Who better than Dmytro Fedorenko to set up I Shall Sing My Land Is Free – a record label and support system dedicating to protesting the Ukraine invasion and raising funds in support of this cause, all insignia and promotional materials printed in the correct blue and yellow hues. As you all remember Fedorenko (also called Kotra) ran his Kvitnu record label in the Ukraine his home country for a long time before moving to Berlin where he now operates the Prostir label.
I think we’ve had one other I Shall Sing release called Askanian Virgin, awaiting review, but for now here is Hypogonadism (SONG 05) cassette credited to Ujif_Notfound. This Kiev entity is shrouded in anonymity and mystery and may be one person or an entire collective, considering they wish to be known as a “media project” meaning perhaps they embrace film as well as music. Their mission statement is “the creation of multimedia systems based on algorithms of the kinetic relationship between man and program.” It’s something to do with playing back audio and visual streams in the performance space…in real time…manipulating patches and trying to build something interactive. The art installation Rect_Struct, I suppose, is but one of their statements that comes closest to building that “interactive system of kinetic connection between man and the software environment” they’re striving for. Given context of the label, there may also be a critical dimension to Hypogonadism, with its rather ambiguous yet slightly threatening short text which accompanies the release… “stay safe at home”, it begins, almost like an admonition to the reader, before declaring “live a long happy life with Hypogonadism national leader”. This stands on the cusp of turning into a trenchant political barb aimed perhaps at the invaders of the Ukraine.
At first glance I mistook the term Hypogonadism to refer to a terrible complaisance or inertia on the part of cowed populace – much like the This Heat song that features the barking voice “sleep, sleep, sleep, go to sleep” in the context of a failing society or an alarming nuclear holocaust exploding around one’s ears…but in fact Hypogonadism is a sexual disorder which affects the male testes, so perhaps I’m on the wrong track. At any rate I would hope Ujif_Notfound’s art installations and other media statements carry more weight than this one; musically it’s a real underachiever, offering very plain dark beats and dark drones with no clear idea of what they mean or where they’re going, and although there’s a constant undercurrent of vague menace, it’s still a rather pale imitation of the genre which Kotra / Fedorenko has made into his own real art form with his aggressive, shard-like rhythms and harsh tones. Likewise the underlying message of this tape is not really very clearly expressed or forcefully stated, much less felt emotionally; on all points, automatic fail as political polemic. (10/11/2022)