Privet! Shabanoff Syndicate

It's not often that you get to hear a quality live house performance. Even rarer to find a band like Shabanoff Syndicate. who execute it so well. If you missed there performance at the Seas Club in Exit Odessa, last May check out this link to You Tube.

Shabanoff Syndicate is lead by Igor Shabanov (Composing & Keyboard) Miroslav Pyatnikov (trumpet), Sergey Kvasnevsky(bass), DJ Max Vega (grooveboxes, mixing).

Mangalia

Ever since arriving in Romania last week we've been smiling. It makes no sense as more than any other venue this little seaside town has pushed Seas artists to the brink. Here in Mangalia we weren't just trying to attract a underserved audience to new art but it has felt like we are here starting an Art scene from scratch. The new city gallery opened with Seas artist Anna-Lise's Kiss & Waste project to essentially ourselves and a handful of local faces. There are no nightclubs in Mangalia so we had to get inventive with a former shop. Upon arrival it didn't even have a pavement outside! The mayor moored his boat right outside our front door and blasted UEFA Football & dancing cheerleaders in his bid to get re-elected. We stayed in the city's finest hotel but even here my bedclothes are dirty and my body riddled with insect bites. And still we smile.
There is something so amazing about the people we meet and the stories we hear. The bar man who was forced to dump his girlfriend in the bad old days because she was English and therefore a threat to national security. Revolution square with it's massive soviet style mural. Ramus the stall holder who teaches me a new Romanian word everytime I walk by. And the music - everyone has an opinion on music. Guitars rule here. While DJ-ing I get the most diverse requests for Pendulm to Romanian ska.

Our opening night felt like a youth club as teenagers piled into the venue from the nearby park. Initially dismayed it actually turned into a blessing. Metro- Boulet- Dodo took the challenge and produced their finest performances of the tour in Night Scene. Outside 'Monday in the Sun' did the same with their agressive dance. And after the night's work was done all the artists came together in the club - to vent frustrations, to dance & to laugh. Our Seas Club even ended up in the Sea with improteau night swimming. The next night all those teenagers returned with friends - and the cheeky brats from the night before were now our most loyal audience. It wasn't just the kids who changed there behaviour we did too. We were transformed and energised by their attention.
Our Social Club was buzzing and the sunrise beers became the norm after we had packed the last of the kids off home. By Friday we had our groove down and Electric Brother from Bucharest took control of the decks. This left us to take control of the Barbie! So I smile and thank Mangalia, Dan & Alex at the White House, for transforming us from a group of touring artists into the best of friends.

Video from Odessa

Today two music videos arrived to the Seas Club inbox from Odessa.

The track 'Norway Fjords' is a result of collaboration between Twiggy Pop founder/vocalist/model/actress Masha Navrotskaya and Norwegian visual artists Anne-Lise Stenseth (previously, a collaborator w/Ukr.tele.kom movement). They've now posted it on Last FM http://www.lastfm.ru/music/twiggy+pop/+videos/6613837

Those wonderful crazy Muzyka Budet lads have posted a video from their performance at EXIT. It really captures the energy of this evening and shows off their VJ skills too. http://artkuroch.livejournal.com/20820.html

D.I.Y S.O.S.

Sinful Dragons at Comics

Varna's Sinful Dragons' were our Guest DJ at Club Seas on Saturday night. When DJ Mitach one half of the Sinful Dragon collective shared with us a cheeky techno track sampling an old Bulgarian Folk Tale we knew we had to have him play. His beats have real personality & style. It's a pretty sparse myspace page at the moment but Mitach promises there will be new music posted soon. http://www.myspace.com/sinfuldragonsproject

Sinful Dragons - Set List Comics Saturday June 7th
1. Jamimphony - Dj Mitach
2. Happy Song - Dj Mitach
3. Toshko Afrikanski - Tafrikanski
4. Control Your Body ft Mousy
5. Alle Ussamer Gand Goch
6. Alter Mews.

Diversion

On Friday I went looking for Sigma . Their performance is taking place in an unmarked building in Varna. Before long I realised I was lost and was throughly enjoying myself. I'm staying in a hotel sandwiched between a triangle of 24hour petrol stations, the Railway Station and an Industrial Port. All of this circled with ulgy developments and constant traffic. Getting lost was a delight. The backstreets are quiet and broken. Old women look down from the balconys at you. It's like a permanent Sunday. Occasionally you come along the remains of really antique walls. Walking through one high rise housing estate I saw a walkway over what looked like castle ruins. No fuss or interpretation centre to tell me what era they belonged to. And just when you wonder were where all the people have gone you come across a little cafe lined square with roses in full bloom. After a few hours I naturally arrived back on familiar territory in the city centre.

KERA (Varna's Digital Arts Festival) had visited Seas Club the previous night and let loose to TimesNewRoman (DJ Dogus) set.

On the dancefloor I met a charming Columbian, Oswaldo Machia who told me about his piece 'Diversions' a sound tower set in a derelict building. By now it was evening and almost time for the opening so I wandered down to see it. It's a tower of stacked wooden boxes each emitting a different animal noise. 100 different animals are used in the recording. Machia is passionate about the texture of languages and uses the analogy of animals in capacity to force us to think about what happens when humans lose there languages.

We then went next door to another shack of a building. Frank Kastner from Berlin was exhibiting his scultpure there. Is a cloud or a cocoon? I think the latter but its a piece that allows for your own interpretation. I had to revisit yesterday to take a picture so I could share it with you.

These are the tracks we were getting down and dirty to Thursday night at Seas Club...

1. Fanfare Ciocarlia - Pana Cand Nu Te Iubeam

2. Bratsch - Danse de l'Alcohol

3. Chambao - Los muchahos de mi barrio

4. Kardes Turkuler - Anako Isler Nanay

5. Antwerp Gipsy Ska Orchestra - Djelem djelem

6. Gipsy.cz - Romano Hiphop

7. Sanseverino - Rouge

8. Emir Kustirika & The Non-Smoking Orchestra - Pitbull Terrier

9. Shantel - Koupes/I'll smash the glasses

10. Ciguli - Lolo

Friday saw the first of our local based musicians.  mitko aka Violent Public Disorderaz  provided a  completely different sound scape to Dogus the night before, entertaining the Seas crowd  with his down tempo chill out grooves which gradually built to a thrilling creshendo as the night reached its climax.  Like Kousin, Mitko   is a music maker with many strings to his bow – he s a key figure in trip beat miks (http://www.myspace.com/tripbeatmiks) a loose collection of musicians in Varna and runs www.dustedwax.org – a web site based label.  What makes dusted wax special is its attitude - all the music is FREE to stream and download.  ‘It’s the future of music’ he tells us passionately.

Most of the music he played can be found on dusted wax so why not check it out, recreate the night itself and support this enterprising venture.  Here are just a few of the tracks he played:-

Violent Public Disorderaz – Memory

Mr Moods and LR-60 – Mirage

Mr Moods – Once Upon s Time in Westside

Violent Public Disorderaz – Perfect Chill

Shoto – G Soul

Merlume – Deeper

Violent Moods – Place for Crazy People

Violent Public Disorderaz – Brife Expressing Time (feat. Translent)

Amongst the crowd were a number of our play list panel – including DJs Nikki and Swill.  Swill left a CD of pictures from the panel whilst Nikki and Deirdre had a chat for the podcast.  You can see more of Swill’s pictures at our Flick-R site.

Once again the club had been preceded by performances by Metro Boulot Dodo and Wunderbahm (though the absence of a key white shirt with red pin stripe almost caused one of the shows to be cancelled...if you know its whereabouts please do return it to its rightful owners!). 

There’s one night to go here in Varna and already DJ Deirdre is cooking up an thrilling line up with one or two surprises so if you can make it do check it out.  It’s bound to be a fitting end to the Seas club in Varna – and with Comics due to be demolished soon  it will be one of the last ever nights in the venue.  And then its onward to Mangalia for the final dates of this leg of the extraordinary expedition which is SEAS.

(pictures to come!)