Ethno-dance-project was formed in 1995 as russian copy of "Deep Forest" on basement of authentic slavic folklore. Three DJs of "Radio Chance", Saint-Petersburg, being impressed by the album "Boheme" of "Deep Forest" started to work in the same direction. In a few years they have prepared material for the 1st album. The folk songs from old vinil discs and recorded during folk-expeditions in the 2nd half of the XX century became a basis for the album.
The path chosen by Ivan Kupala does not imply dance hits conveyor stamping. First you have to dig around in dusty archives, to ride with the recorder on quiet villages, to find old women and old men who can still remember the old tunes, to persuade them to sing all that stuff into the microphone (a fragment of this difficult process is represented at the seventh minute of the final track of the album). Then hard work in the studio, composing instrumental accompaniment for these vocal, which also have problems: in a purely electronic reading the lyrics are not sound. But in order to score all those horns, accordion and rattles into the tone-pot of synth, they must be first learned to play. And only after all of these works you can learn a new program with a concert vocalists.
01. Kupala
02. Kostroma
03. Brovi (Eyebrows)
04. Vinograd (Grapes)
05. Molodost (Youth)
06. Svatochki (Matchmakers)
07. Vorotechki (Gates)
08. Kalyada
09. Kanareyka (Canary)
10. Galya
11. Polosa (Strip)