Past Forward: Mariam Otarashvili (Mutant Radio, Tbilisi)

Post Industrial Boys — Post Industrial Boys (Max Ernst, 2004)

Firstly, we are looking back at a foundational classic of Georgia's post-Soviet underground.

Gogi Dzodzuashvili’s 2004 self-titled debut under the Post Industrial Boys moniker is a beautifully intimate artefact of a very specific time. It was born out of the "dark 90s" and early 2000s in Tbilisi, a chaotic period of intense economic collapse, political upheaval, and constant rolling blackouts.

Out of that isolation, Gogi and a group of close friends formed the legendary Goslab collective, using art and music as a way to literally survive the harsh reality around them. Featuring delicate vocal contributions from Natalie Beridze (aka TBA), the record captures a stunningly mature, hazy world.

Giorgi Koberidze — Forests, Tales, Cities, Forests (Kit Records, 2025)

<a href="https://giorgikoberidze.bandcamp.com/album/forests-tales-cities-forests">Forests, Tales, Cities, Forests by Giorgi Koberidze</a>

Jumping into the present with Giorgi Koberidze, whose latest album is the exact reflection of what he does best.

Forests, Tales, Cities, Forests is a masterclass in modern classical and ambient experimentation: music that breathes, shifts, and forces you to slow down and listen.

It serves as a striking reminder of how free sound can be when stripped of corporate algorithms. Working from graphic scores, Giorgi builds an intricate, head-spinning world of 360° sound, mixing traditional instruments of the Caucasus, like the doli and chuniri, with strings, woodwinds, and raw field recordings.

For whoever wants to travel through space and time in Tbilisi‘s forests and ecosystems, this record plays out like a series of shape-shifting soundscapes, mapping out a deep landscape of forested voices and hidden peaks.

We encourage you to sit in the dark while listening, completely free of outside distractions, and let it pull you into its universe.

Mariam Otarashvili, Tbilisi-born and Berlin-based, is a cultural advocate, and the comms and artist coordinator at Mutant Radio. With a focus on empowering artists and communities, Mariam’s experience spans geopolitics, creative collaboration, and artivism, highlighting the transformative power of culture, driving meaningful change across borders.