Fraunhofer Diffraction is one of several projects by Moscow based musician and DJ Stanislav Martensitov. Other projects include Eternal November, Atropa and Otsvety (Reflections). Martensitov comes from a musical family where he had an early start on the piano and four years of music school. In 2012, at age 19 he produced Eternal November, followed by a few other projects which he later rolled into Fraunhofer Diffraction, his current musical identity.
I managed to find 38 releases by Martensitov, over half of them full length CDs for a total of over 200 tracks, so he’s been a busy fellow these past 11 years. Quite the task sorting through all that material deciding what to play. Far too much for a single program, so I chose to present him in two. Considering his prolific output I found it curious that so little information about him could be found on the net. One pundit suggested he might be hiding from the police, he keeps such a low profile.
I’m guessing the lady in the above photo is the voice on the Otsvety tracks. She isn’t mentioned on the Bandcamp page or anywhere else I looked, which could be part of the whole anonymity thing. I don’t know. I’d like to know because she has a really interesting voice. If you know who she is, drop it in the comments please.
One of the sites I found credits Martensitov as an “active member of the Witch House scene.” Had to look that one up. According to Wikipedia, Witch House is a microgenre of electronic music that is musically characterized by high-pitched keyboard effects, heavily layered basslines and trap-style drum loops, while it aesthetically employs occult and gothic-inspired themes.
The occult trappings I can do without, but I love the music, and I definitely like the anonymity aspect. Don’t go searching for an audience, let them find you. If you’re good, they will. Micro-venues are where it’s at these days. You get to meet people with a shared interest, and everyone can escape if the joint catches fire. So what if you don’t make any money? Nice if you do, but that isn’t really the point.
From what I’ve read, none of these scenes like Witch-House, Hard-Bass or Nu-Metal have much of a following in Russia right now. Reminds me of the early 80’s when everyone knew everyone else and the vibe was friendly. I’d love to be there and take another kick at the cat. I might do it anyway now that I have the time and the inspiration I’m getting from some of the musicians I’ve found. We’ll see.
I’m trying to present a cross-section of the popular music scene in Russia, but I’m no journalist so it’s hard to stay objective. Mainstream pop is about the same there as here, only slightly less annoying, but their underground scene is very interesting and still in its infancy from what I can tell. Sooner or later everything gets commercialized, but being a more conservative society they might have a longer run. Sure hope so.
More information and discography: Bandcamp ~ Soundcloud ~ VK
If you’re wondering what made those patterns in the track list, well that’s Fraunhofer Diffraction you’re seeing. Here’s a good explanation of how it works.