Mitki (music)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Mitki were a group of artists and musicians from St. Petersburg. The term also describes a subculture and a loose philosophy described in a book by Vladimir Shinkarev (1984). Members of this group typically "dropped out" of Soviet society and drank a great deal. They contributed significantly to slang and youth culture of their period. Their uniform of choice included a blue-and-white striped sailor's shirt.

The music of the Mitki was characterized by spare instrumentation that sometimes included such things as a group of homeless people banging on steel drums, low production values, lyric-driven songs, and distinctive vocals. Many Russian rock and folk stars, including Umka (Umka and Bronevik), Boris Grebenshikov (Akvarium), Andrei Romanov (Akvarium), Yuri Shevchuk (DDT), and Vyacheslav Butusov (Nautilus Pompilius), participated in this movement to varying degrees.

A number of official Mitki albums were recorded under the direction of Dmitry Shagin. They include both original compositions and classic Soviet songs as performed by the Mitki. They include:

Mitkovskaia Tishina

Raskinulos' More Shiroko

Mitkovskie Pesni

Mitkovskie Tantsy

Mitkovskaya Beskozyrka

Mitkovskij Piter