Dmitry Vasilyev

I was so sad to hear of the shocking death of Dmitry Vasilyev this past week.

Dmitry and I never met, but corresponded for many years. He broadcast an hour long programme, in Russian, about Human Greed – something that no English speaking outlet has done – and distributed my recordings in Russia via his Monochrome Vision label.

I, in turn, happily tried to sell his own Monochrome Vision releases from the UK.

I always loved the way that he insisted we break up CD packaging and send only paper parts, to minimise costs and reduce the chances of theft in the postal system.

It felt like an act of resistance. Even more so as the design aesthetic of MV seemed staunchly rooted in stark black and white, photocopy quality printing.

Social media has given me an insight as to how far and wide this remarkable man had impacted on the international experimental music scene.

IEM One Hour Special on Human Greed (Russian)

Outside of music, the only thing I knew him to be fond of was mushroom picking. Seems he will never now give me lessons in how to determine the safe ones to pick and cook.

Should any of his friends or family chance upon this, let me offer my sincere condolences and respect. He is a great loss to many people.

  • Frans de Waard is organising a Gargantuan tribute release commemorating Dmitry which will be made available via, I think, Bandcamp. I’ll update with a link here when I have more detail to hand.