Various
Folk And Great Tunes From Belarus (2cd)
"What do we know about folk music from Belarus? How many groups left the country after the failed revolution in 2020-2021? How many musicians were imprisoned after their performances during these mass protests? Who left after the start of the war in 2022 of their closest neighbours? Which legends of Belarusian folk music have stopped their creative activities? How many bands fell apart? And who stays and tries to work under pressure and rules? How not to forget about the people who stayed there? How can we remember about culture and eternal folklore dedicated to love, the changing seasons and nature, without interfering with politics? With this request, I came to the compiler of this collection, Elvira Baranovskaya from the Aratseya group, and asked her to recommend Belarusian folk groups for my radio show. That's how this compilation was kicked off. You can read the interview with Elvira in Folk Galore magazine. In this introduction, I will also not talk about politics, so as not to harm the musicians, the participants, since the album will fall eventually into the hands of Belarusians. Or rather, I will write that Elvira took as the basis of the collection of folk music groups that currently live and work in and from Belarus. Some of the musicians are just starting their way, others are, so to speak, the "golden mean" and, of course, the flagships of Belarusian folk got into this team. This compilation includes groups not only from Minsk, but also representatives of the regions of Belarus - Brest, Gomel, Grodno. Here you will find folk rock (Aratseya), folk pop (Roskvit), alternative folk (Nevrida), folk fusion (Paparats), folk electronics (Pawa), folk metal (Adarvirog), folk bards (Ales Chumakou & Tacciana Jacnaja), folk-modern (Palac), "hard'n'folk" (Rokash), modern folk (Yagorava Gara), and medieval fantasy folk (Voka Charota). At least two songs from this collection have long been on my personal playlist of the most beloved folk from around the world. And - believe me - I listen to folk music a lot. So Elvira and I really hope that you will fall in love with the folk music of Belarus as much as we did." ~Daryana Antipova.