Winter was really productive, so here are a couple of updates on the music news from Ukraine and abroad and some plans for the following month.
First, this February we have organized a sold-out music forum Selector PRO run by British Council Ukraine with the support of the Polish Institute in Kyiv. More than 2 dozen foreign agents and promoters from 10 countries and more than 200 guests who showed up to the open talks.
Besides that, we had 2 music evenings with The Comet is Coming (UK) supported by Atomic Simao (UA) on the first day and Ukrainian emerging talents ptakh_jung, Sheetel and The Good Stuff and The Unsleeping the second day. Read more.
Late February the biggest Ukrainian online radio Aristocrats.fm held the award A-Prize for the best Ukrainian album of 2019. Amount the juries are well-respected professionals such as Oskar Strajn (ESNS), Mattias Tell (Westside Music Sweden/Viva Sounds), Dartsya Tarkovska (Music Export Ukraine), Vlad Yaremchuk (Atlas Weekend), Tony Duckworth (PIAS Poland) etc. The award for the best album went to (surprise!) a local rap/hip-hop sensation, who is ready to bounce the whole world - alyona alyona. Congratulations to the winner!
What else?
- Some unexpected results we've got during the Eurovision national selection. The right to present Ukraine at the Eurovision final in the Netherlands got the electrofolk formation Go-A Band. The band entered national selection (vidbir) with the band’s original song “Solovey,” which means nightingale in Ukrainian. The entire song is in Ukrainian, and lead vocalist Pavlenko sings in the traditional “white voice” or “open voice” style, while the whole visual art has a clear Gothic spirit. Though the singing technique may be ancient, this song is far from it. “Solovey” features modern dance beats and powerful drumming with some fireworks effects. Good luck to the band in the Netherlands!
- Are you at Tallinn Music Week this year? We will have a selection of fresh local talents Balaklava Blues, Gentle Ropes, Kyiv Ethno Trio, YUKO, ЛУНА and a delegation of Ukrainian music professionals headed by our co-founder Dartsya Tarkovska.