Watch Russian band EIMIC bring art to life with sound

Moscow-based band Everthing is Made in China, better known as EIMIC, have recorded a special live performance of two tracks taken from their recent album Acquired Taste.

The tracks B-263-54 and DENIA were performed and filmed at Artplay, a design and art centre in Moscow, for which EIMIC’s long term collaborator, artist and designer, Ilya Kolesnikov, created an immersive installation. “With all my collaborations with EIMIC, the idea for the visuals always happens by chance, as a result of me experimenting with video, 3D and photography,” Kolesnikov told The Calvert Journal. This time around, he took his visual cues from video art.

The videos, which we’re presenting exclusively here, see EIMIC explore the relationship between music and contemporary art, and not for the first time. The band made a comeback earlier this year with an inflatable dog featured in the band’s logo; art buffs might recognise the mascot as the signature “balloon dog” sculptures of American artist Jeff Koons. Yet, unlike the original, the dog’s tail and ears appear to have been mixed up in a manufacturering error — a reference to the fact that even high art is probably produced in a factory somewhere.

Following the belief that “music is art”, EIMIC have been experimenting with the boundaries of genre since their first EP release in 2006. It’s no surprise that they’re now crossing borders to visual art as inspiration. The releases from their fourth album Acquired Taste, which came out in April earlier this year, have all made reference to works of art in their videos, from the Renaissance to the present day.

Like the cited art works, the two live-performances couldn’t be more different in style; B-263-54 is a slow-building atmospheric indie-pop anthem that’s characteristic of EIMIC (the title is a reference to Harrison Ford’s character in Blade Runner); DENIA is electronic, beat-heavy and with plenty of attitude. Together with hypnotic visuals from Kolesnikov, the band’s boundary-pushing performances have once again proved EIMIC as Russia’s unsung heroes of underground sound.

Listen to more tracks from Acquired Taste and purchase the album on Bandcamp or iTunes.