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1.
Can opener 00:47
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2.
Arkan / Аркан 04:09
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3.
Dump Truck 04:47
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4.
Canine Twist / Псячий твіст 04:33
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5.
Music from the Marble Cupola 1--Initiation: 100,000 Mirrors. The Liquid Eye. Shakti Yaga Meets the Space Hoarklers (featuring Taras Shevchenko). 06:48
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6.
Music from the Marble Cupola 2--Wanderings: Forest of Bouncy Trees. Curious Wizardry. Stalagmites Hit the Road. 07:08
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7.
Music from the Marble Cupola 4--Underture: Mirrors Reprise. Elaborate Transmigration. Vision of Vyrii (Land of Milk and Honey). 14:54
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8.
Tide of Night instrumental segue 04:00
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9.
Ethnogenesis in an Etobicave / Етноґенез в Етобиковській печері 06:39
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about

Stalagmite Under a Naked Sky, a.k.a. Vapniaky Pid Holym Nebom (Вапняки під Голим Небом), a.k.a. Vapniaky (The Vapniaks), were a group of mostly Ukrainian-Canadians and Ukrainian ex-pats living in Toronto (with Portuguese-Canadian Manny DaSilva on drums) who formed in 1986 to play a concert at The Music Gallery marking the death of political prisoner and poet Vasyl’ Stus. “Vapniak” is Ukrainian for limestone, thus Vapniaky translates directly as “The Limestones,” but it carries a connotation of something old and grovelly, i.e., “fogies.” They’ve been described as “grovel rock” and as “Slavic-roots, avant-garage, psychedelic folk-thrash.”

Formed by Adrian Ivakhiv (keyboards, vocals, guitar, synths, songwriting), Nestor Gula (bass, guitar, vocals, songwriting), Taras Gula (violin, vocals), Zenon Waschuk (guitar, bass, vocals), Andrij Vynnyckyj (vocals, songwriting), Tania Chorna (vocals), and Manny DaSilva (drums), the band invited Czech sax player and co-founder of the Plastic People of the Universe Vratyslav Brabenec to play with them at the Stus Memorial, which he did on a number of occasions subsequently as well. Over the next several years, the band played original songs, thrashy versions of Ukrainian and Lemko folk songs, Plastic People and Velvet Underground covers, and instrumental jams at benefit concerts in the Toronto area and toured several cities with the Avant Garde Ukrainian Theatre (of which most Vapniaks were members). They were joined at times by other musicians including Halyna Cechowska (vocals, guitar), Jarko “Spider” Nazarewicz (drums), and Andrij Polansky (drums, guitar), and joined members of the popular Ukrainian band Braty Hadiukiny (The Brothers Hadiukins) on stage while touring in Ukraine.

Against the Sky was originally issued as the “B side” to the cassette release of Stalagmite Under a Naked Sky (1991). It consists of instrumentals (the folk-dance based “Arkan”, the jazzy “Dump Truck,” and “Canine Twist”), basement outtakes (the Velvet Undergroundish “Ethnographic field recording from an Etobicoke cave”), and psychedelic forays including the multi-part “Music from the Marble Cupola.” In the latter, the Vapniaks find themselves transported (Gong-style) from the Republic of BourgeoAsia to Hoarkland, where they encounter Shakti Yaga, the Cosmic Hoarkers, and the Marble Cupola of 100,000 Mirrors. (Full details in track listings.)

With the exception of “Arkan” and “Dump Truck” (recorded at The Demo Factory), all the tracks were recorded in home basements with minimal engineering and post-production (which shows).

The original 85-minute or so cassette release (different from what's here) can be heard here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KY2JiD9A54

credits

released December 1, 2019

Studio engineer (tracks 1 & 2): Sean Munavish and Michale Mcv. Basement engineer (most of the rest): Adrian Ivakhiv.
1991 cassette edition cover design: Adrian Ivakhiv; cassette liner art: Cathy Smith; cassette production by RADIOmanitnist.’
Thanks to Melanie Kaye, Ksenya Maryniak, Lida Kudla, Reaction Studios, and Zen Records.
This edition of "Against the Sky" includes re-edits by Adrian Ivakhiv of tracks 2, 3, and 9 (made in March, 2020). This makes it a companion to the 2020 edition of "Stalagmite Under a Naked Sky."

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Adrian Ivakhiv / vax image

Adrian Ivakhiv / vax Burlington, Vermont

Adrian Ivakhiv (eev-ahkh-eev) has worked in multiple genres including electroacoustic, chamber, choral, avant-rock, free improv, ambient, and experimental composition. He has made electronic music under the alias "vax" (pronounced "vah(kh)") since the 1980s, and conducted the St. Nicholas Choir in Toronto from 1987 to 2000. He lives in Burlington, Vermont. More info at blog (first link below). ... more

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