Cukor Bila Smert‘ – Recordings 1990–1993

Cukor Bila Smert‘, which pretty much translates as »Sugar – The White Death«, sounds like a German educational documentary you stumbled across on YouTube on a hungover Sunday afternoon. In reality, it’s the name of a Ukrainian band that was singer Svitlana Nianio’s first major project in the early 1990s. Together with three fellow musicians she met at the R. Glier Conservatory in Kiev, she brought an eccentric yet intimate chamber folk to the stage, which has now been reissued by the archival label Shukai.

»Recordings 1990-1993« strings together four releases and 31 songs from this period, opening a magical door into the world of Ukrainian underground music in just under 90 minutes, and also reflecting the band’s rapid development. The initiallyminimalist sounding avant-garde folk lives from Nianio’s misty, sometimes almost operatic vocals, accompanied by strings, keyboards and guitars. The sometimes harsh or unconventional use of instruments (the strings sound at times more like scratches) contrasts with the theatrical vocals and the opulent atmosphere of many of the songs, creating a very captivating listening experience. The last tracks, which are part of the album »Selo«, are an adventurous left-field pop that fans of Broadcast’s »Tender Buttons« will love.