Genre: Folk, Avant-Garde, Rock

TRACKLISTING:

“Rhododendrons Coral Aspides”,

1988 (lost album)

Re-recorded in 1990, which was included in the program “Novi Pestunchiki” (The New Sissies), which was later included in the “Manirna muzika” (Mannered Music) compilation

A1. The Great Hen-Yuan’ River
A2. Summer Will Not Come

“Novi Pestunchiki” (New Sissies),1990

Re-recording of the songs from the lost album “Rhododendrons Coral Aspides” (1988, later included in the “ManneredMusic” compilation)

A3. Six Coral Devils (Part II)
A4. Six Coral Devils (Part III)
A5. Six Coral Devils (Part IV)
A6. Six Coral Devils (Part V)

“Venera z Dovgoiu Shieiu” (Venus with a long neck), 1990 (from the “Mannered Music” compilation)

A7. Six Coral Devils (Part VII)
A8. Definitely That Ketsal
A9. The Waltz Windows On The Floor

B1. Blue
B2. Kwolyj Twist (Slow Twist)

“Antinoy Vidjizdzhaje” (Antinoy IsLeaving), 1990

(from the Mannered Music compilation)

B3. Argolida (Part I)
B4. Argolida (Part II)
B5. Argolida (Part III)
B6. Argolida (Part V)
B7. Argolida (Part VI)
B8. Argolida (Part VII)
B9. Argolida (Part VIII)

C1. All Secrets Of A Poem (Part III)
C2. All Secrets Of A Poem (Part IV)
C3. All Secrets Of A Poem (Part VI)
C4. All Secrets Of A Poem (Part VII)

“Selo” (The Village), 1993

C5. Poliuwannia (The Hunt)
C6. Smilywo Chodit’ Do Zymy (Walk Brave To The Winter)
C7. Zradnyky (The Traitors)

“Selo” (The Village), 1993

D1. Obminaj Misce (Around This Place)
D2. Widen Spyt’ (Vienna Is Sleeping)
D3. Wartowyj (The Stand Guard)
D4. Procesija Mertwych (Dead Ceremony)
D5. Na Skryni (On The Basket)
D6. Untitled (Bonus Track)


The founders of Cukor Bila Smert’ (Ukrainian: ?????– ???? ??????, English: Sugar – White Death) band were Svitlana Okhrimenko (a.k.a. Svitlana Nianio), Oleksandr Kohanovs’kyi, and Tamila Mazur, who studied at the Reinhold Glier Kyiv Academy of Music in 1984-1988. In the summer of 1988, they got acquainted with Eugene Taran, a young guitarist and artist. He joined the band and also became the ideologist of Sugar – White Death. Moreover, Eugene coined the name for the band: the irony towards the Yellow Press. The musicians gathered at Kohanovs’kyi’s house, where they spent their free time not only playing music but also listening to and discussing new records and thinking about the conception of their new project.



For two years, the band recorded a few home-made albums, such as “Rhododendrons Coral Aspides” in 1988 (which is considered lost), where Kostyantyn Dovzhenko took part as a guitarist and sound engineer. He also replaced Taran during the recording session because Eugene was passing an exam at that time. The band also recorded another album – “Lilies and Amaralises,” in 1989, which is also considered lost. Eugene remembers that the band made a lot of recordings but did not pay so much attention to them. Sugar – White Death played live occasionally but spent more time creating their own sound, which was named by Oleksii Dekhtyar (a founder of “Ivanov Down”) as a “sugar calypso sound.” At that time, the music was mostly created by Oleksandr Kohanovs’kyi, and the lyrics were written by Svitlana Okhrimenko and Eugene Taran.



In February 1990, a quartet came to the Scientists House Studio in Kyiv, where they had one studio session only, recorded by Valerii Papchenko. Musicians played live for about one take. This session was represented on the “Mannered Music” compilation by several blocks – “Venus with Long Neck,” “The New Sissies,” and “Rhododendrons Coral Aspides,” which was shortened to “Rhododendrons” on the cassette (two songs from which – “Summer Will Not Come” and “The Great Hen-Yuan’ River,” dedicated to Grigorii Khoroshylov, the sinologist from Kyiv). The compilation cover design was created by Eugene Taran. Later, this tape got to Vlodek Nakonechnyj, the founder of Koka Records, a young Polish label, who released “Mannered Music” on cassettes and made efforts to invite Sugar – White Death to play several gigs in Poland.



In November 1990, Sugar – White Death played their last gig as a quartet in Kharkiv. They were invited by Sergii Myasoyedov, who curated the art association “Nova Scena” (The New Scene). The band played selected tracks from the albums “The New Sissies” and “The Shellfishes in Gold Wrappers” (the last one is also considered lost). Due to Sergii Myasoyedov's efforts, the performance was documented: he saved a lot of photos and fragments of soundboard recordings on reel-to-reel tape.



Later, Oleksandr Kohanovs’kyi and Tamila Mazur left Sugar – White Death: Oleksandr founded his own project Pan Kifared, and Tamila became a bass player of Shake Hi-Fi (whose co-founder was Eugene Taran). Sugar became a duo of Svitlana and Eugene. They started to focus on their next work: “Antinoy Is Leaving” in late 1990.



In 1992, they were also invited by Sergii Myasoyedov for a studio session in Kharkiv, where due to the efforts of Oleksandr Vakulenko, Sugar recorded the new album called “All Secrets Of A Poem”. Some tracks from the work (“Dead Ceremony,” “Vienna Is Sleeping,” and “Untitled”) were released on their next and last album, “Selo” (“The Village”). The rest compositions were published as a part of the compilation for the first time.



In the autumn of 1992, the musicians went to Poland, where Vlodek Nakonechnyj, who wanted Sugar to come to a “real” studio, organized their last recording session. Although the journey’s beginning was unsuccessful (Eugene’s guitar was taken away by a customs officer when crossing the border), the musicians worked fast during the session at the Arek Was studio at Marki on an 8-track reel-to-reel machine. Boleslav Blazhchyk took part as a cellist, playing the parts created by Svitlana. The album was completed in three days – the musicians spent two days recording and one-day mixing, mostly done by Eugene Taran. In 1993, this work was released as “Selo” (“The Village”) album on cassette tapes by Koka Records (remastered by Tadeusz Sudnik). Later, Sugar – White Death was disbanded.



Credits:



Cukor Bila Smert’: Svitlana Okhrimenko (lyrics, keyboards, piano, vocals), Eugene Taran (lyrics, keyboards, guitar), Oleksandr Kohanovs’kyi (piano, A1-B2), Tamila Mazur (cello, A1-B2), Boleslaw Blaszczyk (cello, C5-D6)

Cover photo by Vlad Urazovs’kiy

Photo archive courtesy: Vlad Urazovs’kiy, Vlodek Nakonechnyj (Koka Records),

Oleh Yuhrinov, Sergii Myasoyedov

Audio archive courtesy: Vlodek Nakonechnyj (Koka Records), Guido Erfen,

Sergii Myasoyedov

Liner notes: Vlad Yakovlev

Compiled by Dmytro Nikolaienko, Dmytro Prutkin and Sasha Tsapenko

© ? Shukai / Cukor Bila Smert’

2024
More

(First official release) Original soundtrack for the dance-theatre performance 'Transilvania Smile' by Svitlana Nianio recorded in phantonstudio, Cologne, 1994-1995This album is one of the most personal and insightful works of Svitlana Nianio from the 90s, which you can now get to know in its original form and sound.





TRACKLIST

Side A (45RPM)

Episode III (5:51)



Side B (33RPM)

Episode I (4:45)

Episode II (4:38)

Episode IV (3:36)

Episode V (3:06)

Episode VI (3:41)

Episode VII (3:17)


INFO

Svitlana Okhrimenko (artist name: Svitlana Nianio) is a Ukrainian artist, musician, and signer. She is one of the most prominent representatives of the independent music scene of Kyiv in the late 1980s — early 90s. She has repeatedly recorded and performed in collaboration with other musicians and bands, such as Oleksandr Yurchenko, Sugar White Death (Cukor Bila Smert’), Ivanov Down, GeeNerve & Taran, and Blemish. Svitlana still performs and publishes new recordings today.

“Transilvania Smile” is one of the first solo works recorded in 1994. During this time, Svitlana repeatedly visited Germany, where she had the experience of playing in parks and on the streets, gathering contacts of the local art scene. Her cooperation with the international choreographic group Pentamonia, based in Cologne and consisting of several girls who performed in theaters, took part in various performances, and were engaged in music. They met in the 1990s during joint performances with "Sugar-White Death." After that, they corresponded, and the idea of doing something together arose. Svitlana attended several of their performances, which inspired her to write music for a new project, and the band members helped to realize their creative ideas. Later, they started rehearsing together.

The name “Transilvania Smile” was invented by the project participants, and it symbolized the mold on the mirror and the reflection of a smiling vampire. However, shortly before the premiere, they changed it to “Firefox”, as the participants actively used flashlights and the play of light and shadows in the scenography.

The premiere occurred in the local Urania theater, previously a gallery. Isabel Bartensein directed the choreography, and Svitlana played, sang, and improvised. She said it was an excellent experience for her and the band. Besides Cologne, they also performed in Aachen.

Later, Michael Springer offered Svitlana to record this material in his "Phantom" studio. They had already worked together and recorded music for their project (Svitlana Okhrimenko / Phanton). Michael was also interested in the Ukrainian independent scene and participated in the creation of several compilations that featured bands from Kyiv and Kharkiv. Svetlana played the piano and harmonium in the studio and also sang. After the recording, the material was never released in its entirety. Two compositions appeared on the cassette compilation “Shovaisia” (Hide) in 1995, some episodes were re-recorded for the “Kytytsi” album in 1999, but for a long time, the full version of this recording remained practically unknown to listeners and was kept in Svitlana's and Michael’s archives.

This album is one of the most personal and insightful works of Svitlana Nianio from the 90s, which you can now get to know in its original form and sound.

Credits:
Original Soundtrack for the Dance-Theatre Performance “Transilvania Smile” by Svitlana Nianio
Recorded in phantonstudio, Cologne, 1994—1995

Mastered by Michael Springer (phantonstudio)
Shukai team: Dmytro Nikolaienko, Dmytro Prutkin and Sasha Tsapenko
Liner notes by Vlad Yakovlev
Graphic design by (DN) Daynight.info

Artist photos by Ivan Moskalenko
Svitlana’s stage photo by Christiane Bowinkelmann
Pentamonia Dance Group photos by Olav Faustmann
Special thanks to Michael Springer (phantonstudio) and Guido Erfen More

Historically informed violin player, prize-winning street musician, new age experimentalist, chamber ensemble performer and conservatoire deviant.
TRACKLIST

A1. Symphony Of Wind
A2. Insight
A3. Zen Garden
B1. Passageway To Eternity
B2. Maitreya
B3. Higher Frequencies
C1. Metamorphoses
C2. Contemplation
D1. Vigor
D2. Dynamics More