Label Feature: Full of Nothing

I’ve been following the Russian label Full of Nothing (FON) for quite a few years already, and a curious thing is that I have never actually written a review of their impressive output, not so much in terms of quantity, but definitely in terms of quality. One reason is that they manage to present each and every record so perfectly that you don’t want to do anything but just play it… and I mean play it hard and a lot.

Full of Nothing, based in the Republic of Karelia in Russia, is run by Anya Kuts and Ivan Zoloto, musicians you might know from their work as the former drone improv and now more electronic, beats-driven duo Love Cult. Anya is also a visual artist. And the same way they pour love and real human dedication into their own project is exactly how they treat all artists on Full of Nothing.

Why am I doing this label feature now? Well, I woke up today to an email from them informing me they had just put out two new tapes, and they sound as special and unique as everything this boutique publisher has ever put their hands on. Another reason I rushed into writing this is that usually whatever they put out gets sold out in no time, and I guess you may want to get something for yourself sooner rather than later.

(fon46) Tikhie Kamni – Zemli

Zemli is a record closer to the early Full of Nothing, and Love Cult if you want, sound. It’s a record by Anastasia Tolchneva (Lovozero) and Fedor Pereverzev (Moa Pillar), created while hiking. So in Zemli you’ll hear a lot of field recordings, lo-fi drones, minimalist piano tunes, obscure microsounds and percussion, even some kind of ritual singing. According to the liner notes, this album wasn’t really created to be released, and it does sound like that. Besides the obvious exploration of the Russian landscape, the music on the album is a deep self-exploration shared between two individuals who had nothing else but themselves and the road.

At some point, the album gets a bit more psychedelic and neo-hippie for my taste, but even for a second it doesn’t really sound planned. It’s just how it happened, and because of that I can accept whatever direction Tikhie Kamni let it take. And it’s truly a gem, a very intimate sonic diary, which I really don’t know how Anya and Ivan managed to convince its authors to share with the world, but I’m glad they did.

(fon47) Hmot – Barricades

The second new tape on FON is on the other side of the planet Music. Barricades is a record synthetic to the bone. Modular synths, analog beats, sparse but precisely controlled ambiances. Hmot is a master of minimal and abstract techno and really manages to manifest this in the 40+ minutes of this album. The man behind the project, Stanislav Sharifullin, is quite an important figure for the Siberian scene. He formerly ran Gimme5, a Russian label that was quite signature for the area where he used to operate, and currently works on a tape publisher called Klammklang. Stanislav is also responsible for bringing the cult Berlin CTM festival to the Siberian towns of Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk.

It’s quite a jump if you go from Zemli to this record, but I think it really helps the album shine, because it wastes no time and changes your mood right away. From the cold valleys of Russia, you’re thrown somewhere into sterile but comfortably nostalgic concrete landscapes. And yes, don’t expect only club killers lined up one after another across the album. Hmot sometimes gets quieter, based more on microsounds and, okay… maybe almost an IDM approach to sound. Okay, but just as a structure and feeling.

As you can see, Full of Nothing have quite a discography, so as soon as you’re done with those two records, at least for the day, because I’m sure you’ll get back to them, here’s a bunch of my personal favorites you might want to check out as well.

(fon24) Banana Pill / Calypso Borealis – Split

Russian-Finnish-French split. Lo-fi psychedelia, crunchy minimalist guitar melodies, simple synth lines, an album of abrasive ambient and folk lullabies. Released in the distant 2011.

(fon1) Keijo – First Time

This is the first-ever Full of Nothing release and it’s insane. A weird mixture of blues and folk music, sometimes backed up by almost jazzy basslines. It’s like a digital encounter between a few street musicians playing together and talking to each other with nothing else but music. A record completely free of… everything.

(fon38) Woodpecker Wooliams and Golden Cup Meet Love Cult

That’s an album I think you can’t stream anymore on the FON Bandcamp, but it’s definitely my all-time favorite from the label. A few years ago, Woodpecker Wooliams, Golden Cup, and Love Cult briefly toured Russia, and this record documented two of their improvisations. It’s absolute proof that people can get to know themselves way better if they use nothing else but music. If you manage to find a copy of this somewhere… don’t miss it, an absolute Full of Nothing and Love Cult classic.

Make sure you follow the label on Tumblr, the stuff they post…