Genre: New Wave / Synth Pop

Tracklist:

01 margin of error
02 definitely d
03 me and you (ja y ty)
04 homesickness (toska po rodyne)
05 lezvazo
06 you sicken me bad (mne plokho s toboy)
07 t.t.s. (e.n.p.)
08 cheeky pooky blues (chyky puky bljuz)
09 vector of power (kraftvektor)
10 aviator (avyator)
11 the vox (lunnyy korabl‘)
12 another silence (makarov)
13 denizen of heaven (holos)
14 machine world (insha tysha)
15 rigor mortis (nebesnyy zhytel‘)
16 soft option (myr mashyn)
17 smile (rigor mortis)
18 bestsel‘no y nezhno
19 smayl


Ivan Samshit is a band from Ukraine playing weird new wave, in the way only Ruskys can do. Their cocktail contains some variants though, basically consisting in some additional electro weirdness full of mechanical undertones and some synth pop melancholia. “Essential shit” reunites a collection of songs dating back from 1989 to 2007. The story behind the recovering of the original tapes is quite an adventure though as they were taken from old cassettes and had to be “purified” in the light of new technologies. Ivan Samshit got kind of a reputation in Russia, releasing several albums and making a legend of their act back in their country. This is without a doubt their legacy and an historic motif that gives us a glimpse of the quality and charm this band had and how actual it may sound even today. The cd comes in digipack and contains more than one hour of music, the aspects of creation and evolution from a band that deserved not so insular recognition.

What would have had happen if a band such like this could had more diffusion and broadcasting? The 80’ may be dead and gone, new wave could be decadent by now, but some old acts never lose this particular feeling. “Essential shite” reunites all the tunes that can trigger immediate flashbacks to the past. Nostalgic synth based new wave that could have made many hits in the east and masses following them blindly wherever they may go. For example song: “Definitively d” is awesome! Flamboyantly romantic electronic pop, so catchy and sensible. A song that easily stays in your mind for days with the basic rhythmic synth lines and even simpler chorus. You can sense the more kraftwerkian parts too or the evident synth pop influence that permeates the work without mentioning the robotic cold electro weirdness that gives this more aggressive and desperate tonality to the repertoire, perhaps you may be eventually be perfectly aware you’re listening to “old” music but quite not differentiating a particular band influence over these authors and that is basically because Ivan samshit is an expression of an epoch but marked by a singular cultural context and political environment. This marks the departure from typical comparisons in terms of influence while giving the advantage of originality and recourse to the band. Each tune is romantic, gracious, melancholic, cold (or in the case of the most modern ones dating from recent years, 1989 and on) desperate. But all have this special flavour of historic influence, of legendary legacy for a genre, for an epoch. This is music to remember, doesn’t matter if some of the lyrics are in russian, as they speak a common language that resides in time experience and in the heart feel.

It’s really incredible how interesting and inspiring are the bands coming from the east whether they are new or old, they all show this extreme cleverness and original attitude in all what they do, this kind of distinctive character present in most of them. Ivan shamshit is a sample of this creation. Not counting with all the resources or instruments or support they are able to create something well made and quite unique, representing the unlimited boundaries of musical genres and human feelings.