Igor Osypov

Igor Osypov is an artist standing at a complex crossroads where different worlds intersect. As a Ukrainian exiled in Berlin, unable to return home, he is obliged to negotiate different cultural and political identities, and as a forward-looking contemporary musician he chooses to negotiate the different genres of jazz, rock, electronica and other less easily defined traditions. Motherland?2K14 is his response: an extraordinary project exploring identity and belonging. Using his own electronically realized sketches as a base, Osypov took a band of his favorite musicians into the studio - Uli Kempendorff on tenor sax, trumpeter Dima Bondarev and Povel Widestrand on keys, underpinned by drummer extraordinaire Fabian Rösch - and expanded the sonic palette to include collaborators from across the world - saxophonist Logan Richardson, Petter Eldh on double bass, Bodek Janke on tabla and percussion, and beatmaker/producer Ludwig Wandinger. Simultaneously he called on the international community of his fellow exiled Berlin artists to ask them the question: “Where do you go when you cannot go home?” Audio fragments of the resulting interviews, in multiple languages, are interwoven with the music to create a uniquely powerful, viscerally moving statement.

PERSONNEL
Igor Osypov - guitar, e-bass, keys
Igor Osypov (10) - keys
Dima Bondarev - trumpet
Uli Kempendorff - tenor sax
Povel Widestrand - keys, wurlitzer
Fabian Rösch - drums
Logan Richardson (1, 3, 8, 9) - alto sax
Petter Eldh (1) - upright bass
Bodek Janke (5,7) - tabla, percussion
Bodek Janke (10) - drums
Ludwig Wandinger (2) - beat, e-drums
Kim Jong-Ha (1) - speech
Baron Arnold (2) - speech
Yuri Tanaka (3) - speech
Cansu Tanrikulu (4) - Speech
Anna Osypova (5) - speech
Mia Knop Jacobsen (6) - speech
Wassim Mukdad (7) - speech
GANNA (8) - speech
Alina Sokulska (9) - speech
Dima Bondarev (10) - speech

TRACKLIST
1. Vango
2. Raspberry Beat
3. Crypto
4. Low
5. Nebo
6. 15 Years of Happiness
7. Zemlya
8. Punk Love
9. Underground Kingdom
10. Donetsk