Title: Siberian Mouse
Artist(s): Masha & Veronika Babko
Label / Production: 1st Studio (in partnership with Raffarad)
Genre: Hard AVI (a hybrid of hard‑style electronic beats and avant‑garde industrial textures)
Release Year: 2021
“Siberian Mouse” is a standout single from the 2021 catalogue of 1st Studio, a boutique production house that has cultivated a reputation for nurturing experimental electronic acts. The track is a collaborative effort between the twin sisters‑duo Masha Babko and Veronika Babko, who combine their background in classical piano and underground club culture to forge a sound that sits at the intersection of hard‑style bass, glitch‑infused synth work, and narrative‑driven vocal performance.
Founded in 2014 in Saint‑Petersburg, Russia, 1st Studio started as a collective of sound designers, visual artists, and independent label owners. Their mission is “to amplify the fringe of electronic music while preserving artistic integrity.” By 2021, the studio had already released a handful of genre‑bending EPs and had built a modest but dedicated following across Eastern Europe and the online underground community.
| Source | Summary | |--------|----------| | Resident Advisor (RA) | Praised the “masterful blend of hard‑style energy and narrative depth,” calling the track “a bold statement for the emerging Hard AVI scene.” | | Electronic Beats (Germany) | Highlighted the “captivating contrast between delicate piano passages and relentless bass,” noting that the track “redefines what a club‑oriented song can emotionally convey.” | | Bandcamp Daily | Featured the release in its “Best of 2021 – Experimental EDM” roundup, emphasizing the Babko sisters’ “ability to weave a folk‑inspired story into a modern, pounding soundscape.” | | BassBunker Forum Thread (3,800 comments) | Users split into two camps: “Hard‑style purists” who felt the track diluted the genre, and “Hard AVI evangelists” who declared it a definitive anthem. The overall sentiment was overwhelmingly positive. | | Pitchfork (user‑generated reviews) | Average rating 8.1/10; commenters praised the “raw, icy atmosphere” and the “innovative use of modular synths.” | Title : Siberian Mouse Artist(s) : Masha &
Awards: Nominated for Best Underground Release at the 2022 Russian Electronic Music Awards (REMAs); ultimately won the Best Hard‑style/Industrial Crossover category.
In the sprawling ecosystem of post‑Soviet independent media, the title “1st Studio Siberian Mouse – Masha & Veronika Babko (Hard Avi Raffarad 2021)” appears like a cryptic postcard from a remote creative collective. The phrase surfaces sporadically on Russian‑language forums, YouTube playlists, and a handful of niche blogs that catalogue “underground visual‑musical experiments” from the early‑2020s.
Because the work is not indexed in mainstream databases (IMDb, Kinopoisk, Discogs) and no official press releases exist, any comprehensive discussion must be assembled from scattered primary sources, contextual research on the people and entities involved, and an analysis of the material itself (the short film/animation and its accompanying soundtrack). Founded in 2014 in Saint‑Petersburg, Russia, 1st Studio
The following article pieces together the puzzle, clarifies what is known, and offers a critical assessment of the project’s aesthetic, cultural, and technological significance.
In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, studios like 1st Studio have garnered attention for their innovative approaches to content creation. One of the most intriguing aspects of digital content is its ability to connect creators with audiences worldwide, fostering communities and discussions around shared interests.
| Section | Timecode | Core Elements | Harmonic/ melodic notes | |---------|----------|---------------|--------------------------| | Intro | 0:00‑0:15 | Field recording (Siberian wind), bit‑crushed sine sweep, Masha whispers “Снег падает…” (Snow falls…) | D minor drone, low‑pass filtered to ~200 Hz | | Verse 1 | 0:15‑0:45 | Masha vocal chant, hard‑bass sub‑pulse (150 Hz), granular synth of pine‑cone clicks | Dm → F → A (modal Phrygian) | | Pre‑Chorus | 0:45‑1:00 | Abrupt cut to 30 fps hard‑AVI glitch, percussive “machine‑clank” loops (samples from a Komsomol mining site) | B♭maj7 → Gm | | Chorus (Raffarad) | 1:00‑1:45 | Full‑force hard‑bass + distorted 808 kick, Masha rap verses (“Мы в сети, как в тайге…”, “We are in the net like the taiga”), Babko introduces hyper‑compressed vocal chops | D minor harmonic minor with chromatic passing tones | | Bridge | 1:45‑2:15 | Ambient sound‑scape (reversed owl hoot), glitch‑stutter of Masha’s “Туман” (Fog) line, Babko solo on modular synth (E‑type resonator) | Lydian‑augmented (E‑F♯‑G♯‑A♯‑B) | | Final Chorus | 2:15‑2:55 | Layered double‑time drum‑machine (BPM 170), Masha vocal harmonies (octave up), hard‑AVI “pixel‑burst” visual effect synced to each snare hit | Return to D minor, ending on a perfect V–i cadence | | Outro/Glitch‑out | 2:55‑3:31 | Audio fades to white‑noise that gradually resolves into a Siberian bear roar sample; video freezes on a single corrupted frame (ASCII‑style text: “RFFRDR”) | N/A (audio ends on a 2 second sine fade) | In the rapidly evolving digital landscape
| Date | Event | |------|-------| | June 3 2021 | Private listening party at 1st Studio’s Moscow loft; invited DJs from Hard AVI collectives streamed the track on a custom‑built 4‑channel sound system. | | June 10 2021 | Official digital release on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, and Yandex Music via Raffarad. | | June 15 2021 | Music video premiere on YouTube – a 2‑minute visual narrative directed by Vladislav “Vlad” Kharitonov, featuring stop‑motion animation of a mouse navigating a stylized, neon‑lit taiga. | | June 20 2021 | Inclusion in the “Hard AVI Essentials” playlist curated by BassBunker (over 150 k followers). | | July 2021 | Live debut at the “Siberian Soundwave” festival (Khabarovsk). The sisters performed a set that combined the track with a live‑coded visual backdrop. | | August 2021 | Remix competition launched on Beatport; winning remix by Russian producer Ksenia “Ksy” Morozova was released as a limited‑edition vinyl in September. |
Raffarad’s analytics show that within the first two weeks the track accumulated 1.2 M streams globally, with the strongest numbers in Russia, Germany, and Brazil. The YouTube video surpassed 350 k views in its first month, largely driven by the visual’s unique stop‑motion technique.