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Below are 20 journal entries, after skipping by the 20 most recent ones recorded in
Andrei Kultyshev's LiveJournal:
| Sunday, March 30th, 2014 | |
| 11:49 pm | Intermediary III. The long shot. Grazhdanskaya Oborona.  So, this is it. The Big Wave had made a full circle. The high tide brought a new russian pop. It was great time, as it`s seen from now, and now it`s gone. It is not so gruesome since enough time have passed, and we are awaiting a new big surge. The discovery of Big Waves gives us this hope. It has happened, that this discovery became the main contribution that was made by this book to the theory, history, or cultural studies, whatever, of the music, at least the russian music. Russian popular music develops cyclically. We have witnessed two these cycles the first of circa 1989 – 1994, and the second 1998 – 2007. The second was under consideration in this book. These were the steep growths in an amount and quality of an russian musical scene. Between them and after was a death desert. The changes at the beginning were always radical and as if from nowhere. Just yesterday there was nothing to listen to. And then during the first year appears a great amount of new groups. Their albums became kinda cultish. And farther surge only grows every year with new groups, styles, cult albums, legendary concerts, clips, soundtracks, celebrieties, everything in between, musical tastes and music folders. It plumbs at one moment as it roars. Today you are a voice of a generation, but the wave ends, and you sound completely obsolete as if from another era. And it is irrevocable. The russian popular musical culture divides in three part. It is a really popular artists, a show business, and an official scene. At the beginning of cycle a show business plays a positive role, it invents a new media, establish kinda shadowish but working channels of distribution, and it gives a way to artisists, which are really popular or have a potention to become so. The russians are very talented, and musical genuises are always in an abundance, but this is not the country where if you talented enough you can make it on your own. So the window of possibilities is necessarry. For some time everything goes perfect. At the end a show business imagines, after a quite few good precedents, that it can make an artists. But to whose demand they must pander. Then anything succeed in russia it immediately attract ill atentions from the officials. Their role is to trample any healthy development among russians. Russian federation`s ruling clique spoils everything it touches. So when government money, and it has a lot, come to culture and producer make a line to take it, all ends up with a bunch of zombie artists which clog everything. Their art produces only barfs. And all falls in hibernation again to next the rite of spring. The music is the most abstract of all arts. And russians are very reallistic nation, in sense that they need to know what is it all about, they need explanations, they can make a huge mistakes and dream unrealistic dreams, but not abstract without tangible content at least in perspective. It sounds misty itself, but clearity russians achieve in a process not at the beginning. So what are the consequence that it brings to the popular culture. It`s the big one, the lyrics matters. Popular tracks must have good, or catchy, or senseful lyric. The lyric that can be sang. We love sang, even dances must have words, proof or doesn`t happen. The good song in russian case it is also a good poetry. The poetry creates a backdrop, the concrete landscape where all happens. And in our case the concrete is a right word. Because the backdrop, the themes of this wave was absolutely urban. The big central city, not always its center, rather “sleeping quaters” that is there where the action took place. There where the huge amount of young energy condenced at the time. They were good generation, university students, high school boys and girls. They were smart, honest, and beautiful. Too good for this country, lately occurs that it got for them only police batons. But it was after the wave. Now all seems fine, not excellent, but going in right direction. And pop culture blossomed. Local night clubs thrived, peoples liked to meet each other, one perceived another as a good man or woman too, they even somehow began to trust each other. And the beauty was born. This is another feature of this period that the beauty come into life. Not social concerns, struggle, yearning, longing, lusting, anxiety, pathos, prophecy, or extasy. But the beauty, some kind of everyday beauty of normal life. It was so new for russians to live without distortions, just straigthforward. As they dreamed of for so long. The way of living that suits them most. The good, quiet, bourgeois life. Middle class mightiness. Of cause it was only shining ahead but young people start see it. A possibility of beauty, comeliness.  |
| Wednesday, March 26th, 2014 | |
| 9:46 pm | Music 2.0. Katya Chehova.  ( Read more... ) It will be a complete utopia. The second coming of a rave culture but on a base of electronic dance music, with more vocal part in it. Every high school student would dabble with creating the sound, instead of scoring points in computer games, they would be sharing their tracks with peers through nets, instead of useless funny pics and wit sayings. The vocal would be female. So they would create a duos, lad on keypad and lass with mic. Not relaxing substances, but uptighting stiring stuff. Unabashed revelry. The lyric of cause will be rebelious. Not depressed shit of self-depricating rap cryings and complaints. But strong energetic defiance lyric of full blooded youth. What style will be mostly conducive to revolution. What`s music better suited to take a possession of a goverment building. What`s music will arise campuses. Luscious loud vivifying fast music. Bright color suave clothes, young assertive faces, beautiful bodies, sharp minds, good guys. That`s my vision. That`s right, electronic music is your future freedom.  |
| Monday, March 24th, 2014 | |
| 5:27 pm | Second season. Industrious approach. Maks Fadeev.  So where was the russian show business all these years, and why it did not can get a traction during this fruitful period. The backbone of show business are producers. In a half cases they were a prolific composer, who wrote for numerous groups and artists, in another half cases it were not trustworthy entrepreneurs, who for whatever reason it was decided to dabble in artist‘s promotion. And in a some ridiculous cases producers were just husbands of women with ambitions of pop-star. Let‘s talk about the real ones. We already met the specie of this kind. Igor Matvienko composer, producer, and creator, who stayed behind the group Ivanushki International. In these years of a high period of the wave he put together another two hugely successful groups Korni and Fabrika, boys‘s band and girls‘ band respectively. They were not a cult group, but they were fine. Another example that we can bring to bear is Maks Fadeev he produced many great hits, but no great artists. It happens sometimes. So he creates many artist and groups that had one great hit and then fall into oblivion. He was bigger than his artists. The scheme was that the producer-composer concieved an idea, then searched for young attractive people with potential ability to decent sing, dance, or perform. Then put together a group, with members bonded with obligation to him according a signed contract. They issued a music material. Then became popular, and went on a tours. This process was aired on tv. The first two season of tv programm Fabrika Zvezd (Star‘s Factory) were great. It was a reality show where twenty young performers live through a process of boasting their performer‘s ability and getting a contract with famous producer. In a first season the producer role belonged to Igor Matvienko, for the second season this role was played by Maks Fadeev. The peculiarity of this show was that they really create a pretty decent artists from very raw material that they had. And groups that appeared during the show became really popular and stayed on russian pop scene long after the show had ended. We can named artists such as above mentioned Korni and Fabrika, or for example for the second season Yulya Savicheva. These groups and artists evolved in a business model, so there is no pivotal album, there are a bunch of hits which they issued occasionally, such as for a new season, summer hit, christmas hit and etc. How can someone recognize an indespensable listening in this case, it`s simple if the clip was shot, there is the possibility that the song was asumed to be good enough for promoting. All other songs with notable exceptions thoug is just an album filler recorded to complete to the album two-three noteworthy singles. The model fifty-fifty worked for pop for another two-three seasons. But after that it began stutter. First, there is no infrastructure for musical tours in russian federation. One hand is enough to count big concert venues. In most cities concert must take place on an theater scene with sitting audience only, or in a night clubs, where space is restricted. So there is no specialized halls convenient for concert goers and suited well for artists. Second, the show business is a shadow zone even in a more developed countries. In russian federation you shouldn`t trust your contragents. Embezzlers are everywhere. If you buy ticket the concert may or may not take a place for a numbers of reasons. People who booked your group for concert in a particular town may turn to be a con artist, when it`s time to settle afterevent payments. Third, the huge chunk of pop scene is backed by government money. It is hard to compete with the state. The government do not need money, for them it is big expense not profit that matters. State`s money fend off not only independent artist, but also even professional show business producers from the market. Russian federation`s clique promote old soviet artists which can only provoke barfs from the listeners or viewers. So if you are a producer and want to compete not with goverment but for goverment money, then you sell your soul and your audience, fan base, and everything in between. It was surprisingly long while russian producers had been balancing between catering to audience and satisfying the state. But everything has its end. They were excelent though and immensely musically endowed after all. |
| Friday, March 21st, 2014 | |
| 1:17 am | Girls power continue. Ranetki.  Russian pop music may brag about uninterrupted streak of young female`s group, which replace each other on a big scene. We already met some of them such as Tatu or Propaganda. The next big thing was becoming to be a group Ranetki. ( Read more... )  ( Read more... ) But it is not right to conclude so downliftingly depressed. They`d catched the wave nevertheless. And while we have young talented girls we would have an pop rock good loking sound loud crasy music. Wait, they`ve came, inevitably as a spring break. And that would be awesome.  |
| Tuesday, March 18th, 2014 | |
| 1:27 pm | The tertiary becomes first. Factor2.  First two parts were assigned to tell the story of russian pop music, first was about beginners and common tendencies of music scene, second was about the pinnacle period`s group and tha content they brought to the table. Now, in third part we will know how the story ends. Groups under consideration here came into being on the downward slope of the wave, may be it wasn`t so obvious at the time, but it was sunset. Tender, beautiful, and inevitable. What makes this sequence irreversible we will talk too. So meet a today`s host – group Factor2. That`s the last iteration of kinda street pop. Not pretencious dance music for the wide range of youth of simple upbringing. They remind Ruki Vverh, not sophisticated catchy melodies, lyrics a tint darker but also about life of simple guys. By the way Sergey Zhukov, leader of kings, was their producer. ( Read more... )  |
| Saturday, March 15th, 2014 | |
| 2:25 am | Intermediary II. The strange case of Pasha K. Pavel Kashin.  This Intermediary conclude a second part of this book. In these chapters we were dealing with a high stage of the Big wave, the first part described the dawn, now it`s a high noon of russian pop music, best groups, big festivals, legendary concerts, indispensable albums. In the first part we more considered the general rules of russian pop, now we dove in content, songs` lyrics, artists` image, backdrop, and the emerging world as a whole, that art of this wave created. In the first Intermediary we meet the group Kirpichi that stuck in a previous era, now let`s meet an artist who doesn`t belong to neither of them. Pasha Kashin his art not only haven`t time dimension it also denies any classification attempt. He even wasn`t heard on radio since no one station could figure out how to include his songs in their playlists. Returning to the main point what was the world that had been created or reproduced by the artists. First of all this world was radically urban. It is a world of big cities, capitals. The defining break through moment for the group Zveri for example was when they embraced the aesthetic of massive, consisted of ten-twelve store buildings blocks at the outskirts of towns, where the modern russians live. The cultural center belonged to the groups like Multfilmy. Zemphira covered the town as an idea, in platonic sense of a word. Even second incarnation of russian rock had a good chances to occupy campuses, which in russia`s case are scattered in a dense town`s quarters as well. So music arrived to the place of living of its listeners. Art brings magic, and for the period of time it seems that where people can live, and even be rooting for the future. As of time the place doesn`t really matter for Pavel Kashin, he live a meter above the mundane earth. So his magic may exist, but the magic of above mentioned artists with their close ties to the cities may exist only while a tiny portion of it remains in an urban landscape. Since russian towns had been devoid of this possibility of happiness, the music was doomed. Second major feature was an intellectualism that soared at this period. Peoples were becoming smarter every year and so were the music. The previous wave`s tunes was primitive, ridiculously cheap. Now people started to appreciate more elaborate melodies, more sophisticated music cadence, meaningful lyric. Simple pop remains but it was not him, who delineate a portrait of current music vibes. Zemphira had very exquisite tracks, and were at the top of billboards. Even boys` bands honed their style to artistic acuteness. Rockers and punks weren`t swearing or cursing, imagine this one. Pavel Kashin was so well-mannered that he completely cut himself off the public life. Pure art. I am making song, you are free to buy albums and savor it. But should I really burden your experience with appearances as a talking head at shows or magazines, may be sometimes a small concert, if you interested. Extremely refined position, and he had huge fan base consonantly well-polished. As a third characteristic can be named an optimistic beauty. It was kinda mood of the period. Some may find beauty in destruction, that was the point of a previous wave by the way, or construction. This time it was rather a beauty of being, just existence in an acceptable circumstances of a desent life, a rare period, especially in russia. Time when pursuit of happiness seems a real opportunity. The freedom is an important issue for the many artists. There is only very few of them who can push aside everything and write a music in an ivory tower. And Pasha Kashin was one of them. So to conclude this intermediary about main traits of content of russian pop music through this period let`s repeat them in a reverse order. Third is a positive contented self-assertive mood of a man or a woman, today is good, the noon is bright. Second is the quality of music tissue that had rised tremendously, excellent music for the good people. By the way it was completely original content and in a some cases never seen before. First is a backdrop which become recognizable for young urban listeners, their everyday landscape which was reimagined and enriched through an emotionally charged magic of russian music. Power of thought and beauty pierced the reality and engulfed a life enchanting it into a better place.  |
| 2:17 am | The pure genius. Anna Plotnikova.  The genius can be born everywhere, it`s a matter of probability. So most genuises would originate from a humble backgrounds. Even from a rural area as our today`s protagonist. They had families that could not understand what`s going on with a youngster. If you are talented, you may endure life`s circumstances for a very long time, dodging like a rat from mop and running from corner to corner. But if you are a genius, you would just fly away through a transom. That comparison of talent and genius isn`t mine, it belongs to one genius. Our protagonist escaped so many deadeands, rural nowhere, community college, even got a higher education, and became at a time a professional entertainer, some sort of though, as it is entertainer at spa resort, this resort also is some sort of, because it situated at a place with harsh climate without any tourist attractions. It illustrates that in russian federation everything is upside down, and to wave your way to any decent destination in life you must be a genius. Of cause it doesn`t concern a common crowd, ordinaries which coast their ways unconsciously in any circumstances. So what is an oeuvre of a protagonist. It is a singer-songwriter`stuff. Guitar, synthesizer, female vocal, and charming songs full of enthralled lyric about life, struggles, happiness and everythings in between. Good sound perfomance. Where do the magic goes from? ( Read more... ) P.S. Mixtape of Anna Plotnikova`s songs you may listen at http://8tracks.com/andreikultyshev/anna |
| 12:27 am | По ситуации на Украине.  Судьи взяли на себя роль самых гнусных людей в эРФии, они приговаривают невиновных. За это им много платят. Вообще в нормальных странах судьи наоборот уважаемые люди и при этом с достатком. Но в эРФии это каста за гранью добра и зла: - Вы зачем невиновного посадили? - А мне детей кормить надо! Иногда они наоборот оправдывают виновных, причем по той же самой причине — детей кормить надо. Обращайтесь в суд стало ругательством в эРФии, когда оппонента посылают куда подальше. ( Read more... ) |
| Wednesday, March 5th, 2014 | |
| 2:37 pm | The tales of a dark forest. Tem Grinhill.  It is always intresting how people, situated in a same time and places, manage to live in a completely different worlds. For example, every normal man or woman had a happy childhood, no matter what happens in their countries at the same time, except for extreme calamities, but it is a very rare cases. Opposite it is hard to find a fully content adult, they are dogged by depressions, anxieties, and unstable situations on the markets. Not only childrens and adults live in a different worlds, it may be seen with a best clarity among adolescent human beings. How many niche cultures came into existence through the imagination of fast grown kids. ( Read more... ) |
| Monday, March 3rd, 2014 | |
| 2:39 pm | The real underground, or the rise of the rap. 63 region.  A collateral scion of this big wave happened to be the Russian rap. It is a secondary phenomenon, which never made it to the big stage. But as the undercurrent it must be crowned as the biggest, according to the wide spread, especially among uneducated youngters. Russian rap experienced fastest rise and fall in a history of russian music. First of all there was not long hidden roots of rap in russian soil, there was actually one try in early nineties to dovetail East17-ish style with sexually explicit lyric, but it was long long ago. So it appeared from nothere, it never changed, it lasted only five years 2000 – 2005, and after that all was over. In previous chapters I said that if something doesn`t occur in the capital, it doesn`t exist at all in russian pop music, with minor exception for the second capital. But it seems that Russian rap doesn`t consist with this rule either. It was music of big provincial towns, in russian federation these towns may have million of denizens, but no clout in any areas. So depression and lamentations of russian rap suited them very well. There was no lead artist on rap scene in any given period of time. There was a loose net of festival events, and some kind of a rap crowd, where people know each other. But there was not specialized clubs, there wasn`t even a special radio station to air their songs, they were very rare guests on radiowaves. So there was no infrastructure. Nevertheless it spreaded like wild crown fire form peer to peer, especially as I said among youngsters, seems their curcuit has not resistence to the rap at all. The typical russian rap group projected really discouraging staff, that reflects the life of white nigga of depressed urban outskirts. But reality at this moment was completely opposite, crime rates had dropped significantly since nineties, and the economy was on the rise, and russia was becoming more europe-like country in early 00`s. So it corresponded only to adolescent feelings of global disparity and nothing else. Sad and angry rap seemed unnatural. Joyful and self-assertive was more appropriate. The main themes were sex, booze, and success. Lyrics were not sophisticated, music wasn`t exquisite either. They overcomed by young energy and unabashedness. 63rd region is not your typical russian rap crew. Of cause it had shared a common fate, but they were very talented, not only bold and young and slightly gifted in rhyming. So common fate, they were from big town, but it was provincial and had nothing to offer for good artists. They made two outstanding albums without any help, and never get any help later, they were not aired by stations, they were not booked for the touring. Everyone could recognize something familar when accidentally hear their songs, but had no clue what the group it was. That`s the common fate of russian pop artist, who may be quite popular, but can`t make a fortune out of it. The lack of institutional structure, in russian federation whatever you need, you may be sure it doesn`t exist or isn`t properly functioning. Not typical was that they were not depressed at all and their songs were musically mature. You may listen 2003`s album Bez Pravil tracks 7, 11, 13, 17 and 2005`s album Riskovat tracks 7, 9, 10. They had signed all what they want, and then proceed their lives in other directions, may be for the better. Russian rap didn`t get traction on russian soil, it still remains in adolescent ghetto, which he will never escape. Not a big deal, russian rap had been, and was not worse than other local raps of other nations. It a good niche at best. It is not the main path for russian pop music, it happens, seems rap after all belongs only to the place of origin. P.S. For today`s post I prepared a mixtape of Russian rap artists so you can embark on a brief musical journey at http://8tracks.com/andreikultyshev/russ |
| 9:12 am | 36 first dates.  Ко мне как к лучшему Wellness consultant`у часто обращаются люди, обеспокоенные предстоящим им свиданием со страшным и неизвестным. Так как ужасным грядущим часто является не менее обеспокоенная женщина или не менее взволнованный мужчина, я думаю необходимо успокоить все заинтересованные стороны и осветить в этом посте правильное отношение к такого рода явлению. Во-первых свидание очень перегруженный термин с излишне мрачными коннотациями, поэтому давайте пользоваться английским date – коротко, ничего выдающегося, и ничего лишнего. Потому как date это действительно довольно обычная, практически повседневная, хотя именно так часто увлекаться этим и не стоит, наверное, рутина. ( Read more... ) |
| Saturday, March 1st, 2014 | |
| 2:30 pm | Part I.  Сделал в виде одного .pdf файла первую часть The End of a Belle Epoque. http://www.pdf-archive.com/2014/02/25/t Из второй части уже написал 4 главы здесь в блоге есть. Следующая глава должна быть про Russian rap. К ней сделал иллюстративный mixtape. Лежит на 8tracks.com: здесь. |
| 2:07 pm | Потлач.  Еще один способ как развить виртуальную экономику предлагается в данном посте. Как известно копирайт зло и используется в тысяче разных способов для ограничения сетевой свободы. При этом единственный разумный аргумент, который не отметается с легкостью, это авторское – хочу и продаю. Действительно если кто-то что-то хочет продать, то почему бы ему не иметь такой свободы. Разумеется после этого под предлогом защиты такой свободы будет вытоптано всё, и кстати именно на этом этапе начинается по настоящему спор копирайта и антикопирайта. Тем не менее сам Первый аргумент – хочу продавать остается. На самом деле люди любят тратить деньги. Достаточно посмотреть как подростки выбирают компьютерные детали. Есть специальные газеты про еду и журналы про одежду. Шоппинг это удовольствие. Однако зачем тратить деньги на то, что можно скачать бесплатно. Притом, что платно сделать то же самое скачивание в десять раз неудобнее, и даже опаснее, если использовать карточку. Поэтому заменим трату денег на их распределение. Новая экономика будет использовать удовольствие от распределения богатства. Допустим вам дали некоторую сумму и предложили ее распределить, это то же самое, что потратить, только при этом ее надо потратить обязательно. Это очень большое удовольствие, за такое удовольствие как распределение денег между авторами люди согласны платить даже свои деньги. Как доказал к примеру kickstarter, где люди тратят специально свои деньги, чтобы пораспределять богатства между производителями контента. Теперь несколько технических вопросов. Во-первых, нужна какая-то глобальная идентификация автор-произведение по-видимому это разумно сделать встраиванием такого идентификатора в сам формат контейнера данных (добавление в файлы распространенных расширений некоторой функциональности). Естественно поручать такой учет государству или централизованной конторе путь к воровству и репрессиям. Поэтому видимо это будет делаться на уровне производителей популярного программного обеспечения. Во-вторых, хитрость ум дурака. Разумеется у умненьких соотечественников сразу щелкнет – а как распределить эти деньги не какому-то автору, а себе обратно. И из-за этой порчи человеков ничего сделать нельзя. Все таки основа потлача это дар, естественная человеческая потребность, но многие ее успешно в себе подавляют. |
| Wednesday, February 26th, 2014 | |
| 5:26 pm | The alternative, or a wrong path of the rock. Korol i shut.  Today we are turning our eyes to the great failure of the Russian rock during this Big wave. The Russian rock was a main theme, some kind of an undercurrent mainstream of a previous Big wave, one that occured in the late eighties early nineties. But in the new circumstances there was no place for rock, the pop unequivocally became the main genre this time. What if we try to make a rock a little more poppish, well we will have got a bullshit. So how it happened. This try has his name it is Nashe Radio and its creator Misha Kozyrev. It will be fair to say from the beginning that this radio was the best. Another stations were a meaningless hodgepodge, and may be turned into a cd-changer without any loss that anyone can notice. But Nashe Radio had an idea and created a second incarnation of russian rock. It had a formative influence that can be compared to the MTV. So what Misha did. He sorted out a groups that was young, had guitars, and was playing a light rock music, without any social tension, depression, self-destruction, and proselytism of hell or heaven of the previous, we may call it a great Russian rock. Let`s entertain people like pop does but with the musical material of greater quality, with a tinge of a more intellectual and sophisticated lyrics, having human faces and urban clothes instead of scenic underwear of pop dolls, and other embellishments of this sorts that pamper to the young well-educated middle class, longing for their socially accepted and stylish way to revel. The frames were established, the hard rotations paved the path, the station became hugely popular, and the influx of new groups ensued. It was the real success, even more substantial it begot a new genre, a very rare thing in a culture. But something went wrong.  Let`s take a step aside and meet our today host a group Korol i Shut. The frontmen has canines growing second row above other teeth, and the same time lacks incisor. The image of group is unkempt ragtag anarchists. Themes of lyric are cannibalism, alcoholism, friendship, brotherhood, joyful suicide, black magic, satan, and musketeers. And it was most popular group that Nashe Radio brings into existence. What the hell is wrong with you people, you ask. Isn`t it supposed to be some easy listening britrock radio for twenty-something stylish urbanites. How could you so fast came from “harukami” to the lead singer named Gorshok (potty). Well, that is the magic power of art. There is two thoughts I have about it. First is there some kind of a soft rock. Of cause the answer is yes, for example the group singing out loud a teenage angst. Let`s make a one step farther, is there a light positive soft rock, well it may be construct somehow “blink your eyelashes and fly up”. But innocently carousing young adult student rejoicing over flowers, it is too much. The russian word glum means the opposite of its english counterpart, it is cruel mocking and deriding. And that was done by Korol i Shut, they`ve come, trampled the flowers, and made the debauchery, by the way full of joy and happiness. Second problem is truthfulness. The Great russian rock was extremely truthful and all the way serious. The backdrop of a New russian rock turned to be illusory. From the other side when new groupstried to use an old card and began to play seriousness or even self-destruction it was a pretense and therefore the false. So they try to continue to put up an edifice but simultaneously toppled two supporting pillars. What can grew out from these juxtaposition and contradiction. Only the likes ofKorol i Shut. The full stop and a dead end for the russian rock, but a really good group itself. Inebriated reverie and carousing with magic, hell, and anarhy no sinister than dark beer. This our light and soft and they rock it.  |
| Monday, February 24th, 2014 | |
| 11:50 pm | It might be going another way, if the second capital was the real one. Multfilmy.  If it doesn`t happen in Moscow, it hardly exist in a country at all. If something occurs in other places, nobody cares. It is a common true, with one exeption – Peterburg. For two centuries it was the capital. When most of the people who lived there were killed or ousted. But the place hadn`t disappeared, and the spirit of this town isn`t something that can be easily erased. So comes new people, and their children, and they continue do it in their own way. ( Read more... ) |
| Friday, February 21st, 2014 | |
| 12:37 am | The beauty. Zemfira.  Zemfira is the most beautiful music ever created during this period of russian pop. Others may arise you, entertain you, she enthralled you. She purify your mind, until the only thing that stays is a still spirit, warm and translucent. “What a stillness, I am alone, Rain goes on, the bubles on a pavement, I`m adding them, and I don`t know you any more always”. It is lyric from the song Krasota (Beauty), that`s the all lyric in this song, but like an impressionist`s painting with minimal means it creates the perfect picture. That`s the highest aesthetic of the time. The feelings of ethereal creature, if the geist have had a soul. So it reflects not the veriest people which live this time but rather men and women living in an platonic world of ideal forms counterparts of themselves. The nearest approximation is a protagonist she-hero of her songs, e.g. “Girl, living in the net” from the track Web-girl. I`m reading what I`ve wrote and it might create a wrong impression that she was completely detached from real life. But the thing is that that she was a real life for a long time. We felt the things in her way of feeling them. “Litle Ann asked to take off the tanks” (Maechki). That`s the feeling of an infinite beaty “Drunking macho is making love and crying that because he knows how so perfectly good when this befalls us” (Macho). Her songs were not optimistic, rare bright, not sensual, it`s really hard to catch the mood, there can be a compare with casting of a spell, but they were clearer than a dew drop. Listen full albums from the first 1998 Zemphira to the last 2005 Vendetta. The last one is perfect you may push a repeat button and fall in love with every track one after another. She compose not a dance music. But it fit very well in a huge stadium concert atmosphere, when light goes off and attendees lit up a thousands of little personal device`s diods, it makes a celestial firmament on earth with miriads of blinking stars. It`s not a punk madness, it is a rapture, that brings an experience of revelation to the concert crowd. Imagine all this while listening a track Ne otpuskai menya. “Eternal and youthful / just behind the dune / awaiting you sailboat / one that I dreamed of”. The current situation in country, what can be said. She barely noticed it in the begining. What is the little turmoils for the eternity, she was speaking with. But the end zoom in very quickly in the last years. It was decided without us that here will be no future. No future means the end of an infinity. So it has brought about almost physically percieved retching feelings. She did must issue the two albums after Vendetta, and she did it in late 2007 and 2009. You may see by their content that they were made by a genius, but they are empty, they are practically posthumonous. Time has stoped, but we still alive. Very few artists can get across this idea. But let return to the core years. The main audience of her songs was well educated youth of big cities. It is a common mistake to attribute the cinicism to the higher level of society. Remaining at the same time for the bottom levels the purity of a simple life. It is right in a completely opposite mode. Higher education aquired, more property possesed, higher level of a culture absorbed the better a man or a woman will be. She raised the bar, elevated the level of discussion between her and the audience. It wasn`t only an entertainment, she gave a new emotions, which her listeners may feel the first time in their lifes, they could adopt them, made them their own, some kind of emotional intelligence was rised in the youth. These were subtle emotions a slight movements of souls toward beauty. |
| Thursday, February 20th, 2014 | |
| 12:13 am | С Дистанции! (мои олимпийские твиты)  Мне очень нравятся эти Игры. Сегодняшняя смешанная эстафета в биатлоне была супер ржачная. Далее мои твиты по ходу дистанции. Казахская биатлонистка не справилась с волнением на огневом рубеже и застрелилась. За украинскую команду бегут Жмыха и Бурдюга! Чешская биатлонистка Габриэль Сукалова первая антропоморфная лыжница на олимпиаде. (I`m not proud about my misogynistic comment.) Массажист российской сборной Григорий Григорьевич Шишкин бежит на следующем этапе. Мой twitter at @aakultyshev |
| Tuesday, February 18th, 2014 | |
| 12:39 am | The voice of a new generation. Zveri. So I am writing a new book. Today I`ve started part 2. Here is a first chapter about a group Zveri.  ( Read more... ) |
| Tuesday, February 11th, 2014 | |
| 12:19 am | Intermediary I. Echo of previous eras, the rave without an end. Kirpichi.  This Intermediary conclude a first part of this short companion. So let`s take our time to sum up all tendencies that we discover in these chapters. First, of all we dealt with an early period of the big wave. This phenomenon hadn`t yet took on all characteristical features. We will deal with its mature state in next part of companion. So first part was about early prominent group and a character of russian pop. It was a surge, all seems to appear at once and mostly in a perfect shape circa year 1998. Later it will mature and sophisticate. Now it was fresh and overwhelming. May be it is a clue that is impossible not to notice that the Big wave has arrived. In first part we embrace the conception of the big wave to make a chronology and clarify the changes in russian pop music. The conception of the big wave includes the observation that for the russian pop music a development goes through the tides and ebbs when still periods during which nothing happens followed by blossom periods of great groups and hits. The waves begins and ends abruptly. Just yesterday`s supergroup percieved today completely obsolete. And waves differs from each other completely as a geological eras. For example Kirpichi is the group that belongs to the penultimate wave of 1989 – 1994, but happens to exist during the last wave of 1998 – 2007. The atmosphere, texts, way of performing all places group in a previous era, but as a living fossil it issued albums in a next one. So its lacking congruity state was obvious to everyone, in spite of they wrote really good songs. Second, we made an acquaintance with a three-tier structure of russian pop music. It consists of an official scene that suckles on taxpayers money and poisons an air with a hate and stupidity. Next goes an regular show business that tries to produce a new musical product for the sake of money and that sometimes brings a pretty discent results. And third the artists that is wildly popular among all russians or some detached groups of people, but for some reasons never made it to the one of two previously mentioned tiers. Kirpichi was too good, too advanced, not corrupted, honest, and having lyrics full of meaning, there was no way that they would be accepted by government musical officials. For the show business producers they stayed out too far from the average mainstream entertainment pop. Russian show business`s not sophisticated to dig up hard money, it can sell only for big audiences and only standartized product. But Kirpichi were well known and even more they had a huge dedicated fan base. So the group was in russian pop music but was not on a pop scene or on radiowaves. And that occurs very often. Third, russian has a great culture. This is not an entrenched isolated national culture, it is a culture of humanity itself. So they have an ability to create the new worlds. Russian pop music produces an original stuff. Had the twentieth century been more benevolent to Russia, it would be a world music mainstream, as it now american, brit, or euro pop are. The big wave`s russian artist create something completely new every time. In previous chapters we`ve already met the boys` band with trip hop hit, an young girls liberation duo, and a classical music as a pop fodder. Not to mention the dance music genius who outshine europop hands down. Well, Kirpichi was something completely different from all your listening experience. That was rave in an epoch of rap. It could be depicted as slow lazy rap, but there was angry rave outbursts as well. Self indulgence, indolence of raving youth, and an rap men`s contempt to the soceity. To say the list that was really unusual and shaking mix, and in the same time it was very good music. Fourth, we discussed that the big wave coincide with three major go-betweens which showed up at this time. They shaped the wave and provide its diffusion to the greater audience. It was the students, night clubs, and pcs. And fifth, to conclude this intermediary, I remember you that we first touched the problem of freedom, how it seems to be the necessary condition of tides and the lack of thereof brings ebbs. May be we will can face this question more thoroughly in a third part. In a second part we will consider a high period of this Big Wave, meet a mature groups of this period, and take a closer look at atmosphere, song`s lyric and music, the video, all the content, message, references, and self identification that are defininng this wave`s russian music.  |
| Sunday, February 9th, 2014 | |
| 1:02 am | Tertiary. Sveta.  Sveta was immensely popular among lay people. There is songs thah are aired all day on radio, their clips are rotated on tv. There is another songs that are appreciated by music aficionado, they complete the collection of melomaniacs. Sveta`s songs were neither one of these two types. There is officially promoted songs by means of government power, there is show businessly backed songs by means of money. Sveta was neither of these either. That happens in rossiyanskaya federation that good stuff finds no way to the top. For officially propelled art it may be too good, since the goverment aim is that that the russian art may exist only if it provoke barfing. And show business has its motto we no need your money. But the Sveta`s case is more intresting then this mundane reality. Cause it unexpectedly and apparently involved a class motive. By knowing that someone is a fan of Sveta you can conclude to which social strata he or she belongs. She was popular among working class youth without higher education. So the students cringe their noses if her songs were played at parties. For music buffs she did not exist. To show business producers she fell between targeted groups. But what the heck these were realy good songs. You may listen Sineglazye Delfiny, Chto Mne delat, Chto Ty Budesh Deleat and many others. You may think I exaggerate it, but the fact is, it was the last artist whose albums distributed on audio cassettes, that proof low social status of users of this obsolete technology. By the way a little detour. During the penultimate big wave of russian pop music circa 1989, the ultimate bearer of music was the cassette. Albums were issued on them. Two cassette`s boombox was the device of choice for listening music, and for copying. Music was spreaded among peers by this copying. Also bootlegged copies were commercially produced, music distribution was ninety percent a black market. In the last big wave the delivery device for pop music was a pc. The auxiliary bearer was a cd disc. It is necessary to clarify, it wasn`t a bought compact disc with an artist`s album. It was a home burned cd, which was used in a car player or at a social gathering. At home to everyone`s needs served a pc with its folder of music collection and media player. To conclude let be hovering a minute on how new music appears in a listener`s folders. It is very important, since it was unique and existing only for the this period of time. The speed for the outer internet was low at these years and also the napsterish file exchange services didn`t really spread the roots on russia`s soil. So you came to your friend home and copied what you like from his or her music collection. Or you connect through local network and do the same. The perks of that method is you recieved a valuable recomendation when you see a well organaized collection. It completely lost since all began use torrent or other downloading services. You must know what you want before. Then you come to your peer you don`t know what you will leave with. This exchange bolstered the big wave, good stuff spread with the speed of light at a dorm network. Frankly speaking I often bought new album`s cds or old album`s dvd mp3 collections cause I liked to have most up-to-date and multifarious music folder, it called test, may be because I was eager to test every music I have had my hands on. And I didn`t bulk to share my knoledge. Peer to peer in these days meant you really new your peers. But as I mentioned Sveta did not diffused through college students` pcs well. The another side of this method of exchange is that you might be taste-shamed for some stuff in your folders. And Sveta`s tracks brought this kind of shame. What contribute to it, perhaps some antagonism between an educated and non-educated youth is really exists. She sang for them, and poaching is bad, but she`s obviously good. |