it’s hard to stay human between predators and parasites

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One person’s utopia is another person’s dystopia. What would Thomas More say about the world today? How would he envision a better future if he lived among us? What do you think about it all? Will life be ‘richer, easier, healthier, a space age dream come true’?

‘Make Utopia Great Again’ EP by Pavel Ambiont - released on the 15th of June 2020 by Force Carriers [FRC EP 05]

Stream / Download from Force Carriers Bandcamp

written by Pavel Niakhayeu in 2018-2020 in Minsk, Horki and Vilnius.
artwork by Pavel Niakhayeu - based on Thomas More’s portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger (1527)

track 5 from ‘Make Utopia Great Again’ EP by Pavel Ambiont
to be released on the 15th of June 2020 by Force Carriers

These days the people of Belarus are worried about our country’s destiny. On the 8th of December the Belarusian and Russian presidents are going to sign some agreement on a ‘deeper integration’ of our countries. The details are mostly unknown - they were not discussed neither with the people nor with the parliament. We only get rumours, leaks or fantasies about a supra-state Parliament and Government, a common legislation and currency etc. We are afraid that our country will lose its independence - if not immediately, in a forceful or soft annexation, then gradually. Not everyone would be happy about it. Even the Lukashenko’s sociologists claim that only 7.7% of the population wants Belarus to become a part of the Russian Federation. But anything might happen. There will be protests, that’s for sure. The Belarusians have good guerilla traditions - but no one wants a civil/hybrid war here.

And it seems that no one except the Belarusians cares or even knows about this ‘integration’ issue. It’s almost nonexistent issue on the global or European news agenda - and even many (sort of) forward thinking people in Russia know nothing about it.

Some of my friends and colleagues are trying to fill this info gap - like the Minsk Urban Platform in their article. I’ve remembered about an unpublished interview draft and thought i should share it with my foreign friends and fans.

Rory Jones, a journalist from the UK, has asked me a few questions this spring for a Calvert Journal feature about the Belarusian electronic scene. Rory was really keen about our scene so I decided to tell way more than he needed for a short article. I believe a bit of context always helps.

Below is a half of the original interview text, including the pieces that were published. I’ve omitted a couple of questions about my personal ‘music evolution’ and activities. Here are just the bits about the scene and the situation in and around Belarus in general.

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#3 is another sketch for a Force Carriers album dedicated to Jazep Drazdovič

#1 + #4 might go there too - in some form or another.

#2 is an unexpected comeback of Nieviadomy Artyst project. i haven’t been making such harder techno for a couple of years (wasn’t angry enough) - but here it is.

This mix for Radio Plato contains mostly unreleased tracks made in the recent years and is based on the live sets I’ve played this year at Euthanasia and Foundamental Network parties in Minsk.

There are flavours of various musics that have inspired me over the years – Dub, Techno, Dubstep, House, Psy-Trance, IDM – but most of all it’s utopian ‘sci-fi’ Electro. Some of the tracks will be out on my next album ‘Zorapłaŭ’, others (under Force Carriers name) were made for a project about the Belarusian artist Jazep Drazdovič and will be out later.

I’m grateful to DJ Kreep from Abjekt / Dark Side of Techno (Hrodna) for the impulse to do this mix.

Download [mp3 320].

Tracklist:

00:00 – Pavel Ambiont – By Tongues of Thousand Leaves [unreleased]
03:39 – Pavel Ambiont – untitled [unreleased]
05:32 – Pavel Ambiont – Minimal Chordate [unreleased]
08:24 – Pavel Ambiont – Home House [unreleased]
11:49 – Nieviadomy Artyst – New East Beast [unreleased]
15:16 – Pavel Ambiont – Time Stream Surfers (N/A rmx) [unreleased]
16:45 – Pavel Ambiont – Tau Ceti [unreleased]
20:31 – Pavel Ambiont – Until Stars Freeze [unreleased]
22:00 – Pavel Ambiont – Until Stars Freeze (v.0) [unreleased]
24:31 – Force Carriers – Auria [unreleased]
27:08 – Force Carriers – Time Crystals [unreleased]
29:05 – Force Carriers – Above the Abyss [unreleased]
31:50 – Nieviadomy Artyst – Knowledge Is Fire (P/A edit) [FRC EP 02]
33:21 – Pavel Ambiont – iff [unreleased]
36:24 – Nieviadomy Artyst – Aude Sapere [FRC EP 02]
41:48 – Pavel Ambiont – untitled [unreleased]
44:40 – Pavel Ambiont – 1999 AD [unreleased]

All tracks written and produced by Pavel Niakhayeu

If you like this music, consider supporting it:
https://force-carriers.bandcamp.com/

‘P.S.Soundscapes’ is the new issue of ‘Topos’ journal for Philosophy & Cultural Studies published by European Humanities University (Vilnius).

Co-edited by Benjamin Cope and me, the volume is dedicated to studies in sound, music and listening in the Post-Socialist region and includes texts in Belarusian, Russian and English by researchers and curators from the Eastern Europe:

Marcin Barski, ​Ina Hladyshava, ​Andrei Gornykh​, ​Dmitry Koshlakov, ​Aleksandr Sarna, ​Anatoly Stepanishchev​, ​Andrey Vozyanov, Maria Yashchanka, Vita Zelenska, ​an interview with curators ​ Michał Libera ​and Daniel Muzyczuk ​as well as two essays by ​Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht ​ translated into Belarusian by ​Aliaksandra Lohvinava ​and introduced by ​Tatiana Shchyttsova ​, the journal Editor-in-Chief.

PDF version can be accessed at the​ journal website — P.S. Soundscapes — Topos, No.1, 2018. The printed version is available at EHU Library and, hopefully, will be sold in the select bookstores in Minsk, Belarus.

Media-Kit: https://goo.gl/JtwbLN