"Vovne" is a wide-ranging musical collaborative, centered in the Siberian cities of Tomsk and Kemerovo. Across considerable distances, a shared philosophy comes slowly into view, born of late Soviet experimentation.
We take a look at some domestic lo-fi recordings from the cities of Tartu and Moscow. Within them is a proud and happy enthusiasm that fuels other, much more serious endeavors this week in Belarus.
Although shoegaze and dreampop are two styles designed to evoke a rather "homeless" ambience, some recent Minsk and Moscow examples prove different. They both show signs of local experience.
New recordings from Dolphin, Sansara, and Chaos In Heathrow all use the symbolism of correspondence or "dialogs" as a thematic constant. Love, in other words, is faced with a geographic and communicative challenge.
The performers under consideration here - despite their differing genres - all hope to foster a simple, almost timeless lyricism. That desire for uncomplicated self-expression has considerable resonance among audiences, also.
These three collectives from Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Zhytomyr (Ukr.) all use a recognizably droll, even disinterested style of lyrical delivery. Behind that apparent indifference lies an intriguing view of the world.
Two new compilation albums from Estonia and Ukraine gather a wide range of performers from various cities and styles. Across them all, however, lies a shared concern for understatement and small-scale, communal enterprise.
The ensembles Leningrad and Vintazh represent two ends of mainstream pop and its promise of liberty. The former is overtly sexual and designed for visual display; the latter is grounded in freedom of verbal expression - and less hopeful.
A new CD has appeared from St. Petersburg's "Aquarium," arguably Russia's most important rock group of the last few decades. Given the length of that career, there is a certain logic to these songs of faith and fidelity.
Three female voices from Moscow's jazz scene illustrate an important tendency within lyrical performance. All these singers come from other, distant towns, yet the force and conviction of their performance actually grows as a result.
