Music
The Retuses 3x
Music
From the green city of
Zelenograd /
Зеленоград. Dreamy indie-folk with a melancholic undertone. Created by
Mikhail Rodionov (1992).
До свиданья, дорогая!
Music
A band from Saint Petersburg that makes a kind of post-punk/indie-pop. Not for long yet, so not much material yet. However, they already have a few very successful tracks with original music videos. До свиданья, дорогая is the
Russian title for the film
The Goodbye Girl (1977), but it has nothing to do with it.
Shokalsky Revenge
Music
They say it takes two to tango, but you can rock just as well with two. Everyone knows this since White Stripes, Black Keys,
Black Diamond Heavies, etc. This band is in the same vein, but rocks по-русски (in Russian): Shokalsky Revenge from Saint Petersburg.
Everyone hates someone – but discrimination is illegal and out of date. Here’s a solution from Грязь or Gryaz: hate them all, in general. Я ненавижу людей: I hate people – including yourself by definition.
телеэкран (Teleekran) 4x
Music
Trio from Saint Petersburg, active since 2017. ‘Noisepop/postpunk/lo-fi/rock/indie/pop/outsider music’ (
VK), and it’s just really good. See Kartaslov for the
meaning of the word «телеэкран», which tells you that a tele-ekran is a TV screen.
It’s often about photographs in Последний кадр (last frame, shot). And about the memories you see again, after a long time. И только эти фотографии напоминают о том, and only these photos remind you что когда-то всё было так здорово, that once, everything was great.
A crossbreed between The Stooges’
I Wanna Be Your Dog (1969) and Anton Chekhov’s
The Lady with the Dog (1899). A bit of rock ’n’ roll and a bit of sophistication. Хочу погладить твою корги: I want to pet your corgi.
Several things about Киви кошелёк (2019) by Хадн дадн are small or modest. Starting from the very first words. Я переведу 900 рублей: I will transfer 900 rubles – 9 euros 88 at today’s exchange rate. На киви кошелёк: to the payment service (кошелёк means wallet) of
Qiwi.
Кот Балу (Kot Balu) doesn’t come from Russia but from neighboring
Kazakhstan. Lyrics in Russian, with a touch of something exotic in the music. Слова слова (2011) is great for your vocabulary, as it delivers what the title promises.
Yanka Dyagileva
Music
Yanka Dyagileva (Янка Дягилева), also known simply as Yanka, originally Яна and musically associated with Янка и Великие Октябри (“Yanka and the Great Octobers”), was born (in Novosibirsk) in 1966 and died (in 1991) at the age of 24. Allegedly by her own hand, though the official version states утопление в результате несчастного случая – drowning as a result of an accident.
Lucidvox 3x
Music
Lucidvox (from Moscow) self-describes (on
VK) as ‘psyched-out krautpunk, noisepop / lucidcore’. No men involved; four women – Anna, Alina, Galla, and Nadezhda – do the work. You may have seen them before. Lucidvox crosses borders more often than the average Russian band, even making it to our country.
Lemonday – I Sniff
Music
A female duo (Zhenya Il and Yulia Nakaryakova) plus a drummer from Saint Petersburg. Лемондэй (or Lemonday) disbanded in 2015. Fortunately, they left behind this gem from 2013.
Нюхаю = I smell, or I sniff, I snuff. From the verb
нюхать.
MViPD – How Sweet I Am
Music
Humility may be a virtue, but sometimes an anti-humility song can be fun. Какой же я милый (How sweet I am, 2015) offers a whole list of compliments to the self, all in just under a minute.
Sonic Death – Space Ark
Music
The band name looks just as Russian as the song title – but both are as **русский** (Russian) as the Red Square or the Kalashnikov. Listen to the song, see the [lyrics](https://genius.com/Sonic-death-space-ark-lyrics). You’ll learn that it could also (or better) have been titled **космический ковчег**. The first word is cosmic, and a **ковчег** (*kaftyek*) is an ark.
A bitter farewell from someone who’s not feeling very well. Directed at the other person.
Пока ты живёшь дальше,
Я утопаю в говне.
Прости за всё и пожалуйста,
Никогда не скучай по мне.
Я утопаю в говне.
Прости за всё и пожалуйста,
Никогда не скучай по мне.
Несогласие (Saint Petersburg) translates to
disagreement. Linguistically related to
соглашаться / согласиться (the verbs for agreeing, being in agreement); also, the word for consonant (согласная) is easy to recognize in the band name. You could even call it Counter-Consonant.
Pasosh – Stop, Max
Music
Останови is the imperative form (informal) meaning stop. Addressed to Макс (= Max), who is behind the wheel of a машина (car). The trip isn’t going very well. Я уже близок к тому, чтобы сомкнуть руки на твоей шее: I’m close to putting my hands around your neck. Мне кажется, эта машина везёт нас ко дну – it seems this car is taking us to the bottom.
Чёрная Речка – Monster
Music
