Soviet Cream’s YouTube channel is a collection of the bizarre, the taboo-free, and the nonsensical. The maker of these videos, Marginal Pain, re-speeds existing footage, adds filters, or audaciously superimposes other visuals, often pairing them with background music starkly different from the original audio. The results can be phantasmagorical and absurd, yet often utterly captivating, compelling a fixed gaze.

Marginal Pain freely employs visuals and music that span vast differences in time and scale. The name “Soviet Cream” itself seems to reflect this curious blend of nostalgia: “Soviet” evokes a pre-modern, bygone era, while “cream” can symbolize the glossy, often superficial, facade of contemporary life (akin to applying cosmetic powder).

Perhaps the best example of this is his “remix” of traditional Chinese opera. In this video, a Hualian character from Peking Opera dances gracefully to a rhythm of seemingly imitative deep theatrical drums blended with light, euphoric electronic synthesizers, transforming him into a performer reminiscent of a high-fashion runway show. In an homage to Wong Kar-wai, Pain reappropriates the director’s iconic scenes: an androgynous protagonist, amidst futuristic and distorted electronic music, first contemplates before a snowy TV screen in a red room, then steps out into a radiant, electric cityscape, parading through the streets before vanishing into a golden haze. Another piece, a video tour of a rental apartment uses somber and unsettling layered music overlaid with calligraphic text watermarks, seemingly expressing Pain’s anxieties and fears regarding the constraints and erosions imposed by modern urban life.

The content of this YouTube channel, whether surprising or unsettling, showcases Marginal Pain’s keen perception of image and sound. It also serves as a gateway to his unique artistic vision, an unconventional visual style, and the intricate workings of his creative mind, demonstrating a distinct talent for video editing, sound curation, and evocative mood-setting.

Featured video: Wong Kar Wai Homage