Various Artists. "Different Listening 2" FSST019 downtempo 16 tracks Total time: 73:22

This is the second release in the "Different Listening" series. The first compilation was released in 2003.

"Different Listening 2" is a compilation of light electronic music created in former Soviet territory. Unlike similar compilations, Different Listening 2 is easy to understand (it fits perfectly at coffee shops and home parties) and doesn't have all that "restaurant lounge" and "easy listening" sugariness. The album consists of interesting tracks that have a fair amount of experiment. Thus, one can enjoy not only pleasing melodies in the background but also listen to tracks attentively without risk of getting bored or disappointed. "Glamour meets Intelligence!" — that's how we call the result of the composition of your musical menu.

It should also be mentioned that all tracks presented on this compilation have never been released before.

Participants info:

Zimmer-G (Obninsk). Zimmer G's mucic is like a mysterious bedroom filled with tender melodies, soft taps and remote voices. This solo project of this DJ and musician Ivan Voltanov from Obninsk has attracted attention of the label 56 Stuff as well as many other record labels.

8bit (Novosibirsk). 8bit performed at the prestigious "ClubTransMediale" festival in Berlin that annually gathers the most innovative electronic musicians from all over the world. Their track was released on the festival compilation.

Few (St. Petersburg). Few was one of "56 Stuff's" first residents. He paradoxically combines a passion for Electro Jazz with a career as a drummer in a heavy metal band.

Shtukk (St. Petersburg). St. Petersburg-based musician promoter and designer Denis Shtukk presents an astonishing track "Joop Piedo". "Joop" means "Journal of Object-Oriented Programming, "Piedo" means step in Esperanto. The track was written while Denis was waiting for a train, which inspired him to pass the drum line through a multi-tap delay in order to make it sound like an oncoming train.

Yadi (Rostow). Yadi is the name of Elchin Akperov's project which is distinguished by retro-soviet lightness and memorable melodies,. The track presented on "Different Listening", Cosma Nova, will also be released on his solo album.

Mnemonic (Nizhniy Novgorod). Programmer, coder and web-designer Grigory Zemskov is Mnemonic's leader. He describes the dominating style of Mnemonic as "acid jazz / funk".

Moonscape (St. Petersburg / New York). Daniil Alexandrov, who constantly moves around the Earth, describes his music as: "Electronic easy listening with wacky sounds. Space in loops. Techno-drum'n'bass IDM breakbeat". This vague and ironic statement conceals nice and interesting downtempo.

Cemtex (St. Petersburg). Cemtex is a drastic explosive that was produced in Czechoslovakia till 1975 and was used by IRA in terrorist attacks. The author of this project, Stepan Nikulin has been composing electronic music since 1997. In the very beginning he liked to make fast and energetic music such as techno and electro. Since then the tempo decreased down to 70-90 BPM and now Cemtex' music sounds more like abstract hip-hop and downtempo.

YaD (St. Petersburg). YaD is the talented and popular group from St. Petersburg that pleases everyone who is lucky enough to hear it. The group collaborated with Sony Music and released their debut album on the legendary label, "Exotica", in 2003.

Jazzy Puzzles (St. Petersburg). Jazzy Puzzles is a well-kown St. Petersburg-based DJ. As a composer he performs under the name Scotch. He regularly releases tracks on domestic and foreign compilations.

Mombus (Murmansk). Mombus is Sergey Bakanev's project, whose albums were released on "Exotica" and "Cheburec". His tracks have appeared on countless compilations including "Different Listening 1".

COPY (Archangelsk). COPY are: Andrey Sadkov on bass-guitar, Ilya Panteleev on keyboard, guitarist and electronic percussionist Alexander Flerov. They are sometimes joined by vocalist Denis Kozlov. The band's trademark is "trip-beat" - a combination of trip-hop ad big-beat.

Tapecut & Nemaier (Tallinn). Tapecut and Nemaier are active figures in the electronic scene in Estonia and authors of the only Russian-language radio program in the country about electronic music.

Yellowhead (St. Petersburg). Yellowhead is an adherent to experimental downtempo and intellectual big beat, and a participant in many compilations and festivals; His work has been praised by Porky, head of Pork Records (England), one of the most respected downtempo labels in the world.

Dima Vihornov (Moscow). Dima Vihornov used to play in art-rock bands, in the jazz-rock band "Pogonshiki Ulitok" and in the band "Pork Roll". His music is bright, beautiful and positive.

Randomajestiq (Gomel). Randomajestiq is one of the best electronic composers in Belarus.. His track, "Stuck 2 Me", features Saskia, a singer from Barcelona. She was so impressed by Randomajestiq's composition that she wrote lyrics to sing on it.

Track-list

1) Zimmer-G - Caravan
2) 8bit - Haywadana (D1 nu-stily rmx)
3) Few - Braking Engine
4) Shtukk - Joop Piedo
5) Yadi - Cosma Nova
6) Mnemonic - Out of the Gravity
7) Moonscape - I Icer
8) Cemtex - Black Old Volga
9) YaD - VIP Cola
10) Jazzy Puzzles - Naked Melody
11) Mombus - Brisk
12) COPY - Mental Control
13) Tapecut & Nemaier - Play My Rhodes (I feel blue)
14) Yellowhead - Humanoid Basketball
15) Dima Vikhornov - God
16) Randomajestiq + Psy-Sci + Saskia - Stuck 2 Me