Гражданская Оборона-Игра в бисер перед свиньями (1986)

September 10th marks the birthday of the late Yegor Letov (1964-2008).
Playing The Game of Pearls Before Swine is an acoustic punk set recorded at The University of Omsk June 1st 1986. 
Egor Letov - vocal, guitars, bass, drums
Evgeny Filatov - bongos, harmonica, recorder

All totalitarians- left, right, of all colours and stripes- fuck you.

Гражданская Оборона -Оптимизм (1985)

Recorded at the same time as Поганая молодёжь in a period of frenzied experimentation. One discarded title was История Омского Панка, часть 2-я (History of Omsk Punk Vol. 2).
This is very lo-fi whilst being poppier than its companion LP.
Letov recalled that at this juncture the band’s career was …Ended all by the fact that the group at the end of 1985 was pitilessly driven away by state punitive organs, me they forcibly sent into the crazy house, Kuzma - into the army…
So these guys really did suffer for their art and had to put up with a bit more than sneers from disapproving elders.
Great album.
With thanks to the lovely Natasha.

Егор Летов (Yegor Letov) - voice, guitar, bass, ‘striking’ (a reference to the simple percussion employed – a hi- hat nailed to a plank and one drum);
Кузя УО (Kuzya UO) - bass, guitar, voice;
Валерий Рожков (Valerie Rozhkov) - flute.

гражданская оборона- Поганая Молодёжь (1985)

Гражданская Оборона was formed in the Siberian town of Omsk in the early 1980’s. Yegor Letov (1964-2008), the only constant member in their prolific career, was the godfather of Soviet/ Russian punk music (despite getting to look more like one of the Freak Bros. with the passing years).
The band’s name translates as civil defence and was often abbreviated to ГрОб (coffin), or simply ГO.
Early material such as this, their first album, 1985's Поганая Молодёжь (pronounced poganaya molodej and translating as Nasty Youth) was distributed via magnitizdat, an underground network for sharing music that was officially suppressed.
Early in his musical career Letov was committed to a mental hospital, and later allegedly contended with such obstacles as the KGB cutting off the power supply when he appeared on stage. Western suburban punks could only dream of such things!
The sound here is rough street punk (there’s even a few oi oi ois), with the occasional hints at Russian folk influences (those mournful minor keys). Quality wise it sounds like one of those demo tapes you might have made with your mates in the early eighties, which is essentially what it is.