Vakula

he long-awaited long player from the Slavic spiritual warrior Vakula. Selected over a three year period from his more afro-cosmic and experimental ethnic material, You've Never Been To Konotop is an ambitious and sprawling work. Not content with merely replicating an analogue sound from the golden age of house and techno, V pushes it as far as possible, combining elements of Ukrainian folk melodies, esoteric cryptic rhythm patterns, field recordings, interludes and overgrown organic effects hidden beneath acres of cosmic murk. And yet somehow he still ties it together with a dub-wise production to arrive at a sound that's uniquely and deftly his own. For those lucky enough to catch him playing records in a club environment, then this body of work documents his journey into a deeper, freer and more cosmic sound with a healthy disregard for trend and novelty. For fans of the Shevchenko series and the more audacious selectors, these works are the ultimate companion, veering off at wild angles and dubbed out beyond recognition. As usual, no Firecracker release would be complete without unique hand-drawn, silk screened artwork. Look out for variations and different colour ways across the limited vinyl pressing - very special indeed.

• 01 Jazz Mutants
• 02 New Romantics
• 03 We Have Soul
• 05 Sleepy Vision
• 09 Exp Techno