Four days after teachers in Dagestan were told their job has no inherent worth, various new recordings investigate fantasy and (absolutely) nothing.
Four new acoustic releases have roots in very diverse towns, all the way from Magadan to Kharkiv. What they share is a desire to hide from crude actuality.
Various recordings this week explore the traditional nature of lyricism in Russian songwriting. History has never made self-realization an easy issue.
The recordings under consideration all speak in favor of humility and various forms of dialog. Current actuality, however, tends to prefer a strident monolog.
The theme of time is foregrounded by several new publications, but their authors remain unsure of an ideal outlook: forwards to the future––or back to a superior past?
As Russia struggles with economic disarray, four rock recordings across the country ponder the role of songwriting as an alternative expression of "law and order."
A series of new publications from St. Petersburg, Moscow, and provincial Belarus all give thought to the slimmest of differences between matters "cosmic and comic."
Four recent publications from solo artists in both Russian jazz and pop music are dedicated to themes of individual effort––and the related risks thereof.
The traditions of Slavic rock are––even today––likely to be associated with wordy, political agendas. Four new recordings, however, pay more attention to silence.
As a series of new recordings take inspiration from the melancholy romance of Soviet pop music, the question arises: what about tomorrow?
