality. Subsequently, when Kolosova’s DJ career intensified and Garik became cramped within the promo group, they held a farewell party in September 2021 and discontinued the formation.
A month before the full-scale war started, Garik started a series of ‘Polygon’ parties: together with a DJ and close friend of the formation Mell G (Germany) he went on a mini-tour of Ukrainian cities. With the beginning of the war Garik started to produce bulletproof vests and do volunteer work, and then became one of the most active figures in the music scene. Now Garik organizes festivals ‘The Art is the Weapon!’ and ‘Brudnyi Pes’ in Kyiv and beyond, supervises ‘Polygon’ label, which appeared on the basis of ‘Polygon’ promo group, and actively promotes Ukrainian content abroad.
Earlier mixes for us were recorded by electronic musicians Koloah, Maryana Klochko, TUCHA, Recid, Luci, Tofudj, AXT, YUVI, EAZY and ONSHAIVAN.
