Ored Recordings: The 'Punk Ethnography' Label Fighting Cultural Erasure in the Caucasus
In the shadow of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a unique record label dedicated to preserving the endangered musical heritage of the Caucasus has found its mission becoming more critical than ever. Ored Recordings, founded by musicians Bulat Khalilov and Timur Kodzoko, practices what they term 'punk ethnography' – a grassroots effort to document the chants, laments, and displacement songs of Circassian and other North Caucasian peoples threatened by historical and ongoing erasure.
A Policeman's Unexpected Endorsement
In May 2022, just weeks after the war began, Bulat Khalilov attended a demonstration in Nalchik, a city in southern Russia's Kabardino-Balkaria region. As protesters gathered around a monument to Circassian war victims, a policeman approached. Khalilov anticipated trouble, but instead received surprising praise: 'Are you from Ored Recordings? I follow you on Instagram. You're doing great.' The gathering was still dispersed, but this encounter underscored the label's resonant impact, even among state enforcers.
Circassia: A Fragmented Homeland
Circassia once spanned from the Black Sea to the Greater Caucasus Mountains, but after a brutal 18th-century Russian invasion, approximately 95% of its people were killed or displaced. Today, the region is fragmented across Russian federal territories, with a diaspora scattered from Turkey to Europe. Soviet and post-Soviet attitudes often framed local culture as backward, leading to internalised doubt among Circassians. Khalilov, born in Nalchik in 1987, describes this context: 'We carried a kind of internalised self-doubt... we strongly felt that we were not Russian, even though we couldn't clearly define what it meant to be Circassian.'
The Sound of Resistance and Memory
Inspired by field recordists like Chris Watson, Khalilov and Kodzoko launched Ored Recordings in 2013. Their work focuses on music shaped by voice, memory, and social function rather than spectacle. Key characteristics include:
- Solo or small-group singing featuring laments, mourning songs, and historical narratives.
- Use of modal melodies, sustained tones, and subtle ornamentation, avoiding Western harmonic structures.
- Instruments like the pkhachich (percussion clappers) or shichepshin (bowed lute/flute) supporting rather than leading the voice.
- Emotion conveyed through breath, timbre, and phrasing, marked by restraint and compression.
Since their debut, the label has released a record annually around 21 May, the Circassian Day of Mourning, commemorating the end of the Russo-Circassian war in 1864. These releases frame the date as a living ritual, using music to mourn loss and assert cultural continuity.
Exile and Renewed Urgency
After February 2022, parallels between Russia's historic conquest of the Caucasus and its current warfare became starkly evident – and dangerously explicit within Russia. Facing suppression of anti-war voices in ethnic republics, Khalilov and Kodzoko felt increasingly isolated. They relocated with their families to Georgia, then to Göttingen, Germany, where they now reside. This move has reshaped their engagement with the Circassian diaspora and opened new creative avenues.
New Directions and Archival Projects
In Germany, proximity to artists has fostered experimental collaborations, such as an electronic project with Martina Bertoni and Stefan Schneider of TAL records. The label continues its core work, with the Karachay band Gollu preparing a new album and Kodzoko's group Jrpjej collaborating with Berlin-based vocalist Svetlana Mamresheva. Archival projects with the Nogai minority are also in development. This month, TAL releases Music from the Caucasus – The Archive of Ored Recordings 2013–2023, a compilation highlighting stories of struggle and historical memory.
A Future Beyond Trauma
Khalilov reflects on the label's evolution: 'Over time, we realised that it's not trauma or a victim narrative that gives value to the music – it's the stories behind it. These songs are tied to genocide, displacement, language loss and everyday colonial conditions that still exist.' He emphasises that the goal is not revenge but envisioning a future where communities coexist freely. In an era of renewed imperial aggression, Ored Recordings stands as a testament to resilience, using punk ethnography to safeguard a culture on the brink.
