The Mixtape 38: Raw Russian

Russian DJ Nikita Villeneuve is notorious for playing secret gigs in Moscow and beyond. Like Villeneuve, the other members of art-project and collective Raw Russian are just as enigmatic. Their debut, Raw Russian Vol. 1, released earlier this summer and influenced by black metal and new wave gives a glimpse into the hidden depths of Russian-made house music. Especially for The Calvert Journal, Nikita Villeneuve has put together a mix of unheard and unreleased tracks that reveal more about what Russian Raw is all about, without completely stripping the air of mystery at the heart of their collective sound. “The mixtape is made up of unreleased tracks, and those that have only come about in the last few days,” the DJ explains. “With the next Raw Russian release not due till later this autumn, the mixtape is full of melancholia and the sounds of the night. Street noise, quiet murmurs, ambient and brutally raw house — all the best ingredients of real, murky Russian house.”