CUKOR BILA SMERT' - Recordings 1990-1993

"The founders of Cukor Bila Smert' (Ukrainian: Цукор Біла Смерть, English: Sugar - White Death) band were Svitlana Okhrimenko (a.k.a. Svitlana Nianio), Oleksandr Kohanovs'kyi, and Tamila Mazur, who studied at the Reinhold Glier Kyiv Academy of Music in 1984-1988. In the summer of 1988, they got acquainted with Eugene Taran, a young guitarist and artist. He joined the band and also became the ideologist of Sugar - White Death. The musicians gathered at Kohanovs'kyi's house, where they spent their free time not only playing music but also listening to and discussing new records and thinking about the conception of their new project. For two years, the band recorded a few home-made albums, such as Rhododendrons Coral Aspides in 1988 (which is considered lost), where Kostyantyn Dovzhenko took part as a guitarist and sound engineer. The band also recorded another album -- Lilies and Amaralises, in 1989, which is also considered lost. In February 1990, a quartet came to the Scientists House Studio in Kyiv, where they had one studio session only, recorded by Valerii Papchenko. Later, this tape got to Vlodek Nakonechnyj, the founder of Koka Records, a young Polish label. In November 1990, Sugar - White Death played their last gig as a quartet in Kharkiv. They were invited by Sergii Myasoyedov, who curated the art association Nova Scena (The New Scene). The band played selected tracks from the albums The New Sissies and The Shellfishes in Gold Wrappers (the last one is also considered lost). In 1992, they were also invited by Sergii Myasoyedov for a studio session in Kharkiv, where due to the efforts of Oleksandr Vakulenko, Sugar recorded the new album called All Secrets Of A Poem. In the autumn of 1992, the musicians went to Poland, where Vlodek Nakonechnyj, who wanted Sugar to come to a "real" studio, organized their last recording session. Although the journey's beginning was unsuccessful (Eugene's guitar was taken away by a customs officer when crossing the border), the musicians worked fast during the session at the Arek Was studio at Marki on an eight-track reel-to-reel machine. Boleslav Blazhchyk took part as a cellist, playing the parts created by Svitlana. The album was completed in three days -- the musicians spent two days recording and one-day mixing, mostly done by Eugene Taran. In 1993, this work was released as Selo ("The Village") album on cassette tapes by Koka Records. Later, Sugar - White Death was disbanded." - Shukai.