My morning started with music - and it was a #ttt post from @thebighigg filled with Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. I could hardly stop myself from sharing my favorite Zep or Rainbow songs ;) See, I have long had a desire (and keep putting it off until later) to introduce you to some music 'Made in Russia'. This was partly the reason why I missed issue #130 - I started doing a blog about the Russian underground, but it required more time and efforts, I couldn’t cope in time.
So. There are many great Russian bands that are no worse, and some even better than the English mainstream. In the 1980s and 90s, many names shone on the stage that are unfamiliar to the English-speaking public. Let's fill this gap, at least to some extent. Today's names: Nogu Svelo, Piknik, Splin.
Пикник & Cекта Мо - Будь навсегда
Piknik is big, well-known name from 80-es with a solid fanbase, but what about 'Sekta Mo'?.. Probably you'll find no other LPs by this mysterious band, cause actually it doesnt exist at all! It is just a pseudonym under which the band's leader wanted to hide their new release back in 1998. Before the Millennium, this idea seemed to be flowing in the air...
The song's name can be translated as 'Stay forever'. This is a really timeless song, full of philosofical meaning. I like many of Piknik songs - for their dense texture, poetry, for the fact that they are not literal; it strongly seems to me that they were borrowed here "from the other side”.
Nogu Sveló! - Kharoo mamburu
'Nogu Sveló' is a very unique and unusual band, totally based / build on charismatic personality of its vocalist - Max Pokrovsky. His band is not among my top faves, but some of their songs are truly stand-out and became iconic for their time. 'Kharoo mamburu' is one of them.
The question is: what is this song about? The lyrics will not help to understand this issue! Because it is written in an invented, fantastic, non-existent language, you can say it is meaningless... at least in the linguistic sense.
The video clip itself offers a little more certainty. I came across this interpretation in the Internet:
This is a parable. A man with a banner makes a magical challenge. A group of musicians, supposedly blind, comes to the city. And he begins to play. Here miracles begin - the abolition of execution, the resurrection of the dead. The whole city gathers in the square and dances. But the music ends and the musicians leave. The resurrected girl leaves with them, because here she is superfluous. After all, she died and they were going to bury her. A parable about a small miracle.
One more notable video of same song. It is unofficial - cooked from videofeed of iconic FLCL anime series.
Well... the song is so powerful that perhaps it may accompany well any thing at all, lol. Hope you will enjoy this video, it is amazing! (but, of course, I’m subjective here!)
There also was recorded an instrumental version of the song titled
'Remember Me Remember You' - listening to it without overdubbed vocals allows to enjoy all the extra nuances of the arrangement.
Splin - Romance
Splin is a great Russian band from 90-es. I can't but mention the fact - at some point of their career the band was pick up by SONY and was signed by the major label ... hehe. Splin also has performed on MTV Live!, so there are chances you might be familiar with their music. The album 'Reverse Chronicle of Events', where this songs is from, I consider to be one of the best in the group’s back catalogue, or simply their peak; I definitely recommend you give it a listen.
Possibly, 'Romance' is Splin's most majestic, lyrical and melodic song - like the Beatles' 'Yesterday'.
If you are curious about the lyrics, here is same video with EN subtitles added:
Although subtitles are unlikely to help you understand the meaning of this song, as someone noted in the comment section: "It sounds like a hazy compilation of abrupt words and phrases, which merely don't make sense at all, pretending to be something extremely metaphorical... I have enough innocent logic to conclude this "emperor" has no "clothes". No meaning is to be searched after every populist phrase or politically conjectured "arts" unless you want to unvail the real intention and bios behind between the lines'.
Well, what I can say? thats poetry! These 'abrupt words' are references to the huge layers of context - which, indeed, one cannot understand and enjoy without knowing the Russian cultural code. Sorry!
I hope you enjoyed today's music selection, and travelling around the globe without leaving the Hive. 😎 The post goes for Three Tune Tuesday challenge run by @ablaze. Previous issues: 106 | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110 | 111 | 112 | 113 | 114 | 115 | 116 | 118 | 121 | 122 | 123 | 124 | 125 | 126 | 127 | 128 | 129 | 131 | 132
