Tungu
Sergiy Senchuk, a.k.a. Tungu, is a sound artist, bassist and experimentalist who resides in Chernigiv, Ukraine. That’s a city known, through recent events, for strong resolve. Tungu’s music draws on this spirit. He’s produced a series of wide-ranging recordings that draw collaborators from all over the world. RBR is pleased to release his two latest releases: Lack of Worldview as a Tribute to Everyday Life, and Diffused Contrast.
Lack of Worldview includes 14 improvised duets with partners from Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Japan, Germany, Canada, the US, Italy, the UK and Pennsylvania. This organic experimental music is so wide-ranging that no single categorization does it justice. As the common thread in such a tapestry, Tungu reveals a superpower of chameleon-like adaptation. He draws out each partner’s unique voice, supports and never overshadows. He initiated this project by reaching out to collaborators who then shared an improvised track, which Sergiy augmented. Sometimes it worked the other way around. The partners agreed on final products, which then became part of the album’s bold and beguiling playlist. Contributors are:
Henry Kaiser | Martin Tétreault | Rieko Okuda | Giulio Aldinucchi | Richard Comte | Charles K.Noyes | Ergo Phizmiz | Milana Saruhanyan | Greg Kelley | Al Margolis | Viv Corringham | Wilbert de Joode | Michael Pedersen | Bill Horist.
Diffused Contrast continues this theme. Partner artists are:
Frank Schulte | LaDonna Smith | Yuki Nakawaga | Joshua Weitzel | Mike Sill | Izumi Kimura | Emmanuelle Waeckerle | Frank Gratkowski | Maggie Nicols | Per- Ake Holmlander | Dave Phillips | Roberto Fega*
Tungu’s musical origins trace back to a group of like-minded people called the Kollectiv, which was about spontaneous improvisation. He served in hardcore, metal and noise bands and, around 2014, started experimenting with with cut tape, field recordings and samples, which is how the early Tungu projects took shape.
*Also part of RBR project Gli Autopiloti.
“A soundtrack to such unsettling, stressful times... uncompromising and genre-defying, bold, layered textures of otherworldly samples, field recordings, live, spontaneous improvised playing, noises and electronics meld the like-minded, individual voices.”
“Tungu gives his guests a chance to stretch out, often quietly, the combination often restrained yet mysterious... I was thoroughly enchanted throughout.”
“An electro-acoustic flow full of memories, disaster and hope... the guitar howls, the violin bow scratches and grinds, the familiar world is upside down, reversed, inverted, it bubbles, scrapes, bursts, rushes. ”
Audio:
Lack of Worldview album (Bandcamp)
Video:
Words:
Album cover photo for Worldview by Annie Spratt via Unsplash
Album cover photo for Diffused Contrast by Sarah Wilkinson via Unsplash