Voice and Magnitofolk present
No more center.
Caucasus

From Kabardian acoustics to Abaza wedding songs —there are enthusiasts in the Caucasus who are engaged in the preservation and restoration of local song cultures. As part of the  'No more center' project, we asked them to choose the most iconic works of recent times.
Kan Dina «Вечность за нас»
The first album — Kan Dina, original folk-pop in Russian.
Yewari "Yewari"
The second album — "Yewari", traditional songs with close to traditional sound and using traditional instruments.
Hagauj "Electronic Tradition"
Hagauj – traditional songs with a completely different, more modern sound.
I picked several interesting and characteristic songs of different peoples of the Caucasus. It's important to understand that this list is not representative: there are a lot of musical traditions in the Caucasus that Ored Recordings have no notion about or have some notion, but much too vague only. And even to make a selection of all the things I like right now is unfeasible, because many key artists have not yet officially released their songs. So my playlist is already outdated. But, I guess, if we get rid of all this context and think of the list as a simple selection of good regional music, then everything seems not so difficult.
Jrpjej и Zaur Nagoyev «Тыгъужъыкъо Къызбэч иорэд»
A song off Jrpjej’s latest mini-album "After the war comes funeral". For the band and Ored Recordings, this album was an important statement and reaction to the cancellation of the procession on the Circassian Day of Mourning in Nalchik. We quickly recorded songs of the Russo-Circassian War of the 18−19 centuries, and also took something from the unreleased recordings. For instance, this song about Kizbech Tughuzhuqo, the hero of the war for the independence of Circassia, was recorded in the Dutch studio Katzwijm last year. It turned out to be an organic collaboration of two important residents of the label.
Gollu «Къарашауай»
The debut recording of the Karachay-Balkar band Gollu. At the beginning of 2023 we are going to release their first full-length album with ritual songs and tunes. Right now you can only listen to the live recording made by the "Век" channel. Karachays and Balkars are a Turkic-speaking people in the North Caucasus. It seems to us that their traditional music resembles the music of Ossetians, Circassians, Abazins and Abkhazians (and, perhaps, Svans). Sometimes these peoples even have common melodies and themes.

This is an interesting example of how musical traditions are often formed not only along ethnic or linguistic lines, but also along regional lines. Unfortunately, the traditional music of Karachays and Balkars is poorly represented in the modern cultural field. Gollu solve this problem: they use archival recordings of the last century to stay close to original in their performance. This results not in a reconstruction though, but in something of their own. I wonder how Gollu’s vision and style will change in the future.
«Къона» «Нарон Цагъд»
Къона (Kyona) is an Ossetian band that did with their native music what Gollu does with Karachay-Balkar music today. If we are to mention the hints of a folk revival in Ossetia, then in the 2000s and 2010s, Къона were the leaders of the movement. This recording with a ritual melody was published by the Frenchman Vincent Moon in 2013. The group broke up a long time ago, but some members formed other ensembles — Рагон and Уацамонга. Someday we will publish them too, but for now we suggest listening to those who started it all.
Pankisi Ensemble «You changed so much» | «მ ი ე ლ ჭ ო ღ ა ჰო ხ ი ც ა ვ ე ლ ა»
Music of the Kists — Georgian Chechens, and in this case — specifically female Chechen artists. Kists are Nakh people who moved to the Pankisi Gorge of Georgia in the 19th century. They (according to our observation) do not consider themselves a separate ethnic group, but self-identify as Chechens. Many even remember from which villages in Chechnya their family originates.

Pankisi Ensemble is an ensemble with varying members founded by Bela Mutoshvili. Presently, the main vocalist of the band is Lana Gunashashvili, who, together with her sisters, was recorded and published by the wonderful label Antonovka Records. We also  released their album with Chechen epic and religious chants.
Соня Шавтикова «Сбаба»
Another example of uncommon music for an outsider listener. Соня Шавтикова (Sonya Shavtikova) is an Abaza accordionist and singer, a keeper of the old style of playing and an artist with a prominent sound at the same time. Sonya developed her art at weddings and get-togethers. Here, these domestic rituals are the real professional environment for musicians. Shavtikova mastered the Abaza tradition in between several jobs, domestic life and raising children.

In 2020, we released two of her albums, which are valuable not only for the rarity of the material, but above all as a beautiful and refined music.
Producer: Nikolai Ovchinnikov
Interview: Ksenia Zhelezova and Elena Stupak
Experts: Radif Kashapov, Ilyas Gafarov, Oksana Boda, Maxim Pushkin, Vladislav Demin, Oleg Myagkov, Amar Abazov, Bulat Khalilov

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