1996. Yura Shatunov, four years after the breakup of Laskovyy Mai, releases the album "Iskusstvennoe dykhanie" (Artificial Respiration) - ten hits in rave remixes. Release date: 1 January 1996, according to iTunes. The remixes were done by E. Rodionov at solaris station and V. Afanasyev at C&M Records. "Laskovyy mai remix" is a query with 1,851 monthly impressions in Russian Wordstat: people are looking not just for old songs but for their processed versions. Let's break down what was actually done with Laskovyy Mai songs - and how a remix differs from a cover on this material.
"Iskusstvennoe dykhanie": rave remixes of 1996
After the breakup of Laskovyy Mai in 1992, Shatunov moved to Germany, trained as a sound engineer and worked in the studio. His producer was Arkady Kudryashov - the former administrator of Mirazh and Laskovyy Mai. The first solo album, "Znaesh" (originally "Vot i konchilsya mai"), was recorded in 1992. In December 1992 Shatunov appeared on stage for the first time as a solo artist with the song "Zvyozdnaya noch" at the "Christmas Meetings". By 1996, when "Iskusstvennoe dykhanie" came out, Shatunov already had two solo albums - "Znaesh" (1992) and "Ty pomnish" (1994, label PolyGram Russia). The rave remixes became the third release in his solo discography.
The album was released under two names simultaneously - "Laskovyy mai" and "Yuriy Shatunov". According to iTunes, the tracks were published in two versions: under "Laskovyy mai" on the album "Iskusstvennoe dykhanie. 10 khitov v remiksakh" and under "Yuriy Shatunov" on "Iskusstvennoe dykhanie (10 khitov v remiksakh)". The genre listed in iTunes for the Shatunov version is "Dance". For the Laskovyy Mai version - "Pop".
The full tracklist - ten songs, all from the early Kuznetsov repertoire:
- "Sedaya noch (Remix)"
- "Belye rozy (Cool Front Remix)"
- "Metel v chuzhom gorode (Remix)"
- "Tayushchiy sneg (Remix 1996)"
- "Rozovy vecher (Remix)"
- "Vsyo naprasno"
- "Leto (Remix)"
- "Nu chto zhe ty (Remix)"
- "Ya otkrovenen lish s lunoyu (Remix)"
- "Ya otkrovenen (Remix)"
The remixes were recorded by E. Rodionov (solaris station) and V. Afanasyev (C&M Records) - according to Shatunov's official website. The "Cool Front Remix" mark on "Belye rozy" indicates that a specific remixer or team by that name worked on that track. For more on how the remix works as a genre - technically and legally - see the article on eurodance remixes.
What a rave remix changes
The 1996 rave remix works with the source recording. This is the key difference from a cover. The remixer takes the original - Shatunov's vocal, the synthesizer parts - and lays a new beat on top: a four-on-the-floor kick, hi-hats, a bass line in the techno-trance style of the mid-1990s. The tempo goes up, the dynamic range compresses, the vocal gets reverberation and delay. The melody and lyrics stay - but everything around them is different.
The 1988 originals are lyrical synth-pop with a slow tempo and "breathing" dynamics: the kick and snare play a "live" feel, the bass follows the harmony. The 1996 remixes are dance music with a straight kick and a flat level: the kick hits on every beat, the bass is sequenced, the tempo is raised to rave standards. Two different listeners: one sits and remembers, the other dances.
Remix versus cover: the technical boundary
On Laskovyy Mai material, the boundary between remix and cover comes down to one question: what happens to the original recording.
- Remix - work with the source recording. The vocal, instruments and structure of the original are kept as material; a new beat, bass and effects are layered on top. "Iskusstvennoe dykhanie" (1996) is remixes.
- Cover - re-recording from scratch. The vocal, instruments and arrangement are recorded anew; what remains from the original is the melody, lyrics and harmony. The Disco Magic & valex77 eurodance cover is a cover. A detailed breakdown is in the article on the "Sedaya noch" remix.
- Remake - re-recording of the same song by the same performer in a new arrangement. Shatunov's 2002 album "Sedaya noch" is remakes: Shatunov re-sang his old songs with digital sound.
The AI cover with Kanye West (April 2026) is a separate case: neither a remix nor a cover in the traditional sense. The original recording is not used, a new vocal is not recorded - the voice is generated by a neural network. This is a third category that did not exist before the 2020s.
The 2009 film soundtrack
In 2009 the biographical film "Laskovyy Mai" was released. The soundtrack included a rap version of "Sedaya noch" by Negativ featuring Tati - not a remix or a cover in the pure sense, but an adaptation: the chorus melody is preserved, but the verses are reworked to a hip-hop beat, and the lyrics are supplemented with rap inserts. The film brought Laskovyy Mai songs back into mass circulation and sparked a new wave of interest in remixes and reinterpretations. In 2011 "Sedaya noch" received a "Song of the Year" diploma as a super-hit - renewed recognition for a song that by then had existed for 23 years, surviving the cassette era, a Melodiya vinyl, a rave remix and a solo remake.
The 2002 "Sedaya noch" album: remakes, not remixes
On 1 February 2002 Shatunov released the solo album "Sedaya noch" - 13 tracks, according to iTunes. The album included new versions of two songs: "Sedaya noch" and "Detstvo" (Childhood). The commercial success was significant. "Padayut listya" (Falling Leaves) was the only new song to become a hit in its own right. These are not remixes: Shatunov re-recorded the vocal and arrangement from scratch. Digital instruments instead of analog synthesizers, an adult voice instead of a teenager's. But the harmonic foundation is the same.
Between the 1996 remixes and the 2002 remakes another album came out - "Vspomni mai" (3 March 2001, per iTunes). This is neither remixes nor remakes: the album contained new material. The main hit was the song "Zabud" (Forget) - lyrics by Sergei Kuznetsov, who collaborated with Shatunov during the solo period. Kuznetsov also co-wrote the next album, "Esli khochesh… Ne boysya" (2004), including lyrics to the song "Ne boysya". This means Kuznetsov continued writing for Shatunov after Laskovyy Mai broke up - but no longer as the group's leader, rather as a commissioned songwriter.
The 2002 remake solves a different problem than the 1996 remix. The 1996 remix moves the song into a dance register for clubs and discos. The 2002 remake updates the sound for those who grew up on the original and want to hear it in 21st-century quality. The difference is in the audience: the rave remix seeks a new listener, the remake retains the old one.
The 2010 digitisation: originals for the first time
On 1 March 2010 the company Monolit, with informational support from Radio Retro FM, released a CD with the original 1988-1989 recordings. All recordings were digitised and officially released in digital quality for the first time. Before that, the originals existed only on cassettes and Melodiya vinyl - formats that by 2010 were no longer widely played. Digitisation does not change the sound - it transfers it to a new medium without re-recording.
Detail: the 1988 originals were recorded on an analog synthesizer at the House of Children's Creativity in Orenburg. The 1 October 1988 re-recording at the SPM Record studio is also analog. Digital quality appeared only in 2010, 22 years after the recording.
2011: new tracks and a re-recording
In autumn 2011 new tracks appeared on Shatunov's official website: "Ot belykh roz" (From White Roses), "Tet-a-tet" and a re-recorded version of "Glupye snezhinki" (Silly Snowflakes). "Ot belykh roz" is not a remix or a cover but a new song referencing "Belye rozy": different lyrics, different melody, but the same imagery. The video for "Ot belykh roz" consisted of fans' photographs and clips from Shatunov's performances. The re-recording of "Glupye snezhinki" is a remake: the same song in a new arrangement.
What a remix does with Laskovyy Mai material
A remix of Laskovyy Mai faces one specific problem: the original 1988 recordings were made on a simple synthesizer with a "live" rhythm section. They do not have isolated tracks - no stems in the modern sense. The 1996 remixer worked not with a multitrack but with a finished stereo recording: he laid a beat over the mix. This limits possibilities - you cannot remove the original bass or replace the vocal without damaging everything else.
That is why the 1996 rave remixes sound like an overlay: the original song plays in the background, and on top - a straight beat and a sequenced bass. The quality of the mix depends on how well the remixer managed to separate frequencies: if the bass of the original and the bass of the remix live in the same range, they turn into mud. This is a technical limitation that distinguishes the 1996 remixes from modern remixes, where stems are available. A modern remixer working with Laskovyy Mai songs has two paths: find the original multitracks if they survive, or use neural-network stem separation - technology that Rodionov and Afanasyev did not have in 1996. For more on how covers of Soviet songs work with arrangements, see the overview of Soviet songs in the italo-disco style. And you can hear the original "Sedaya noch" on the track page.
"Iskusstvennoe dykhanie" of 1996 - ten hits laid on rave rails over a stereo mix. The 2002 remake - the same songs, re-sung with digital sound. The 2010 digitisation - the 1988 originals, for the first time in CD quality. Three different ways of working with the same material, three different listeners, three different tasks. What unites them: Kuznetsov's melody does not change. Everything around it does.