Gost Zvuk 10 YEARS Compilation [boxset]

Ten years of anything in the music world is an achievement, especially with the surfeit of choice and fatiguing overload of our digital attention spans. Blink and you’ll miss it announcements swallowed up by the algorithm, incessant PR mail-outs and Bandcamp/Soundcloud feed uploads all struggling to compete. Labels like GOST ZVUK show the merit in quietly doing your thing. For the last decade they have been working with an ever-expanding group of core producers and, importantly, friends to showcase a modern world of collaborators informed by the roots of styles as diverse as hip-hop, ambient, nostalgic library sounds and classic dance music.

What they present in celebration of this landmark is a 4xLP compilation which unfolds across a thrillingly disorientating, attentive and sonically psychedelic 120 minutes. The variety of the collection draws from far and wide, from the decaying choral vocals and cinematic string timbres of Batsqueak’s ‘fm2shelter’ to the kosmiche droning synthesisers of Moscow duo S A D or Hoavi’s frantic, scattered poly-rhythms. Refined, complex sound design awash with field recordings and the storytelling of Sasha Hilko on Ilya Vlasenko’s impressive ‘untitled’ contrasts with playful rhythm-box R&B loops courtesy of DX20V. Lengthy jazz-funk stylings from Piramyds of Ural flow into phaser-heavy cosmic space rock from Atal, loose, sun-kissed dub experiments brush shoulders with Mills-esque ambient techno loops. Label regulars such as Oleg Buyanov (OL), Nocow and Lapti appear amongst a vast array of newcomers from the Russian underground, all finding their place in the compilation.

The sequencing work of label owners Ildar Zaynetdinov and Flaty threads a narrative for each vinyl side, carefully chosen with the medium in mind. Transitions between the likes of Stas Karpenkov’s ‘WORLD’ and ‘Material Fatigue’ by Gamayun or the timbre and mood shared on Ясень’s ‘Уходишь Ты’ and Kedr Livanskiy’s ‘Trees in the Shadow’, the latter a spectral pop ballad drowned in reverb, show the attention to detail and care put into the project. You could land at any point in the collection and draw parallels, though, regardless of order.

There is an overarching identity now running through the label's evolution, from the house and techno beginnings to the more abstract forms of later LP releases and now all tied together with this celebration of a decade in the game. In a way, genre and form are disregarded for a sense of collective feeling. 

Full Tracklist:

A1    Flakes    Intro
A2    Vtgnike    If U Forget Me
A3    ffyyoo    sdg
A4    Ivan Yerofeev    Hite
B1    Latif    ffff
B2    OL    2024-02-23 M
B3    Batsqueak    fm2shelter
B4    Fama87 feat. moevse    Iva
C1    Valentin Fufaev    Fog in November
C2    Flaty    Pastoral 4r
C3    Kuzma Palkin    Hectus
C4    Shinegrooves    Pozitronika
D1    Stas Karpenkov    WORLD
D2    Gamayun    Material Fatigue
D3    Qulur Tadel    Empty Body
D4    Piper Spray & Lena Tsibizova    Hide
D5    O    AA B3 P10
E1    Nocow    Polovodye
E2    Ewer    Breathing
E3    Ясень    ??????? ??
E4    Kedr Livanskiy    Trees in the Shadow
F1    Piramyds of Ural    ????????????????
F2    Муся Кроткова и Марк Есин    05
F3    Atal    Take 39
G1    Bamma Gamma & Spurv    Bamma Gamma & Spurv (unknownloops edit)
G2    S A D    Saved Pals
G3    Ilya Vlasenko feat. Sasha Hilko    untitled
G4    Lapti    Noway
G5    Hoavi    Predicate
H1    raremotherfucker    express
H2    DJ Designer    Mnogo Del
H3    DX20V    B ???????
H4    Roma Zuckerman    Forgive All