Merrie Melodias #10 - Muddle Instead of Music - 27 May 2025

Uzbekistan-based DJ and boss of the experimental **https://tawpot.bandcamp.com)** label **[Eugenie Galochkin](https://www.instagram.com/gl4kn/)** presents rare vinyl rips from the Soviet **[Melodia](https://soundcloud.com/firmamelodiya** label. **Melodia** has released music from all around the world: from obscure Baltic electronica and free jazz from Siberia; to synth-pop from Tajikistan and academic avant-garde from Ukraine. The series will explore how national and cultural characteristics are embedded in musical language.

This episode is dedicated to academic Soviet music, its avant-garde and national currents. You will hear some stunning works by Russia's major experimental composers – Sofia Gubaidulina, Galina Ustvolskaya, Faraj Karayev and Alfred Schnittke.

Almost half of the programme, however, is dedicated to music with an equally complex narrative by composers from Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, digitised from rare LPs from my own collection. The programme conclu