Ambassador 21

Digital Hardcore from Minsk, Belarus.

Invasion Wreck European Akcija!-tour 2003
Live at Pall Mall Club
Meeting Ambassador 21

Ambassador 21 Live at Pall Mall Club, Minsk

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During the festival "Dutch Invasion" in Minsk, april 2003, we visited a concert of Minsk hard-core Digital band Ambassador 21. This took place in the PallMall-club near Metro-station Froenzenskaya.
The contrast could hardly be greater: whilst the Eindhoven-DJ's played the classy clubs of Minsk, Vanek and Simonski went Digital Underground.
Ambassador 21 is stark, raw, and very, very agressive in their music, but for the Dutchies who went along to see their "koncert", it was a real eye-opener.
This was the sound of angry young Minsk for sure. Vocalists Alexei and Natalya screeched their Angst and Weltschmerz into their microphones, with DJ Buben
on a platform above them, mixing some wicked beats and grooves from his electronics table. This was mixed with Brutal images of Pasolini's shocking film-classic "Salo, or 120 days of Sodom". A vicious work of Art including most disturbing images of Sado-Masochistic Nazi-atrocities in a castle outside Rome during the Second World War. Based on the Italian classic book "Decamerone" and Marquis de Sade's "Juliette, or 120 days of Sodom" this was like a full frontal kick in the teeth. For obvious reasons, Ambassador 21 don't get so many gigs in Minsk. But to us, it felt good to see this side of Underground Minsk. Sometimes, there is more to life than dancing the night away to techno-tunes. The "slice of life" Ambassador21 has on offer is most certainly NOT a pretty picture to see.
But hey...who said Life was Telly-Tubbieland anyway???

Meeting Ambassador 21
a preparing visit, jan. 2003

January 2003, a PravdaDA delegate went to Minsk together with Sixth Kolonne. To prepare our actions, such as the webdesign workshop and the video-installation "StressCave", and explore the venues suitable for Simonski to play his tunes. But also, to look for talented and extreme represents of the electronic music scene. Also, they should be able to play live, which is, as you might know, not always really the case with digital music.
Our contacts stated "there is not such a thing in Minsk" , and we had in fact already given up hope, when on our last day, we had to meet a friend in the middle of town somewhere near we were at that moment, and were directed to recordshop "Podzemlja" (underground).

On the wall was a leaflet "Industrial Techo from Minsk" which looked like advertising a CD, so i immediately turned to the guy of the shop, pointing to it: Mozjno kupit zdjesh? So he handed me 2 audio CD's : for you, it's a present. His own band "Ambassador 21". I gave him our CD-Rom/audio package of our exchange with Minsk, while he was telling me they have their own label in Minsk, Invasion Wreckchords. So i bought the International Digital Hardcore Collaboration double CD "Revolution Now".
I had a feeling somehow i was going to like this shit.

Back in the office of New Faces, i decided to give it a try and put on Ambassador 21 album "Narod Protiv Ambassador 21" (the People Against Ambassador 21). After 10 seconds it was clear we are dealing here with the most outragious, decadent, vulgair, agressive digital hardcore fucked-up tunes you can imagine.
Really harsh, adrenaline pushing music, accompanied by screaming russian female vocals. After some time some one of the office came up to me and asked "do you know what she is saying". Now i do know quite a word of russian language, but this whas a little too much for me, so i answered a simple straight "no".
"Well", she said, "the words are even more disgusting than the music".
Now i knew for sure this band had a new fan.

Turn to the Sixth Kolonne - Minsk website and listen to Ambassador's 21 song "Fuck all Systems" below in the screen in the sound module, or go to http://www.ambassador21.com for more music & info and downloads