Nikita Manin

The third winner of “The Guide 2” competition is a passionate music collector Nikita Manin. Born in Tajikistan, he moved to Moscow together with his family in his teenage years for a better future. He has been involved in music since his early days when his mother brought him a collection of rap music cassettes from the USA. After moving to Russia Manin started to discover artists such as Aphex Twin, Autechre, Flying Lotus and others. Gradually his musical horizons and knowledge expanded and led him to the new worlds of underground sounds. Nowadays he gets his inspiration from Matthew David’s Leaving Records releases, also Emptyset, Andy Stott and similar contemporary production. Lately Manin became interested in mix art as he found dublab.com and secretthirteen.org. Manin started to use music editing software and its full possibilities to create unique musical narratives by adding his specific touch to sound quality and the whole structure. He even streams his radio shows on the internet radio w-o-s.ru and sometimes plays in various underground parties.

Manin has explored the 3rd given topic “Urban ghosts” – the interpretation of forgotten urban landscapes and memories lying beneath the cultural surfaces of the city, city as a hauntological and psychogeographical entity full of ghosts, memories, subconscious impulses, dreams.

In the records

Nikita Manin on the mix

This mix is meant to be listened to with eyes shut, in a shavasana position, but with palms down and instead of relaxing feeling tremor as an inversion of Yoga Nidra. Whereas meditation is all about relaxation, this state is a sensation of stiffness and fear. This mix will lead you to a borderline state and serve as a soundtrack of your inner landscape. It stimulates memories of your inner trips, that stay there in your head as ghosts of your multiple egos. A state of mind when you have just woken up from a nightmare and haven’t realized the reality yet, feeling fear as if it was real.

In the beginning the music is quiet, and then it fades out, but towards the end it becomes like a halter that strangles you and sucks your soul out.