The group Televizor (Television) based around its vocalist Mikhail Borzykin has been around since 1984 and can be considered the 3rd generation of Leningrad Rock Club bands. The group’s first album “Shestvie Ryb” (Fish parade) was released in 1985, followed by “Otechestvo illiuzii” (Fatherland of illusion) in 1987. The latter album included the song “Tvoi…Continue reading Of spectacles and marmots – Televizor’s Ochki
Category: phd
Galkin’s Eurovision Song Contest 2007 parody
Thinking about Alla Pugacheva’s departure from music (at least that is what she announced) it struck me that a large part of Russian estrada consist of Soviet era musicians who all are getting old (e.g. Sofiia Rotaru, Oleg Gazmanov, Valerii Leont’ev, Boris Moiseev). On the other side, a young crop of singers have emerged –…Continue reading Galkin’s Eurovision Song Contest 2007 parody
Russia Profile: “Of Lyrics, Nationalism, and Gay Pride” (Eurovision in Moscow)
Russia Profile’s “Of Lyrics, Nationalism, and Gay Pride” gives a good summary of the recent Eurovision 2009 events in Russia discussing Stephane and 3G, Prikhod’ko and the planned gay pride parade (which Luzhkov, Moscow’s mayor is against) to be staged during the Eurovision contest. For more reading on Prikhod’ko check out Kalle Kniivilä’s Domstol förbjöd…Continue reading Russia Profile: “Of Lyrics, Nationalism, and Gay Pride” (Eurovision in Moscow)
Who are “die Russen” currently living in Germany?
After the fall of the Soviet Union Germany emerged as one of the primary countries of Post-Soviet migration – with at least 2.6 Million Russian speaking migrants living in Germany at the moment (conservatively estimated). Putting this into perspective, there were 6 751 002 registered foreign citizens residing in Germany 2006 – about 8,2% of…Continue reading Who are “die Russen” currently living in Germany?
End of an era: Alla Pugacheva to stop giving concerts
Despite that her singing qualities have declined over the last years Soviet Pop-Diva Alla Pugacheva (born 1949) is one of the most popular Russian estrada singers today (she was both 2006 and 2007 ranked 2nd in a popular survey of Russia’s current elite). So it was a small surprise that she at a press conference…Continue reading End of an era: Alla Pugacheva to stop giving concerts
PTVP & Bozhe, khrani Putina eh, Tsaria…
While chopping away some parts of my dissertation I stumbled upon a short paragraph on the Vyborg/St. Petersburg based punk band Posledniye Tanki v Parizhe (Last Tanks in Paris, a.k.a. PTVP). The group was one of the few locally successful (in terms of playing for an audience of 200-400 listeners) St. Petersburg bands who during…Continue reading PTVP & Bozhe, khrani Putina eh, Tsaria…
Bleeping DDT’s Kogda zakonchitsia neft’
Iurii Shevchuk (DDT) is besides Mikhail Borzykin (Televizor) known for being one of the more outspoken musicians within the russkii rok tradition. Following the presidential elections 2008 he has also performed at the Marsh nesoglasnykh and has been featured on the compilations “Muzyka NEsoglasnykh 1 and 2”. On the first compilation the song “Kogda zakonchitsia…Continue reading Bleeping DDT’s Kogda zakonchitsia neft’
Bozhe, Tsaria khrani & MP44
While listening to MP44’s “Avtoritsarizm” (word play on autocracy and tsarism) on the compilation “Muzyka NEsoglasnykh – chast’ 2” this morning it struck me that the melody they sample was very familiar – some quick research confirmed that the group sampled a male choir singing “Bozhe, Tsaria khrani” (God save the Tsar) – the Russian…Continue reading Bozhe, Tsaria khrani & MP44
Eurovision as a new battlefield in the Russian-Georgian war
After the short, but intense military conflict in Georgia last summer the Georgian-Russian conflict which started after the Rose Revolution 2003 has been transported back to Russia – to Moscow and the 2009 Eurovision competition. Unlike some other Eastern European groups (Ruslana…) Georgia’s Stephane and 3G with the song “We Don’t Wanna Put In” decided…Continue reading Eurovision as a new battlefield in the Russian-Georgian war
Back in Vienna
I am back in Vienna, this time for a month visiting the Institute for Folk Music Research and Ethnomusicology (Institut für Volksmusikforschung und Ethnomusikologie) which is part of the University of Music and Performing Arts (Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien). During my visit I will both be doing research as well as presenting…Continue reading Back in Vienna
Copyright and youtube
The popular music scholar Philip Tagg has compiled information on how to file a counter claim if one of your movies is removed by youtube due to copyright complaints which are unwarranted. It can be found here: YouTube Counter Claims, etc.. The page also has a link to the article “Copyright versus the democratic right…Continue reading Copyright and youtube
two reviews published
two reviews i wrote this year were just published in the journal popular music (volume 27:1, 2008). the books i reviewed were: García, David F.: “Arsenio Rodríguez and the Transnational Flows of Latin Popular Music”, Philadelphia: Temple University Press 2006 Biddle, Ian; Knights, Vanessa (eds.): “Music, National Identity and the Politics of Location – Between…Continue reading two reviews published