Junglinskiy and DJ Belkin: New Ukrainian Hardcore

There are new two new breakcore and hardcore EPs to announce, both from Ukraine and both free.  They are welcome arrivals at a time when the nation’s main breakcore site is not operational.  That leaves us grubbing around, going through myriad portals and looking for modest indications of activity.

The first of the two new EPs comes from Junglinskiy, a new name to us; judging by the utter lack of information online and the fact this is an eponymous release, we’re also assuming it’s a debut recording.  Among the anonymous comments made about the work, some have criticized the recording for using downloaded samples and loops, rather than creating them from scratch.  In a country where most people are making most music for pennies, that seems a little harsh.  To us, Junglinskiy’s shoestring cut & paste act is a sign of hope, rather than a reason to grumble.

So what exactly did he grab online as his building blocks?  Doing a little detective work into where the main samples are coming from, it transpires that the central borrowings are the late ’70s chanteuse Minnie Riperton (above) and Grammy-nominated Jamaican rapper Elephant Man (below).

The latter seems especially suited for the frantic structures of breakcore:  “If you saw me today you are never gonna forget me…  My hair, my clothes, my style!  I’m crazy man, I’m the Energy God!!“  A little less coffee might help.

Whatever the varied (or illegally acquired?) sources of Junglinskiy’s samples, the fact that two such disparate influences as Riperton and a Jamaican rapper can be thrown into the angry beats of a Ukrainian breakcore recording simply speaks to the value of the genre.  As a traditional muddle of hardcore techno, jungle, D&B, and maybe even IDM, breakcore continues to play an importantly subversive role.  It always manages to shake up stasis.

Even historically speaking, breakcore appeared at a time when hardcore felt (a little too) comfortable with its generic limits;  nowadays it continues to unsettle any genre that starts accepting its behavior as a norm.  In times and places, therefore, where format-driven mass media offer less and less choice in terms of stylistic variety, we can always rely on breakcore DJs to treat marketplace mediocrity with healthy scorn!

In order for breakcore to operate, though, it needs hardcore!  And so we offer a simultaneous EP from DJ Belkin, based in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv (above).  Belkin, in fact, makes the modest claim to be responsible for starting the nation’s hardcore scene through his ongoing Banging Beats project.

Plowing through the thumping, insistent rhythms and atonal “melodies” that mark the hardcore soundscape, Belkin is true to the roots of his chosen aesthetic.  Physicality is always at the forefront of his work.

Even the main theme of the EP, that of “Lycans,” refers to the feral werewolves of the Underworld fantasy novels and movie franchise.  These same films give us some fine examples of less-than-genteel interaction between the savage beats and their underworld neighbors:  “I should have crushed your skull under my heel when you were born, ” says one character.  “Yes, you should have,” comes the response.  “But you didn’t.”

Grrr, grrr… gnash, gnash.

In the same spirit of refined behavior, some of DJ Belkin’s hardcore parties around the country go by the name of “Crash Test.”  If the “banging beats” of those events, shown above, lead to the physical state shown below, we’d suggest you take a few precautions.

A silver bullet in your back pocket might be a good idea.

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