Mel'nitsa / Мельница

RU

Adult contemporary, Celtic Rock, Chanson, Classic rock, English, Goth, Indie-pop, Jazz, Jazz fusion, Pop, Singer-songwriters

http://www.melnitsa.net/home

Songs of Endurance: Tinavie, InWhite, MyHoliday, and Mr. Benish

An overview of four new releases from Moscow pop-rock ensembles shows that certain skills are validated more than others. First and foremost is an ability to endure - amid various obstacles - and somehow conquer doubt.

Tinavie: The Noise of Normality en Route to "World Domination"

Tinavie have become one of the most promising ensembles in Russian popular music. We recently spoke to the musicians about local problems that threaten that promise on a daily basis

Tinavie: Eleven Bright Sounds, Coming from the Back of the Room

The first two syllables of "Tinavie" can be explained immediately: they constitute the Christian name of frontwoman, Tina, shown above. Lacking a surname, she makes up for an absent family with a handful of gifted colleagues, including three "Dmitriis": Zil'pert (guitar), Losev (keyboards), an...

Hellawes: The Enduring Relevance of Some Celtic Traditions

The album under consideration here, although quiet, wholly acoustic, and markedly introspective, results directly from the Russian folk-rock tradition. More explicitly, Hellawes is the stage-name or alter-ego of Natal'ia Nikolaeva, frontwoman of Mel'nitsa, arguably one of the most influential fo...

Alevtina: Nervous Preparations for the "Dance of Conversion"

A few weeks ago, during the time of summer solstice, Russian "pagans" gathered around the country to celebrate the pre-Christian rite of Ivan Kupala (below). Ceremonies centered on the need to "cleanse" oneself and thus earn unification with the pristine forces of nature. Although these people f...

Mel'nitsa: "Wild Grasses" and Large Maps

Mel'nitsa ("Windmill") are Russia's best-known folk-rock ensemble, to whom we gave a little attention in past months. Now, with the release of their new album "Wild Grasses" (Dikie travy), there's good reason to look closer. At the band's forefront stands Natal'ia Nikolaeva (below) in the du...

Zventa-Sventana: "Ethno-Acid-Jazz"

Zventa-Sventana revolve around two women, Tina Kuznetsova and Alena Romanova. Behind them - at least technically and managerially - stands Iurii Usachev, one half of pop wizards Gosti iz Budushchego (Future Visitors). The band has been together since 2005 and produced an album two years...

Mel'nitsa: "Travushka" (Tender Grass)

Mel'nitsa ("Windmill") are exponents of what they call "new music about an ancient world." Founded in Moscow in 1989, they are now a leading light in the folk-rock movement, drawing frequently upon materials from Russian, Scandinavian, and Celtic traditions - with occasional nods in the directio...