Sounds of Sputnik (aka Roman Kalitkin) redefines his listeners’ expectations of Russian music by tastefully mixing post-rock, shoegaze, dream pop, and noise. With a love for The Jesus and Mary Chain, Ride, Sonic Youth, Happy Mondays, and Slowdive, these bands have exerted their influences over Kalitkin’s own compositions, forged through twenty years spent in various post-punk, alternative and shoegaze bands.
New Born is Sounds of Sputnik's debut album, loaded with reverb-soaked distorted guitars, penetrating drums, and thick bass, all underpinning the ethereal vocals of Shauna McLarnon of Ummagma, the Canadian-Ukrainian duo who also co-wrote, produced and recorded this album.
Released on UK label Ear to Ear Records, this project represents a heartfelt attempt to create something of beauty in the face of the hostility currently occurring between Ukraine and Russia.
‘New Born’ is rooted in a shared love of melodic dream pop, post-rock and shoegaze, with aspects of Lush, Curve, My Bloody Valentine and Swervedriver blended with Hammock, Cocteau Twins and The Twilight Sad to create remarkable ‘dream noise’.
The track ‘Overdrive’ features powerhouse drums by Graham Bonnar (Swervedriver, Brian Jonestown Massacre), whose signature sound rings through no less than on Swervedriver’s ‘Son of Mustang Ford’ or ‘Rave Down’. New Born also boasts several legendary guests, with remixes from Malcolm Holmes (OMD), psych rock producer Fran Ashcroft (Damon Albarn, Lords of Acid), Russian producers Morozov and Oleg Mezherovsky, and Brazil’s Mind Movies. British producer Marc Joy (Primal Scream, Oasis, Bernard Butler of Suede, Mike Peters of The Alarm, Golden Fable) provides mastering support.
Who are Ummagma?
This duo emerged on the music scene by releasing two LPs (Ummagma & Antigravity) in 2012, followed by 3 more releases on Emerald & Doreen Recordings. The band has enjoyed a full-page feature in Rolling Stone Russia, won Alternative Eurovision competitions for 2 years in a row (Amazing Radio & Pure 107.8 FM), and received 2 awards at the 2013 Australian Independent Music Video Awards. That’s not the only feather in Ummagma’s cap, as they’ve caught the attention of Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins) and Malcolm Holmes (OMD), who have both remixed tracks for release this winter.
