em guide sonic adventures in search of the source – an interview with arma agharta
Armantas Gečiauskas, aka Arma Agharta, can now be regarded as a person without whom the Lithuanian experimental scene wouldn’t be as rich as it is. Arma carved his own small, crazy, unpredictable and always-exciting universe with his array of activities, which include performing, label curation, event organising and frequent globe-trotting tours spanning across all continents. Paulius Ilevičius met Gečiauskas for an interview.
em guide subcultures vs. sculptures: a quick glimpse into skopje’s local music scene
Amidst the folding maps of history, there are certain cities that, when mentioned, we may find ourselves thinking of endless processes of destruction and renewal. Such is the case with Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. And no, I am not talking only about the fake neo-classicism facades and monuments that had become the dominant landscape of the city in the past decade. I am also talking about plagues, floods, earthquakes, and the solidarity that rebuilt the city after each of these catastrophes. I believe that any art scene that has emerged from such circumstances, must inevitably be built on the same principles – constant rebirth based on free will and mutualism. Coming from, and being a part of Skopje’s music scene for the past 15 years, I will try and give a quick glimpse into its history and the emergence of its present day streams.
em guide the tulnic culture of the romanian apuseni mountains
This article aims to analyse a woodwind instrument found only in the Apuseni Mountains, called tulnic, and the social relations it engages in. A cultural particularity related to this instrument is that, predominantly in the Apuseni region, only women play the tulnic. Another particularity is related to its materiality: its length, thickness, weight, type of wood, the various manufacturing processes it undergoes, the way and space in which it is stored (temperature, humidity, exposure to sunlight), the frequency with which it is used – all these elements constitute an index of the instrument's uniqueness regarding its sound capabilities and ways of usage.
em guide taking matters into our own hands and offering an alternative
The Oramics initiative sheds light on Polish female, queer and non-binary artists and collectives. One of them is DEKONSTRUKT, the first non-binary and trans-femme collective between Warsaw and Tri-City. Mac aka DiV4 is part of the collective. In an interview with Zosia Hołubowska, DiV4 talks about how they got into DJing and what changes they would like to see in the (international) club culture scene.
em guide re-enchanted kingdoms
Folk music is strongly influenced by the region in which it originates: by its nature, its traditions, its craftsmanship. What does Slovakian folk music sound like today, and what perspectives on our globalized world does it offer? Author Michael Papcun presents four contemporary approaches ranging from experimental electronics to drone and metal. It becomes clear that Slovakian folk music is more of a concept than a sound.
