War in Ukraine hasn’t stopped artists from creating and donating music to raise money – in fact, their efforts are even being intensified due to Russia’s invasion.
Explore everything from Ganna Bryzhata’s delicate acoustic piano music to John Object’s sampledelic miniatures and glitch-ridden techno in this underground scene.
1. Ganna Bryzhata
Ganna Bryzhata, an electronic musician hailing from southern Ukraine whose name means “dune field”, has always used music as a way of reconciling her personal and political lives. Over the past 14 years she has used her musical talent to promote Ukraine’s independent scene as part of Kyiv drum & bass collective Vera Logdanidi as well as hosting Rhythm Buro promo groups, launching Kashtan label and organizing many parties across Kyiv.
Now she’s taking an even more personal project: making music as therapy and resistance in Ukraine’s civil war. Recently she published a compilation for aid and relief efforts that spans a broad spectrum of experimental electronic music across Ukraine.
Ganna Bryzhata (Bryozone), one half of Odessa dub-surf instrumental trio Chillera with co-conspirator Polina Matskevich, begins the record with her atmospheric, surreal melodic experiments. As one half of Chillera with Polina Matskevich and their sound is haunting and otherworldly, creating strange atmospheric dubscapes seemingly conjured from thin air. Eye of Delirious marks her debut release with Muscut. On her debut Muscut release Eye of Delirious she explores visions that shift and shimmer as part of confident rhythmic patterns to anchor everything back down and keep going forward.
Once again, the record shifts gears with an infectiously dubbed-out techno track from Kiev producer Victor Konstantinov (Polje). His music serves as an expressive outlet for his turbulent life experiences; its hectic lyrics spewing forth against cold instrumentals give the songs a feeling of coldly detached alienation.
Heinali of Odessa is another highlight, offering an unforgettable musical journey combining baroque counterpoint and ambient soundscaping into one mesmerizing track: Smspce. Her melancholy pulse opens this compilation record before building into an immersive meditative drone. In addition to these sonic excursions, this record also features soothing dance floor tracks by Ukrainian artist Native Instrument and St Petersburg producer Fadeev, better known by his pseudonym AEM Rhythm Cascade; all creating an intriguing musical picture that offers insight into one musical landscape in flux.
2. Heinali
One year ago this Friday, Russia invaded Ukraine, sparking an ongoing conflict that has only intensified since. Yet amid all this violence and bloodshed, Ukrainian artists such as Heinali have continued creating and releasing music; his latest album ‘Kyiv Eternal’ pays homage to Kyiv.
Heinali, real name Oleh Shpudeiko, is an award-winning composer and electronic musician known for blending medieval polyphony with modular synthesizer sounds. He’s created soundtracks for video games and films as well as sound art installations and live shows; previous albums from him included 2020’s Madrigals featuring medieval-esque harmonies coupled with “human free improvisation” on antique acoustic instruments that earned international acclaim.
Heinali’s latest release, Kyiv Eternal, doesn’t simply aim to capture the soundscape of Ukraine’s capital city; rather it stands as an affirmation of national endurance and resilience.
The album begins with prerecorded noises of train announcements – an audial reminder that even amid Russian bombing, life still goes on; trains still run, people still travel and residents continue their daily lives – an LP that both comforts and heartens its listener.
Heinali’s compositions provide much-needed rays of hope in a time of despair, not only reflecting past triumphs but also providing hope for what is yet to come. Botanichnyi Sad, set in a botanical garden, serves as an excellent example – here, an adorable bird can be heard chirping happily amid machinery and electric wires; adding much-needed joy into this dark time.
Heinali’s latest project follows on the heels of a widespread show of solidarity within the rave scene, where many Ukrainian DJs from inside and outside of Ukraine released fundraiser tracks and hosted events to support those affected by war. For more information about how you can assist, resources available or messages of solidarity please visit Musicians Defend Ukraine website.
3. Diana Azzuz
As Ukraine’s civil war intensified, many producers and DJs who could not leave chose instead to support their fellow citizens through fundraising albums and events using music as an aid source – helping people access shelter, food, water, medicine. Furthermore, their focus shifted toward uniting communities through dance music’s joy as a source of peacebuilding based on freedom and solidarity – something rave culture celebrates as its values.
As a result, war’s effects have generated an artistic movement with far-reaching implications that has given birth to some of Ukraine’s most cutting-edge experimental electronic musicians, like Nisantashi Primary School with their unique house grooves or Gamardah Fungus with their dystopian field-recording collages – representing Ukraine’s outer limits of electronic sounds.
Victor Konstantinov (Polje) of Kyiv is another artist navigating Ukraine’s vibrant avant-garde scene. His 2021 album Millennium Sun draws upon sci-fi films to imagine a future world where “science and technology coexist with dictatorship, world hunger coexists with space travel”. Millennium Sun offers an unsettling listen full of cosmic synths, thunderous breakbeats, and fragmented glitch rhythms – an ominous combination that should not be taken lightly.
Diana Azzuz is not only a performer; she’s an active promoter and lecturer as well. Her academic research explores the intersection between art and science as well as intergenerational communication and storytelling – topics she also touches upon with her debut EP for Standard Deviation called Anastrophe. Anastrophe seeks to challenge perceptions of sound by subverting our expectations and preconceptions.
Ukrainian producers are using music to unite communities and spark discussions on the conflict in their home country. Collective Repair Together brings Ukrainians and diaspora together via dance music to celebrate together while building an alternative culture against corruption and turmoil – something any scene in crisis should look to implement.
4. John Object
Ukraine producers continue their journey even in times of war. Igor Yalivec from Dnipro is behind Gamardah Fungus, an ethereal dream-pop band. This year on ShShchTs – an imprint dedicated to “the utopian world and its utopic vision”, Yalivec released his debut solo album that draws upon rural life and Carpathian forests as its backdrop, featuring delicate points with minimal forms.
Listening to ambient-techno single ‘Mriia’ is mesmerizing, paying tribute to a legendary Ukrainian transport plane which was originally intended to carry the space shuttle, saw years of service delivering humanitarian supplies around the globe, only for it to be destroyed by Russian bombing during this current conflict. Proceeds from this shimmering yet atmospheric ambient-techno track go towards Kyiv civil defense efforts.
Sasha Very is another young producer showcasing Ukraine’s experimental electronic music scene, employing digital sound synthesis to craft unusual collages of sounds using digital sound synthesis. Based out of Kiev and playing guitar for post-rock band Snaichatt Trio as well as having punk, no-wave and fusion influences, he credits SOPHIE and Oneohtrix Point Never among his influences as inspirations. Unfortunately not much can be found online about him or his musical process, however even early productions suggest this discerning sensibility: gently cycling loops of melancholy “Draft” suggests this potential with other artists like Oneohtrix Point Never also showing this potential.
Katarina Gryvul of Kiev works methodologically between classical music and modern club sounds to create her second album Tysha (‘silence’). Tysha explores this duality to produce a complex world of deconstruction, aural fractals and fractured melodies.
Muscut Records has created the 4UA compilation to cover Ukraine’s electronic music from outer limits. Created by Dima Nikolaienko, Muscut is now an important platform for Odessa artists like Chillera and Mlin Patz to release music through. Comprised of 17 tracks ranging from glitch electronica and distorted pensive ambient to old school jungle and 4/4 techno, 4UA provides an extraordinary deep dive into Ukraine’s electro underground.