When approaching ‘Ingrian Tape’, listeners might feel disoriented, at least at first. It’s truly an unconventional record, the result of committed artistic research and cross-cultural work. Penned by Amsterdam-based composer Dmitry Surugin, going by his moniker Van Sur Les, ‘Ingrian Tape’ directly ties into his own roots and identity, drawing from the Finno-Ugric tradition while expanding the sonic palette to leftfield electronica and ambient-coded elements.
What unfolds in the EP are six tracks drenched in crepuscular textures and wholesome samples, as well as intense synth work and hypnotic beats. Finnish folk singer Emmi Kuittinen features on ‘Tapio’, performing fragments of Ingrian runo-songs. Elsewhere, the record includes archival recordings of Kadoi Alexandrova and Madli Oras, among others. We are impressed by the EP’s overall character: it draws on nostalgia and tradition while looking ahead, eventually settling on an evocative aural formula, one that feels organic, but also complex and futuristic.
Delving deeper into the wholesome and peculiar ethos that propels the EP, Surugin explains: “The project began with a very simple but unsettling contrast I came across while researching my family roots: more than 15,000 Ingrian folk songs have been preserved in archives, yet today fewer than around 100 native speakers of the Ingrian (Izhorian) language remain. That paradox stayed with me. It raised a question that became the core of the album: what happens when a culture becomes easier to study than to actually live?”
Recommended! Discover ‘Ingrian Tape’ now: