AŞ by TATAR KYZ:LAR

**AŞ** is the debut album by TATAR KYZ:LAR with sounds created by **allapopp** and lyrics by **Dinara Rasuleva**.

At the heart of the project is the aş ["ash"] ritual, an old Tatar tradition where family & friends gather to honor ancestors, share meals, and exchange gifts during life events such as deaths, births, and other significant moments. Our cassette is presented to you wrapped as such a gift 🎁🕯️✨

Following centuries of suppression of Tatar culture in Russia, TATAR KYZ:LAR, who initially started in 2020 with songs primarily in russian, have spent the past years rediscovering and reimagining their Tatar identities. Through their music, they seek to reclaim their stolen culture and language while integrating it with their immigrant and queer experiences.

The album includes collaborations with **Aigel Gaisina** (AIGEL), a Tatar musician and poet who has who has played a significant role in shaping contemporary Tatar culture in recent years, and **Sveta Ben**, a Belarusian musician and poet who has made a huge contribution to Belarusian music in the past 20 years. Together **Sveta Ben** and TATAR KYZ:LAR created the first Belarusian-Tatar song in history.

**AŞ** features the **Virtual Tatar Choir** — an AI instrument, trained with manually collected recordings of rural Tatar voices and choirs. The instrument, conceptualized by **allapopp** and implemented by [neuton.ai], explores the intersection of ancestral Tatar culture and futuristic digital technology.

Released with Kota Tones on all streaming platforms and as a cassette, the tape includes a zine providing lyrics and a contextual dive into the themes of each song. The **AŞ** zine is designed by German visual artist **Teresa Schönherr**, providing yet another layer of intercultural conversation.

Amplifying sounds from across the tundra, taiga, and steppe. Northern Eurasia (& beyond)

«Kota» = proto-Uralic: tent/hut/home

Based in Chinook, Cowlitz, & Clackamas lands (PDX)

kotatones.com