Kazantip 2013 will take place from July 31st through August 14th.

This year will be the 21st instalment of the Ukrainian festival, which is held on the shores of the Crimean Black Sea. But Kazantip isn't exactly a regular festival: taking place over the course of two weeks (a reduction from last year's three), it positions itself as an independent republic rather than just a party. Partygoers, called Z-citizens, are free to enter and exit over the two weeks with their Kazantip visas. The "Z New Year" happens on the first day, and over the following days Z-citizens can gather and celebrate before the first "Apotheosis," or opening ceremony, on August 3rd.

This year Kazantip have brought in Ricardo Villalobos to headline. The Apollonia crew—Dyed Soundorom, Dan Ghenacia and Shonky—will also appear, and there will be a Paradise showcase featuring Jamie Jones, Art Department, Infinity Ink and Richy Ahmed.

A large part of the bill has been divided into label showcases. Cadenza has a presence with Luciano and Ernesto Ferreyra, while DJ W!ld, David Squillace, Tania Vulcano and Matthias Tanzmann will rep Circo Loco. Pan-Pot will head up Mobilee's contingent, Booka Shade and M.A.N.D.Y. will play for Get Physical, Loco Dice will do the same with Desolat and Dixon will host an Innervisions party.

Other highlights include Laurent Garnier, Claude VonStroke, Lee Burridge, Gerd Janson, Ame, Ellen Allien and plenty more. KiNK, Guti and Moderat will all perform live. The Faberge dancefloor will host the Live On Mars stage for nine days: Dub FX, Terry Poison, The Amplifetes, Assai and Bonaparte among the acts already announced for that part of the festival.

There are also a few genre-centric areas. The Breaks Arena will feature drum & bass stars Pendulum, while the psytrance-focused Mushrooms features Shpongle. Marc Romboy and his Systematic crew will ring in the Z New Year on the festival's opening day, while the Apotheosis ceremonies will feature big-room sounds from the likes of Ferry Corsten and Markus Schulz. For a better idea of what Kazantip is all about, check out our review of last year's festival.

The first wave of acts for Kazantip 2012 has been announced.

The annual event on the Crimean Black Sea in the Ukraine will take place from July 31st to August 18th this year. 2012 marks its 20th anniversary. The event styles itself as a "republic" rather than a festival proper. The press release describes it as "a stable democracy with its own constitution that guarantees rights and freedoms to every citizen," with its attendees as "republicans." Festivities begin on the 31st, where republicans can organize and celebrate on the festival site for five days before the opening party (or "Apotheosis") on August 4. The tickets are styled as "republican visas," good for entry for the entire duration of the event. The site will feature six dance floors, 30 bars and restaurants, "various weird architectural structures," two open air cinemas, and even three "kitesurfing stations." In addition to the musical events, after the closing party on August 11th, the festival's final stage commences with the Z Games, where over 100 athletes compete in kitesurfing and kiteboarding, the "national sport of the republic."

Acts featured during the week of music from August 4th to 11th include progressive house veterans Sasha and James Zabiela, Detroit techno DJ Kenny Larkin, minimal jocks Dubfire and Ambivalent, electro/techno denizens Miss Kittin and Tiga, and plenty more. In addition to the DJ lineup, the "Live On Mars" area will also run from August 2nd to 11th, featuring all live acts like Denmark's Vinnie Who and the UK's Killaflaw.

Mikhaylo Vityk, also known as Vakula, will release a new album in April under the name Vedomir.

Vityk is a Ukrainian producer who makes raw deep house with an experimental edge—as Jordan Rothlein once put it, most of his records are characterized by "a penchant for throwing a wrench in our definition of 'dance floor appropriate.'" He's been exceptionally productive in the last year or so, with some 12 EPs in 2011 and another album called 13th District on Nuearth Kitchen (under the name V) due out later this month.

Vedomir is his second appearance on the Dutch label Dekmantel, after January's Orthodox Ambient EP. It features all previously unreleased tracks, three of which include guest appearances from an artist named Vasiliy Filatov. You can stream the album in its entirety over on the label's SoundCloud page.

Tracklist
A1 Jump In the Past
A2 Music Suprematism feat. Vasiliy Filatov
A3 Casserike 80th
B1 Forks, Knives and Spoons
B2 I Don't Aspire Perfection I Accept That I Have feat. Vasiliy Filatov
B3 Hello
C1 Scream Kind of Morning
C2 Dreams
D1 Lullaby feat. Vasiliy Filatov
D2 Orud' Evo

Dekmantel will release Vedomir in April 2012.

Kazantip have revealed the bill for their 2011 event, which starts this weekend and wraps up at the end of August.

Even at a glance it's clear that Kazantip is different. Loathe to be called a "festival," the four-week party fancies itself as an independent republic, one founded on ideals such as "summer all year round" and "life with no pants." Its revelers are citizens (or "citiZens" to be precise), its tickets are passports and its founder is referred to as The President. Set on the shores of the Black Sea, the sprawling event includes six dance floors, more than 30 bars and restaurants and countless art installations and various other oddities.

In terms of music, Kazantip's Minister of Culture estimates that half of the DJs come from all over the world, and the other half are Russian-speaking. The former group features big name acts like Richie Hawtin, Ricardo Villalobos, Cassy, John Digweed, Danny Howells and M.A.N.D.Y.. The second includes Russian staples like Moonbeam and Denis A among dozens of others.

In an attempt to get a better understanding of what drives Kazantip, RA caught up with Andriy Goshva, the event's Minister of Propaganda.

Minister of Propaganda is an unusual title for someone who works at a festival. Then again, would you call Kazantip a festival, or something else?

No, never. In case you don’t know, "festival" is a forbidden word at Kazantip, almost a "curse." So, Minister of Propaganda, as the man responsible for the project’s image, simply has no right to use that term. And sure, Minister of Propaganda is an unusual status for someone who works at some festival, but if you’re working at the government of the republic, it’s okay.

What's the philosophy behind Kazantip?

As it’s said in the Constitution, "The KaZantip Republic is a Utopian society focused on achieving the impossible—freedom from social, political and historical clichés, sophistication of citizenship, democracy, culture and order..."

How did the festival begin?

"Festival" again? ;) It all happened back in 1992. It began as a windsurfing competition that brought together 78 participants and 600 devotees. To make their hanging out at the shore merrier, the prospective president of the Kazantip Republic simply switched on some sound on the beach. The next year, even more devotees got there and among them were DJs, who carried their LPs just to keep from getting bored.

The competition was held at the peninsula called Kazantip, not far from the derelict nuclear power station. It had been left incomplete right after the Chernobyl disaster and standing alone in the middle of the field as a tremendous and unimaginable piece of Hollywood scenery set up for an apocalyptic movie. And in 1997, the President committed the act of pure kazantypical madness and threw a 5,000-person party, "The Night at the Reactor," which established a tradition of the Nuclear Nights and went down in the history of Russian rave movement.

In 2000, the festival was forced to change its place. Since then, it has no longer been a festival, but a republic. The Independent Kazantip Republic that can freely move in space, wherever the president wants and where the nation is better off. The Kazantip Republic borrowed the name from the headland it occupied early on and enticed its devout followers away to become the Great Nation ruled by a small president. He has been ruling this imaginary but great country for 19 years. Something like that...

Why is Kazantip so long? Is it difficult to get through an entire month of partying?

Why so long? Because there are things that are never enough. Like summer, sea, friends, fun and good music. Sure, an entire month of partying could be really difficult and even boring. But Kazantip is not only about partying, it’s about living. So the great Kazantip nation is just living, gathering energy for the following long winter ;) As for us, organizers of this movable feast, then yes, sometimes it’s a hard mission. But still noble. So we’re okay with that.

Drum & bass producer Alexander Pavlenko, AKA Sunchase, will release his debut album this summer on Drone Audio.

Entitled Static Nitro, the new record features mostly new tracks by the Ukrainian artist, plus a few selections from his recent 12-inches. Overall, the album's sound is lean and atmospheric, with bits of 4/4 rhythm ("Dew Point") and moments of dubstep compatibility ("Pushing This"). In addition to Pavlenko himself, Static Nitro features several guest appearances by other members of Eastern Europe's drum & bass scene, including Abstract Elements, Electrosoul System and St. Petersburg's Kontext, who appears here under his Dissident alias.

Tracklist
01. Restored
02. Violet
03. Lapdance feat. Dissident
04. Keyring
05. My Lovely Button
06. Alluvion feat. Electrosoul System
07. Mountain Top
08. Away From Here
09. Moulded
10. Phantom feat. Abstract Elements
11. Breakpoint (CD Version)
12. Fantomas
13. Pushing This
14. Asphalt

Drone Audio will release Static Nitro in June, 2010.