"2023 repress! Historically informed violin player, prize-winning street musician, new age experimentalist, chamber ensemble performer and conservatoire deviant. The career ofValentina Goncharova(b. Kyiv 1953) shares parallels with those associated with the broader new music movement of the 20th century and the dissemination of home recording technologies. Valentina's was a youth spent immersed in the world of classical music study under soviet rule, first in Kyiv and later in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) from the age of 16. With the supervision of professorsM. VaymanandB. Gutnikovshe learned concert violin and developed alternate playing styles alongside skilled pianists. The improvisatory nature of free jazz and then-budding experimental rock circles also intrigued Valentina. Departing from the rules of the conservatoire, she briefly performed in underground rock clubs alongside future members of the industrial groupPop-Mechanika(Popular Mechanics). This perpetual state of flux is central to the variety found withinRecordings Vol. 1, though as opposed to any degree of uncertainty Valentina's practice is one in flux by way of earnest curiosity. Pushing further into an exploration of solo electro-acoustic sounds, she took to home taping on a modified Olimp reel-to-reel recorder. Intrigued by the manipulability of dubbing and the fresh sounds of DIY effects chains, Goncharova developed pickups alongside her husbandIgor Zubkov. Her infatuation with the music ofStockhausen,Xenakis,Ganelin Trio, andPierre Boulezchannels through considerations of space and erratic sound design, the three movements of "Metamorphoses" embodying this textural approach to musique concrete. The compositional skills developed in Leningrad unfold in the romantic gestures of "Higher Frequencies", whilst manipulated cello combines with synthesizer keys across "Passageway To Eternity". The slow, pulsating drone soundscapes recall the likes ofRobert Rutman'sUS Steel Cello Ensembleor even deep listening pioneerPauline Oliveros. The juxtaposition of written notation and improvisatory flare is central to Goncharova's sound world. This period of home recording documents a confluence of minimalism, free form and flirtations with new age tropes (including bell chimes and cavernous vocal mantras). Experimenting with unusual performance techniques, such as shouting into amplified cello strings, Valentina's home studio functioned as a place to foster full artistic and creative freedom away from any academic strictures. Relocating to Estonia in 1984, in a sense, the recordings on these discs offer only a glimpse into her lifelong body of work. Private experimental home-tapes unheard for thirty years." - Shukai.
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After nearly a decade of false starts, multiple game plans veering off the rails, and a handful of shattered hopes and/or dreams, the odyssey is finally complete—the new Fusetron site is here.
This is the first phase of a multipart rollout that will span the next few months: the currently browsable stock includes miscellaneous new releases from the past 8+ months (we have a lot of catching up to do), plus approximately a third of our backstock. Note that we’ve reduced/slashed prices on many titles and will continue to do so in order to make room for new stock. We’ll also be expanding / tweaking / improving / debugging the site itself (for example, we still have work to do on the automated international postage system, not to mention the inevitable inventory discrepancies that come with transferring an ancient and massive database to a new system).
Over the next few months, as we take inventory, clean house, and delve into our storage, we will be uploading thousands of additional items, gradually, on a near-daily basis. This will include the majority of the LPs, as well as many titles, in all formats, once thought long-gone. Many currently “sold out” items are likely to resurface.
Finally, once our general backstock is up (probably in the next two or three months) we’ll begin making our extensive stockpile of rarities available online for the first time: tons of random out-of-print titles, "deadstock," warehouse finds, secondhand collectibles, etc., accumulated over the past few decades.
Frequent/returning customers will be getting early access to these items. Details to follow on how this will work (a priority mailing list? a 'frequent flyer'-like program?), but it will not be based on dollars spent. We want to reward those who consistently support us, especially in the discogs marketplace era (to those who show up trying to poach five copies of a one-off rarity, and nothing else, ever… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).
So—we suggest you take some time to dig through the site—even we’ve been surprised by what’s been turning up, and there’s much more to come.
