By Columnist Lynn, Rock At Night The Netherlands
Part One of a Series on Electronic Resistance
‘Electronic Resistance’
Support the Ukrainian underground
The online platform Side-Line Magazine launched ‘Electronic Resistance’, an online compilation of Ukrainian underground music, to support the musicians during the Russian invasion. Part 1 describes ‘Electronic Resistance’, part 2 is an interview with the band Sexual Purity, living at Dnipro, Ukraine.
Russian attack
On February 24, 2022, the Russian army invaded Ukraine. The invasion was not a surprise, but the world didn’t expect it would happen so fast. It’s not the first time Russia has invaded Ukraine. They tried to annex the country in 2014.
Now, about two months later, the Ukrainians are still trying to expel the Russian oppressor and the situation is still very dangerous in Ukraine. Many cities are heavily damaged. The Russian army are shelling hospitals, schools, and other buildings in the public domain too, where refugees sheltered, with a lot of civilian victims as a result.
Electronic Resistance
Shortly after the Russian invasion the online underground platform Side-Line Magazine, based in Brussels, Belgium, started an action to support the Ukrainian underground musicians. In short, Side-Line Magazine gathers donations on their Bandcamp by releasing an online compilation of tracks of Ukrainian underground artists. The album title is ‘Electronic Resistance’. People can listen, donate, and share, buying a t-shirt and a photobook. The monies of ‘Electronic Resistance’ will go to the musicians involved and/or a humanitarian project of the musicians choice.
Open call
Side-Line Magazine posted a call on social media and in no time 55 bands reacted. On March 28th Side-Line Magazine released the album ‘Electronic Resistance’. The compilation gives insight into the dark scene of the country and features post-punk, industrial, darkwave, dark folk, dark rock, noise and dark ambient music from all parts of the Ukraine, including Odesa, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Mariupol, and many other cities. Meanwhile many of these cities are being attacked by the Russian army.
It’s not only music, but Side-Line Magazine also sells an ‘Electronic Resistance’ t-shirt, and a photobook with the involved artists. You can find it at sidelinemag.bandcamp.com.
Chief editor Bernard van Isacker, coordinator of the project, has done a monster job with his team. All the involved artists send a huge load of submissions, some even by phone from the front line. Within four days the tracks were edited in Norway and ready to publish on Bandcamp. The t-shirt was then designed and a photobook was on created. It was difficult to communicate with the artists to secure the paperwork because many of them were on the run, or hiding in metro stations, or on combat missions.
I binge listened all 55 tracks at once, and indeed it’s an interesting musical tour through underground Ukraine. Since the release of ‘Electronic Resistance’, Bandcamp’s ratings have risen. It’s important to gather donations for the musicians, but I noticed another thing based on comments online. Listening to the compilation and sharing ‘Electronic Resistance’ sets a spotlight on the ‘dark side’ of Ukrainian music and causes hopefully solidarity with the musicians and awareness regarding the impact of the Russian attack. That’s an important effect of the project too. So go to sidelinemag.bandcamp.com and at least listen. Support the Ukrainian underground with their ‘Electronic Resistance’.
SOCIAL MEDIA
