Russian rock

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Rock and roll became known in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and quickly broke free from its western roots.

1 History
2 Characteristics
3 External links

[edit] History

[edit] The early '60s

Bulat Okudjava, a pioneer of the bard genre

Prior to the late sixties, music in the Soviet Union was divided into two groups: music published by the Melodya, and everything else. Under this second group were the bards, underground folk singer-songwriters. Bards such as Vladimir Vysotsky and Bulat Okudzhava created the style that is referred to as "author's song" (avtorskaya pesnya), mostly played on unaccompanied acoustic guitar and characterized by a strong accent on lyrics that sometimes carried a subversive meaning. Their music was often suppressed by the government, and yet enjoyed massive popularity, with Vysotsky becoming a highly popular movie actor and an iconic figure of the times. Meanwhile, some Western music was either being smuggled across the border or released by Melodya as part of what essentially was state-run pirating of records, with the Beatles taking a firm place in Soviet popular culture, and artists such as Elton John, T-Rex and Deep Purple completing a somewhat distorted picture of Western music.

The first rock bands in the Soviet Union appeared on the scene in the early- and mid-sixties in Tallinn. The first, Virmalised, was formed by four highschool students as a copy of the Beatles. As the first and only band, Virmalised quickly gained great popularity despite the lack of official recognition. Rock music was seen - just like jazz in the 1930s - as an evil Western influence. Virmalised spawned a huge number of bands, including Optimistid and Mikronid; few rose to fame.

[edit] The late '60s and '70s

The first native bands appeared around 1966, and grew popular in spite of governmental restrictions. This continued into the 1980s, when amateur bands gained some success, but were still hampered by state regulators who would not allow them to be officially recorded, and placed restrictions on lyrical content. Underground bands evolved during this time, including Pojuschie Gitary (the singing guitars) and almost the same time Mashina Vremeni and Akvarium. These bands started the VIA (Вокально-Инструментальный Ансамбль Vokal'no-Instrumental'nyy ansambl' -- Vocal-Instrumental Ensemble) movement, and were followed by Tcvety, Golubiye Gitary, Pesniary and Sinyaya Ptica.

In the early 1970s, artists like Yuri Morozov invented a kind of Russian psychedelic rock, using elements of progressive rock as well.

[edit] The '80s and '90s

In the 1980s an underground scene of rock artists emerged that based their style on a mix of Western rock music (particularly the Beatles) and the Russian bard tradition. Such bands as Alisa, Agata Kristi, Kino, Mashina Vremeni, Nautilus Pompilius, Aquarium, Krematorij, Grazhdanskaya Oborona and DDT were influential in the development of the genre, with the consequent artists copying their style. Big influence on Russian rock music make mitki,hippie and other movements.

In the early- to mid-80s, several so-called "rock-clubs" were founded in Moscow, Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) and Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg). These three cities had their own rock music scene, with friendly collaborations between artists commonplace. The Leningrad scene was probably the biggest one, featuring "classic Russian rock" by Aquarium, Kino, Zoopark. Bands from Sverdlovsk, such as Nautilus Pompilius and Agata Kristi, produced more melodic music making heavy use of keyboards and synthesizers. Moscow rock bands, such as Center and Zvuki Mu, were rather different from the others and sometimes more discreet.

The Siberian rock music scene began in the 1980s in Siberia, with such songwriters as Egor Letov (Grazhdanskaya Oborona, Omsk), Kalinov most, Alexander Bashlachev and Yanka Dyagileva. Their music varied from simple lo-fi punk to indie rock (sometimes unplugged), and the core of their songs were the lyrics. Many albums were first self-released and distributed among the fans via trading, then officially re-released years later. Lyrics were often obscene, and the musicians had major problems with the Soviet administration and KGB.

The lyrics of the Soviet rock bands often dealt with the darker sides of Soviet life such as domestic violence, alcoholism (an infamous song by Nautilus Pompilius contained the lines "Alain Delon drinks a double bourbon/Alain Delon doesn't drink eau de cologne" as a sarcastic contrast to the alcoholic daughter-raping father described in the song and an indictment of the escapist attitudes of state-run media) and crime, and often carried a hidden political message. These bands were consequently ignored by the mainstream radio and television, often reaching audiences only through word of mouth. Many of the 80s bands are still active and popular among Russian youth. The term Russian rock is often used to refer to the particular sound of these bands.

Akvarium, considered a classic Russian rock band

It was not until the perestroika era that many Russian rock bands were able to tour and record for the first time in Europe and the USA.

[edit] 1995-2000, New Beginning

In the mid-late 1990s a more modern Western sound was introduced by Ilya Lagoutenko's Mumiy Troll, who made their records in the UK under the guidance of UK producers. This less lyrically loaded and more energetic style, frequently referred to as rockapops, became prevalent among the younger public, with acts such as Zemfira, Multfilmi and lately Zveri following in the wake. A radiostation Nashe Radio has been created to promote Russian rock artists, broadcasting in all major Russian cities.

The alternative rock scene is quite small in comparison, although some heavy metal (Aria), punk rock (Korol i Shut, Naiv) and ska punk (Leningrad) bands have gained mainstream popularity. Fans of these and similar bands would frequently refer to most of the music on Russian MTV dismissively as "popsa", a dichotomy that appeared in the '80s when government controlled radio and TV stations would air only politically harmless music by performers such as Alla Pugachova and Valeriy Leontyev. The lines are still quite clearly drawn, with bands such as Nogu Svelo - who recorded a song with pop-singer Nataliya Vetlickaya - being an anomaly.

[edit] Characteristics

In the years following the renaissance of Russian cinema and rock (2005,2006), rock in Russia seems to gain enough ground to differentiate widely in various genres. Similarly to Western rock, it may be characterized by different drive, rhythm and lyrics. Unconventional instruments have often been used in addition to the standard electric guitars and drums (very often, a violin). Alternative rock with its Nirvana-like drive from Pilot (Shnurok) - again with a violin (!) or Zveri (Dozhdi-Pistolety) sounds and feels worlds apart from Zemfira's classic Russian rock or Nochnyje Snaipery.

Considering its poetic roots, it is not a big surprise that lyrics play a far larger role in Russian rock than Western rock. Vocal melody is sometimes eschewed in favor of a more impassioned delivery (Viktor Tsoi, the lead singer of Kino, pioneered a characteristically strained, monotonous style of singing that has been imitated by many).

Russia has always been facing both East and West with its double-headed Eagle on the coat-of-arms. The Eastern derivative in the Russian rock came with soundtracks from movies like Daywatch that had Tamerlan's legend of the Chalk of Destiny at its roots. Russian rock expressively used and integrated elements from culture, as well as Western and Eastern (especially countries of the USSR).