A mirror? 
no... not a mirror. 
just cuts, making sure there are things yet to find, not only to have. 

A constellation of Music and experiments that have been created from 2019-2023 Alexander Bruderer.

CUTS

Faces, Phases, Phrases, Friction and Finesse

Ulyap is a village in the Caucasus, where one can find an enormous number of accordion and harmonica players. “Ulyap Songs:  Beyond Circassian Tradition” represents an attempt to document ancient bards‘ chants and their entanglement with popular rural heritage as well as Soviet culture during modern times, through a critical prism. Interacting with a rich book on the subject, this issue reflects on a music phenomenon involving talented female and male musicians, performing in lively (and sometimes festive) social dynamics. It does so by revealing important songs of the repertoire on the one hand, inviting original artists to experiment with Ulyap songs on the other.

In 2021, Flee Project met with Nalchik-based music journalist Bulat Khalilov. The music enthusiast kept on speaking about a fascinating vernacular musical genre from the North Caucasus, involving a lot of heavy drinking and which had absorbed urban elements of petit-criminal as well as Gulag-returnees’ chanson. A few months after this encounter, the FLEE collective traveled across the Caucasus to interview and record local toughies, wedding musicians, bards and researchers to make sense of this peculiar folklore. The expedition culminated in the visit of Ulyap, a tiny village home to many virtuoso accordion players that gave its name to this festive music tradition. Three years later, forced to readapt the project to the many issues and challenges that the war in Ukraine has brought up, the art collective finally publishes a book, including essays, artworks, and unpublished pictures depicting the colors of life in this forgotten (post)soviet underworld. The book encompasses the contributions of: Lina Tsrimova, Bulat Khalilov, Madina Pashtova, Milana Khalilova, Nikita Rasskazov, Almagul Menlibayeva, Akhmat Bikanov, Olivier Duport, Alan Marzo.

Musically, the double LP conists of rare and unpublished archives as well as recordings made by FLEE, Ored recordings and Nikita Rasskazov over the last years in various locations of the Caucasus. These original celebration and drinking songs performed by group of professional and amateur musicians alike have been used as a creative fabric by sonic sound artists and musicians: Zongamin, Misha Sultan, Emmanuelle Parrenin & Colin Johnco, Simone Aubert, Valentina Goncharova, Minami Deutsch, G.A.M.S. & Vatannar, Jrpjej & Ben Wheeler.

The transmedia object comprehends of an LP and book in an innovative packaging made out of traditionnal wool. FLEE 005 will be officially released January the 19th of 2024, with launches around the world and followed by a traveling exhibition.

Order: https://fleeproject.com/order/005
@fleeproject

PREMIERE: Zongamin — My Darling (FLEE, 2024)

@fleeproject
https://flee.bandcamp.com/album/ulyap-songs-beyond-circassian-tradition

Siii Babe

100% selfmade.
Live recorded by non professionals.
Don't take it serious!

Faces, Phases, Phrases, Friction and Finesse

Alexander Amin Bruderer

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