DakhaBrakha
Berlin, Berlin, Germany | SELF
Music
Press
“...my current favourite Eastern European band Dakha Brakha... who mix Ukrainian folk with other global rhythms... prove my feeling that there is some extraordinary energy and creativity coming out of the old Soviet Empire right now.”
Peter Culshaw (The Observer) - The Observer
“...The musicians, the splendidly named Dakha Brakha Ethno-Chaos Band, sit on a raised platform, beating the hell out of a variety of percussion instruments, with occasional solos for Jew’s harp, cello and an instrument that looks like a didgeridoo but which actually emits sweet flute-like noises. There’s a great deal of chanting, too, and the effect is often wildly exciting...”
Charles Spencer (Daily Telegraph) - Daily Telegraph
DakhaBrakha Lofty ethnic post-modernism
Ethnic music has always been the object of play for musicians of literally every style from rockers and punks to experimenters and avant-gardists. DakhaBrakha – Ukrainian project of Dakh theatre makes all those tries to look pitiful. The musicians of DakhaBrakha don’t sneak up into other more modern music genres and spaces. Their experiments lie mostly in the discourse of ethnic music without any “fashionable stuff” and “high technology things”.
This music combines various ethnic materials on Ukrainian years. Traditional Ukrainian songs, African and Arabian rhythms, Indian tunes and shaman “threat” singing create here one harmonious “mixture”. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? It’s odd, isn’t it?
It’s nice that DakhaBrakha musicians don’t claim to certain ephemeral historical and cultural authenticity, but take energy from own blood, believing in it. Thus, results turned out impossible – ancient tunes starts sound modern not because of reconstruction with help of modern instruments or relying on contemporary musical trends, but because of DakhaBrakha music is created be young people that dare research ethnic relying on their individual will, despite normative academism.
“DakhaBrakha” is the child of globalization epoch, it is high postmodernism that doesn’t despise traditions but is its mastery interpretation, the ethno-chaos with living soul. Actually, DakhaBrakha is also the manifest of overcoming the death of traditions, the alive illustration of ability of the ancient to be revealed in The Young through the ages and, which is more important to flourish in industrial context of contemporaneity.
Ulyanov Anatoliy,( Proza) - Proza
“…the accompanying sound is carried out by DakhaBrakha band who are performing related to the story Ukrainian folk and traditional for certain rites religious songs in their own original manner. This creates an essential mood for each scene there isn’t a text in the play in a way of a folk narrator…”
“CINEMA” magazine - “CINEMA” magazine
Discography
"Na dobranich", "Guta Records" studio, 2005
"Yahudky", "Guta Records", 2007
"Na mezhi""Guta Records", 2008
"Light", Guta Records 2010
Photos
Bio
DakhaBrakha is a new name in contemporary world music. They originate from Kiev, Ukraine.
DakhaBrakha already received fame of one of the best Ukrainian world music acts, and recently by influential Russian magazine Afisha named them the best team in the sphere of world music through the former Soviet Union.
Last year they presented Ukraine at EXPO2010 in Shanghai, China and had showcase at CINARS in Canada, and this year they performed at WOMADelaide in Australia.
Confirmed this year:
2-3.07 TFF Rudolstadt festival, Germany.
4.08 Festival Aux heures dt Nantes France
"This is a phenomenal Ukrainian outfit, mixing genuine, ethnically specific material with minimalist jazz and the precision of techno-beats, too... They're making the natural folk music of the future."
Leisurely crawl with a bow on the cello, tapping rhythms of nomadic tribes, blowing fur accordion, singing in a stentorian rural votes, they are creating one large, loud etnodzhaz absolutely hypnotic persuasion, and the transition to the English Language Society and forth, alternating between quiet lamentations with dancing ditties, knit Ukrainian marriage with African funeral, folk traditions with quicksand minimalism DakhaBrakha - this is perhaps an example of what can be sought and found in the ancient traditions, and in them is important, not so much Authentic as present in the soil strength of the music.. Aleksandr Gorbachev, Afisha Moscow 10.11.2009
The name is original, outstanding and authentic at the same time. DakhaBrakha means give/take in the old Ukrainian language.
DakhaBrakha was created in 2004 at the Kyiv Center of Contemporary Art DAKH by the avant-garde theatre director Vladyslav Troitskiy. Theatre work has left its mark on the band performances their shows have never been staged without the scenic effects.
We decided to create a new style of music that consists mainly of our native Ukrainian folk motifs, with some African-styles added in. We also combine Arab, Bulgarian and Hungarian ideas. Dakha Brakha collects the components of its repertoire during our expeditions. We go out to villages, pitch our tents and visit local babushkas and ask them to sing their folk songs. We record them and use them in our compositions, - says the band.
Dakha Brakha is still somewhat of a cult phenomenon in Ukraine, appealing to a discerning audience of knowledgable fans who like their aggressive sound, which involves a lot of ritualistic tribal rhythms and frenzied, sometimes caterwauling, vocals.
They perform in native Ukrainian dress, as befitting their faith in Ukrainian culture, which they believe has enormous potential that should be explored and retained.
As well as performing gigs as a band in their own right they are also the 'house' band for the Dakh Theatre company . Dakh Theatre is known throughout Europe as one of the leading production houses of avant-garde theatre combining live music from DakhaBrakha with theatre and dance to create some intense productions. Their series of Shakespeare interpretations has brought them to many of Europe's leading venues including London's Barbican in January 2007.
DakhaBrakha are unique in their versatility they could play both at small clubs, little theatres and in front of one hundred-thousand-strong audience.
The music of DakhaBrakha is used in more than 10 films and is in the new film of famous Iranian director Mohsen Makmalbaf.
DakhaBrakha performed more than 300 concerts and performances and has taken part in numerous international festivals in Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Hungary, Poland, France, Great Britain, Austria, Slovenia, The Netherlands, Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Finland, Slovakia, Italy, Chine.
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