VulgarGrad- Popular Street Songs of the Russian Underclass (2005)

1. Murka- trad.
2. Alcoholic- originally by Leningrad
3. Why Did The Aboriginies Eat Captain Cook?-originally by Vladimir Vysotsky
4. Anarchy is Our Mother - originally by KINO
5. The Giraffe- originally by Vladimir Vysotsky
6. Vaninsky Port- trad.
7. This Russian Rock n Roll -originally by Noll
8. The Years Rush By - originally by Arkady Severny

 http://d01.megashares.com/dl/dKNzOyk/VulgarGrad - Popular Street Songs.rar

Pussy Riot

http://pussy-riot.livejournal.com/

Here's a compilation of 8 tracks and an interview that I've put together from free sources:

http://d01.megashares.com/dl/xpTpnZ0/Riot.rar

 Follow the link to free download of a 45 track Riot Grrrl compilation that includes a Free Pussy Riot action kit - flyers, stencils etc.

http://riotgrrrlberlin.tumblr.com/compilation03

VulgarGrad- King of Crooks (2009)

 VulgarGrad are a curious band. Australian, and fronted by Polish born actor Jacek Koman, who has appeared in such films as Moulin Rouge and Australia. They perform songs 'of the Rusian underworld'- traditional songs made famous by artists such as Vladimir Vysotsky (1938-1980)  and Arkady Severny (1939-1980), along with compositions by these greats. They also cover songs by the phenomenal Sergei Shnurov of Leningrad and other Russian punk classics.

Jacek Koman-vocals
Andrew Tanner-contrabass balalaika
Renato VaCirca-  drums
Ros Jones- trombone
Adam Pierzchalski - trumpet
Nara Demasson - guitar
Phil McLeod- piano accordion

I've done my best to identify the origins of the tracks featured on this album - feel free to correct / expand my efforts.

1. Oy Oy Oy - traditional song.
2. If I Were a Sultan- a song from the classic  Soviet comedy Kidnapping Caucasian Style - The New Adventures of Shurik (1967), sung by comedy great Yuri Nikulin.




3. The Party on Horse-Shit Street - traditional song.
4. Super Good- by Sergei Shnurov (Shnur) from Leningrad's 2003 LP The Second Magadan.
5. Natural Born Thief [Gop-So-Smykom]- a traditional Odessa criminal folksong often sung by Arkady Severny.
6. Bolshoi Karetny- a Vladimir Vysotsky song about a street in Moscow.
7 Stop the Train! - traditional song.
8. I'm Your Cowboy - by Sergei Shnurov (Shnur) from Leningrad's 1999 lp Mat bez elektrichestva.
9. Odessa Jailbreak - written by Kelman &Timofeyev- this is a  standard of the Russian underground recorded by Arkady Severny-  it can be found as early as 1926 in the movie The Career of Spirska Shpandyr- sung by Soviet Jazz master  Leonid Utyosov.



10. Junky, Alcoholic and Drunkard (These Are Such Undignified Words)- traditional song.
11. Black Flag- a cover of a number by Va-Bank , a Moscow Punk band formed in 1986.
12. A Piss-Up Begins with a Bottle (Plyatskovksy, Severny, Shainsky) Arkady Severny again.
13. Zhopa  'Arsehole'- another Leningrad number by Shnur.
14. Cigarette written by some geezer called Krupp and made popular by Arkady Severny.
15.Tram No. 10- traditional song
16. Odessa Jailbreak (slow version) see above.

http://d01.megashares.com/dl/J1wx1yO/VulgarGrad - King Of Crooks - 2009.rar

Бригадный подряд (1986)

Kolya  Mikhailov — vocals, guitar
Dima Babich — bass
Sasha (Santer) Lukyanov — guitar
Igor (Said) Sayikin — drums
Fedya (Hippo) Lavrov — percussion, sound effects.

Leningrad, The Soviet Union, 1986. The city was at the forefront of the Soviet underground music scene.
Cracking, raw hardcore sound here, heavy distorted guitars, some Oi type chanted vocals. Only 192 kbps but hey, this was Leningrad.
The group's name transliterates as Brigadni Podryad , which is, by my reckoning, something like 'mercenaries' (hired brigades)?

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.

Vladimir Vysotsky Владимир Высоцкий 100 лучших песен (Коллекция Ридерз Дайджест) (2007)

Когда пишешь или говоришь о достижениях представителей иностранной культуры, естественно хочется сопоставить его с кем-то имеющим мировую известность. Сдаюсь, я не смог найти кого-либо похожего на Владимира Высоцкого. Высоцкий был выдающимся актером театра и кино. Он был поэтом. Но именно песенное творчество вознесло Высоцкого на вершину популярной культуры Советского Союза. Высоцкий  написал более 900 песен. Его стихи проникли в русское сознание. Его работы имеют ни с чем несравнимый стиль.
Ниже перечислены 100 песен, написанных и спетых Владимиром Высоцким.
Спасибо Наташе за помощь в переводе.

When writing or speaking of the accomplishments of someone from a foreign culture it is natural to look for comparisons.  I have given up trying to think of someone to whom Vysotsky can be compared. He was a noted actor of stage and screen and a poet, but it was as a singer/ songwriter that Vysotsky stood like a giant over the popular culture of the Soviet Union. The author of over 900 songs, his lyrics have entered into the Russian consciousness and his work defines a genre.
Here we have 100 songs written and performed by Vladimir Vysotsky.
Thank you to Natasha for the translation.

1.  Горящий Смоленск, горящий Рейхстаг (Burning Smolensk, Burning Reichstag) 

01) Он не вернулся из боя  He Didn’t Return From The Battle
02) Тот, который не стрелял  He Who Didn’t Shoot
03) Братские могилы  Communal Graves
04) Давно смолкли залпы орудий The Gunfire Fell Silent Long Ago
05) Сыновья уходят в бой  Our Sons Must Leave For The War
06) Песня о госпитале Song of The Hospital
07) Мы вращаем Землю We Are Turning Earth
08) Песня о звездах Song Of The Stars
09) Песня о Земле Song Of The Land
10) Солдаты группы Центр- Soldiers Of The Centre Group
11) Разведка боем Reconnaissance Mission
12) О моем старшине My Sergeant
13) Спасите наши души Save Our Souls
14) Случай в ресторане Incident in the Restaurant
15) Песня летчика Pilot’s Song
16) Песня самолета-истребителя Song Of The Fighter Plane
17) Песня про Сережку Фомина Song About Sergei Fomin
18) Высота  Altitude
19) Письмо Letter
20) Нейтральная полоса  No Man’s Land

2.  Милый Ваня, я гуляю по Парижу (Dear Vanya I’m Walking In Paris).

01) Бал-маскарад Masquerade Ball
02) Письмо в редакцию телевизионной передачи "Очевидное - невероятное" Letter to the editor of TV programme Evident-Incredible
03) Посещение Музы, или Песенка плагиатора Visit Of The Muse Or The Song Of The Plagiarist
04) Песенка о слухах A Song About Rumours
05) Милицейский протокол  Police Protocol
06) Инструкция перед поездкой за рубеж, или Полчаса в месткоме Instructions Before A Trip Abroad or Half An Hour In The Mestcom.
07) Про речку Вачу и попутницу Валю About The Vacha River And Fellow Traveler Valya
08) Путешествие в прошлое A Journey To The Past
09) Мой сосед объездил весь Союз My Neighbour Has Travelled All Over The USSR…
10) Невидимка Invisible
11) Поездка в город Trip to The City
12) Жертва телевидения Victim of Television
13) Письмо к другу , или Зарисовка о Париже Letter To A Friend Or Sketches From Paris
14) Товарищи ученые Comrade Scientists
15) Песня про ДЖеймса Бонда, агента 007 Song For James Bond, Agent 007
16) Веселая покойницкая The Merry Song about the Dead 
17) Случай на таможне An Incident in Customs
18) Песня автозавистника About Auto Related Jealousy
19) Лекция о международном положении, прочитаная человеком, посаженным на A Lecture On The World Situation, Given By The Person Who Was Impaled 
20) Песня командировочного, или Через десять лет в Аэрофлоте
Song Of Travelling Expenses Or After Ten Years With Aeroflot 

3. Лукоморья больше нет (Lukamorie Is No More)

01) Песня о вещем Олеге Oleg The Oracle
02) Странная сказка Strange Tale
03) Про дикого вепря A Wild Boar
04) Песня о вещей Кассандре Song Of The Soothsayer Cassandra
05) Песня-сказка о нечисти Song Of Evil Spirits
06) Куплеты нечистой силы  Verse Of Evil Spirits
07) Лукоморья больше нет Lukamorie Is No More
08) Выезд Соловья-разбойника Ride of Solovei the Brigand
09) Скоморохи на ярмарке Clowns At The Fair
10) Вдалеком созвездии Тау Кита In the Remote Tau Kit Constellation
11) Песенка о переселении душ A Song Of Reincarnation Of The Soul.
12) Переворот в мозгах из края в край Revolution In The Brain From One End Of The Land To The Other?
13) Песня-сказка про джинна Song of the Spirit in a bottle
14) Про черта  About The Devil
15) Песня плотника Иосифа, Девы Марии и Святого Духа Song Of Joseph The Carpenter, Mary And The Holy Ghost
16) Песня про козла отпущения  Song of The Scapegoat
17) Марш антиподов March of The Antipodes
18) Песня об обиженнном времени Offended Time.
19) Сивка-Бурка  Horse
20) Что случилось в Африке  What Happened In Africa…

4.  Я не люблю фатального исхода (I Hate The Fatality…)

01) Банька по-белому White Banya
02) Я не люблю  I do not like
03) Песня о друге  Song About A Friend
04) Куплеты Бенгальского  Bengal Verse
05) Москва - Одесса  Moscow- Odessa
06) Парус – The Sail
07) Баллада о борьбе  Ballad of The Battle
08) Ноль семь 07
09) Натянутый канат  The Tightrope Walker
10) Тот, кто раньше с нею был – He Who Was With Her Before
11) Татуировка  Tattoo
12) Большой Каретный Bolshoi Karetnyi
13) Охота на волков  Hunting Wolves
14) Охота на кабанов Hunting Boars
15) Баллада о детстве  Ballad of Childhood
16) Еще не вечер  It’s Not The End
17) Корабли Ships
18) О фатальных датах и цифрах  A Song About Fatal Dates And Numbers
19) Моя цыганская  My Gypsy Song
20) Кони привередливые Capricious Horses

5. Городской романс (City Romance)

01) Дорожная история History Of The Trail
02) "Я несла свою Беду .." I Was Carrying My Misfortune
03) Дом хрустальный  The Crystal House
04) Белое безмолвие  White Silence

05) "За меня невеста отрыдает честно ..." For me my fiancée will sincerely cry…

06) Чужая колея  Someone Else’s Rut
07) Городской романс The City Romance
08) "Здесь лапы у елей дрожат на весу ..." Trembling Boughs
09) Она была в Париже  She has been to Paris
10) Попутчик  Train Passenger
11) У тебя глаза как нож Your Eyes Are Like A Knife
12) Песня о двух погибших лебедях  Song Of Two Ruined Swans
13) Я был душой дурного общества  I Was Mixed Up With A Bad Crew

14) " Мне каждый вечер зажигают свечи ..." They Light Candles For Me Every Evening

15) Очи черные. Погоня  Black Eyes Urge Me On.
16) Очи черные. Старый дом Black Eyes. An Old House.
17) Ой, где я был вчера  Oh, Where Was I Yesterday
18) Иван да Марья Ivan and Maria
19) Песня Марьи  Maria’s Song
20) О нашей встрече  About Our Meeting

Some interesting Vysotsky sites here and here.

(Cвина и) Автоматические удовлетворители-- 1979-1994. Претензии не принимаются

When, as a youth in Leningrad Andrei Panov read a condemnation of the Sex Pistols in the Soviet press, he decided that punk rock was for him. Without ever having heard the music he became Leningrad's (possibly the Soviet Union's) first and later most eminent punk.
He adopted the nom de guerre Cвина (Pig), and formed the band Автоматические удовлетворители (Automatic Satisfiers) in 1979. The influence of the Sex Pistols is evident in AY's sound.
Panov died in 1998, aged 38.
Punk Rock in the Soviet Union was a remarkable phenomenon; it took a lot of courage for suburban middle class kids in the west to say Fuck the System and outrage their elders, but in the USSR the state did more than tut it's disapproval. The music industry was regulated by the state and (in theory) only approved artists could perform and record.
There were however, well established underground mechanisms in place from earlier times that perfectly suited the DIY ethos of punk, and bands and writers needed access to only the most rudimentary means of recording and reproducing their work in order to reach a large and eager audience.
CD rip @ 320.

Аквaриум- Равноденствие (1987) Aquarium- Equinox (1987)

Reader Shemp recently requested more from Аквaриум , a band featured on Red Wave- 4 Underground Bands From The USSR.
This is ripped from one of those MP3 compilation discs that are so popular in Russia. For a reasonable price you can by a well packaged disc that contains several albums. The only downside is that the bitrate tends to be 192.
The word eclectic just about does justice to the diversity of Аквaриум, formed in Leningrad in 1972. They proceeded through the usual channels of квартирники (kvartirniki-apartment concerts) and магнитиздат (magnitizdat-underground recordings) whilst the organs of the state suppressed rock music.
There's a history of the band here, and more on the album Равноденствие here.

Ленинград- Пираты XXI века Leningrad- Pirates of the XXI Century-(2002)

Ok, Russian readers- marks out of ten for my translation? In my learning of Russian, which I admit is very limited , I owe the most (by a long, long way) to my girlfreind Natalia, secondly to my former teacher Galina and thirdly to Sergei "Shnur" Shnurov of Gruppa Leningrad.

I don’t remember when we moved,
I was probably drunk at the time.
My address is not a house or a street
Today my address goes like this:

w-w-w Leningrad s-p-b dot ru

When a cop stops me and says
You’re not registered anywhere
I answer calmly
Today my address goes like this:

w-w-w Leningrad s-p-b dot ru

When I get really drunk
I stop the motor
Alright, chief, let’s go home,
I’ll show you the way.

w-w-w Leningrad s-p-b dot ru

Stas Baretsky

Gruppa

The shy and retiring Shnur...

Цой жив!

It's not often that I use Burning Aquarium as a medium for showing holiday snaps.
In a sidestreet off Arbat in Moscow there is a graffiti wall dedicated to the memory of Viktor Tsoi where admirers still gather to pay tribute to the man who's contribution to the pop culture of the Soviet Union was immense.

Natasha.

Offerings- flowers, fags, beer.

Predictably the guy was playing Gruppa Krovi .

Walker.

Viktor Robertovich Tsoi (21.06.62-15.08.90)

Булат Окуджава

We featured the Soviet bard Bulat Okudzhava (Булaт Шaлвович Окуджaва) in the early days of Burning Aquarium.
Back then I was only able to share half a dozen songs that I had picked up on my internet trawls. On a recent vacation, however, I acquired this collection of 22 songs.
Primarily a poet, Bulat Okudzhava accompanied his lyrics with rudimentary but evocative tunes in minor keys (starting out with a repertoire of 3 chords by the nineties he claimed to be able to play seven).

Отлично!

The Mark of Cain...

Nobody in my family had tattoos. Well, my great grandfather did, apparently- had them done in The Great War, but he was dead years before I came along. From an early age I was inexplicably fascinated by tattoos. I even dreamed about them- I once dreamed that my left shoulder was encased in ivy- which it now is.
I somehow understood that the significance of the designs went beyond the pictorial image- sure, the pictures meant something, but the very fact that you had committed to being tattooed meant something as well.
A fair percentage of my body is now tattooed, and I’m something of a student of the sociological/ anthropological significance of tattooing.
Russian criminal tattoos entranced me even before I became a regular visitor to that country.

In The Mark of Cain filmaker Alix Lambert takes us into the gloomy world of the Russian penal system. There are about 800,000 prisoners in the country and the conditions are notoriously harsh. Overcrowding is a particular problem. For example, in the mid nineties Kresty Prison in St Petersburg held 12,500 inmates. It was designed to hold 1150.

We hear from wearers of the old school tattoos which showed where they stood in relation to the complex subculture governed by the Thieves Code , witnesses of the way that the changing political climate has been reflected in prison society, and an inmate tattooist who works with a machine adapted from a Sputnik wind up shaver.

Рубль- Совесть (2009)

I wouldn't normally post something this new, but I doubt that it's widely available outside Russia.
When Leningrad split up in 2008 Shnur (Sergei Shnurov) formed Рубль (Rubl).
The punk elements are more to the fore on this seven track 'maxi single', Совесть (Conscience).


Рубль- touring Russia in February, apparently...

Red Wave-4 Underground Bands From The USSR (1986)

This LP, put together by American producer Joanna Stingray, was the first western release of rock music from the Soviet Union.
At this time rock music in the Soviet Union was still largely an underground affair.
The four bands featured were all from Leningrad (now St Petersburg):



Аквaриум (Aquarium)

КИНО (Kino)

Алиса (Alisa)

Странные игры (Strange Games)

КИНО- Blood Type- (English version of Группа Крови)- (1989)

I’m forever singing the praises of Leningrad’s КИНО, a band whose influence on Soviet/ Russian culture during what was a transitional period in history has no parallel here in the west. In 1989, the era of Perestroika, the band went to France to record a compilation for the French market (Le Dernier Des L’Héros). It was during sessions at Studio du Val d’Orge that they recorded this English version of their great number Группа Крови (Gruppa Krovi).
The track was unreleased until 2002 when Moroz Records issued Последние записи (Posledniye Zapisi -Last Recordings).
I’m not a gamer but I gather this features on Grand Theft Auto IV?.

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.

КИНО- Группа Крови ( Blood Group)- (1988)

The title track of this LP is a classic.
Viktor Tsoi- John Lennon and Joe Strummer rolled into one.
You can read transliterations and translations of КИНО lyrics here.

Му́мий Тро́лль- Морская (1997)

It’s not often that Burning Aquarium will feature a band or artist that has graced the stage at the Eurovision Song Contest, but here is a worthy exception.
Vladivostok’s Мумий Тролль (Mumiy Troll) - have been described as the most important band in the post Soviet era of Russian pop/ rock music. They represented the Russian Federation in the 2001 contest at Copenhagen, finishing 12th.

Formed in 1983 their early output was in the traditional Soviet form of bootlegs. There was also a hiatus whilst Ilia Lagutenko did his national service. This is their first official studio album Морская (Morskaya /Nautical), released in 1997.
Reminiscent at times, I think, of The Go-Betweens (that's intended neither as a criticism nor a recommendation).



Ilia Lagutenko, vocals, guitar
Eugene "Sdwig" Zvidionny, bass
Oleg Pungin, drums
Yuri Tsaler, guitars, keyboard, saxophone

Leningrad & The Tiger Lillies - Huinya (2005)

This 2005 album was a collaboration between the Russian ska band Leningrad and the darkly eccentric English cabaret trio, The Tiger Lillies.
Essentially the songs here are Tiger Lillies compositions translated into Russian. Both acts contribute to the performance, so we get to hear both the world weary gravelly tones of Shnur (a Slavic Tom Waits perhaps?) and strange falsetto of Martyn Jacques.
The word huinya in Russian mat translates as dickness.