Pretty sure that many of my readers already know about Kælan Mikla, since this all-female trio from Iceland is (deservedly) one of the biggest internationally known names among the wave of 2010s post-punk bands, so I'll be brief. While I'm not that much into their earlier stuff (mostly because of the vocals), "Undir Köldum Norðurljósum" is one of the best albums I've heard in the last few years, and it's exactly what I'd expect of a goth/darkwave/coldwave album from Iceland, especially fit for listening during winter time (and especially around the time of winter solstice). My personal favourites are "Sólstöður", "Sírenur", "Stormurinn", and "Óskasteinar".
Artist: Адаптация Title: Так горит степь Genre: (Post-)Punk, Depressive Rock Country: Kazakhstan Release date: 2005
Track List:
Пепел
Феодализм (Навсегда)
Голод
Так горит степь
Ноябрь в окно
Заметать следы
Иллюзия дней
Движется следом
Прошлого больше не будет
Про море
Золотой храм
Небо
Since I've mentioned Ermen Anti in my previous entry, it'd be timely to introduce my readers to the best work of his band that has left a big impression on me at the time (and I still consider it to be one of the best punk albums I've ever heard). Ermen "Anti" Erzhanov formed Adaptation in 1992 in aktobe, initially as a typical garage punk band, but their best releases from 2000s have less to do with classic punk and more with post-punk and ballad-oriented depressive rock (which would later be called "Russian doomer music"). Those albums made them the best known rock band from Kazakhstan and one of the best bands adjacent to the Siberian (post-)punk scene, which they weren't too far from geographically as well (although some critis compare them rather to the Moscow-based "Formation" post-punk scene instead). Later they've moved to St. Petersburg, and their sound became more polished but at the same time less interesting (same can be said about the lyrics that took the "literally 1984" direction when it comes to themes). While this album is heavily lyrics-oriented like most of Russian rock in general (with themes being more existential rather than social-critical like on their early albums), the music itself is also very enjoyable, especially if you're a fan of "Russian doomer"-like stuff (but there are enough of more energetic and angry punk songs as well):
"When living is for learning, and dying is forgetting..."
Cop Shoot Cop were a relatively well known band from New York that existed from 1987 to 1996. Their song "Room 429" was covered by Devin Townsend on the album "City" by Strapping Young Lad, and that's how most younger fans of experimental music (me including) found out about CSC:
In fact, it's my favourite track by SYL. The original song is far less heavy, but the atmosphere is still there:
And a spot-on comment from YouTube:
Moreover, it's a love song, and while my usual attitude towards love songs can be best described by the very first line in "I Hate Love Songs" by GWAR, this one is quite original and touching when it comes to lyrics:
"They were frequently classified as industrial rock, but were often quite
different from many bands so dubbed. Tod A.'s lyrics were clever, snide
and evocative (Art Black and David Sprague suggest that "Black humor
beats black metal any day") and their "weirdly catchy" music which drew
"on hot jazz and swing as much as clanging rock, emphasizing the group's
stand-apart attitude."" (last.fm)
While the early, noise rock-ish albums by Cop Shoot Cop are not too easy to get into, this one (being the first album by CSC released on a big label) is probably the best in their discography along with "Release" (1994), and I certainly would recommend it anyone who's into Swans-influenced bands. You can get "Ask Questions Later", along with bonus tracks from "Suck City" and "Room 429" EPs here (by the way, that post is from 2007, yet the download links are still working).
All I know about Ambersmoke is this description from YouTube:
Ambersmoke is an independent, one man project that utilizes gloominess and slow pacing. The music is not very heavy at all, even with vocals. The first song, Longing, is probably the heaviest on the album. The music is meant to be more introspective than loud or abrasive and most of the lyrics are samples taken from movies or whatever else. Not sure what most of them are from but the one used in Suicide Pacts is an excerpt from The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which to me seems really arbitrary but, I don’t know, maybe it struck a chord with the artist. Unfortunately, Ambersmoke has become pretty bitter of late and announced that he refuses to play live shows now because people aren’t taking his music seriously.
"Une femme est une femme" is his debut full-length release, and it turned out to be surprisingly pleasant guitar noise rooted in post-rock and post-punk, even with some hints of atmospheric black metal. Yes, I know this kind of music is listened mostly by hipsters, but who cares?..
Unfortunately, this album (along with some other early releases by Ambersmoke) was deleted from Bandcamp, so I have to post a YouTube stream instead:
Here's probably the best known post-punk band from my city, named after the July Days of 1917 in Petrograd a/k/a St.Petersburg (by a coincidence, I've traveled there just several days ago, right on the 101st anniversary of these events). "Колокол" ("The Bell"; you can guess the translation by just looking at the cover, though) is their latest EP up to date, released in late 1916, and arguably the best. With all honestly, I think if there's one subgenre of rock where the Russian scene is good at, then it's post-punk/coldwave:
Finally, I found the debut self-titled release of this very obscure Soviet post-punk/industrial rock band (perhaps one of the very first ones), whose second album I've posted here about an year ago. It was re-released on cassette (30 copies) by Ultra Records in 2009, and later on CD along with their 2nd album.
Compared to their second album, it's more straightforward post-punk with less distorted vocals, but the fans of early industrial/noise rock in the vein of Swans should enjoy this one too. Overall, both their sound and aesthetics were exactly what's expected from an obscure industrial/noise rock band from the late 80s, and it's sometimes hard to believe that it was recorded in Leningrad and not in London or New York. I'm still searching for any releases of their side project called Mechanical Ballet (if there were any at all).
Named in honour of Nicholaus Copernicus, this band was formed in 1981 by Moscow-based composers Yuri Orlov and Igor Len. Their music has very little in common with what's usually called "Russian rock", and to be honest, that's a good thing. They released only one full-length album on tape in 1986, and one more 7'' officially released by Melodia in 1988-89, but these releases were good enough to earn them a cult status in the Moscow underground scene. The band reformed in 2005 and released a new album (which is very good as well) in 2012.
As far as I know, they had chances to work with such musicians was Peter Gabriel and Frank Zappa, but they never became a particularly well-known band - likely because their music was too experimental for an average Russian rock listener. This album isn't an exception, yet the level of songwriting on it is well above many much better known Soviet rock bands. Interestingly enough, there's even a song dedicated to one small tribe in the far Northeastern Siberia that not everyone knows about :)
"Дурное Влияние (Bad Influence) was a Russian coldwave
band featuring members from earlier band projects Механический Балет
and Монумент Страха. The band released their debut album Неподвижность
(Immobility) in 1989" (last.fm)
As far as I know, they were one of the most influental Soviet post-punk bands of that time, and they're widely credited as one of the first Russian gothic rock bands. The band existed from November 1987 to the summer of 1990 (according to other sources, 1991), and made a reunion during 2011-12. Their only full-length album was recorded in November 1989 at a home studio in Peterhof. The quality of production is unsurprisingly poor, but isn't it something to be expected from an obscure 80's post-punk band?..
Named after the best known work by Gustav Meyrink, Der Golem was a short-lived project formed by Roman Sidorov (Старуха Мха, Sedativ, Fatal) and Dmitry Zubov (Hypnoz, Zuboff Sex Shop) in a small town near Moscow. They have released two albums during 1999-2000, the first one (which is presented here) being mainly post-punk, while the second one is mostly industrial noise/drone.
Roman Sidorov committed suicide in September 2003, and Dmitry Zubov died in October 2011. Their legacy was mostly unknown beyond the most committed fans of underground music, until Der Golem was rediscovered by hipsters in early 2010s. Anyway, "Zmet" is very good (if not a masterpiece) and certainly doesn't deserve to be forgotten. The opening track, in particular, is one of the most depressive compositions I've heard in my life (and I've listened to quite a lot of depressive music)...
This band was formed in 1986 in Magadan of all places. Even this very remote town in the Soviet Far East was experiencing a rock music "boom" at the time, and the local bands were known for their quite specific guitar sound. Initially, M:A were playing glam rock and something that was described by A.Kushnir as "some unknown sort of grunge", but this particular album sounds like typical post-punk/new wave from the 80s (not surprising, since the Magadan scene of that time was strongly influenced by such bands as Japan and Talking Heads).
The whole tape was recorded during 3 days in Moscow on a professional 24-channel tape recorder, and the quality of production is very good for a Soviet post-punk band. The best track on the whole album is undoubtedly #4, which would be a very fitting theme song for the late perestroika times. Interestingly, the band still exist in some form, although their Facebook page isn't very active.
Here's a quite curious discovery I made just yesterday. I've never heard of this band before, but their sound is surprisingly close to that of the much better known industrial rock and no-wave bands of the 80s, to the point of being hard to believe it was recorded in Saint Petersburg (which was still called Leningrad back then).
According to Discogs, it was "recorded in February 1991 by Andrei 'Teacher' Nikolaev at Y.K.Home, Saint Petersburg. Edition of 30 copies". Apparently there were at least two more band members, one of which played such unconventional instruments as an electric saw and various metal objects. The end result is slow and repetitive post-punk/noise rock with distorted vocals. There's at least one more release from them, recorded in 1989-90, which I definitely will search for.
Children's Medicine - Shedikhar Tkheshi (Entering the Forest)
Genetic Code - Artificial Love
Kumle - Televizori
Mother on Mondays - House Of Love
PLAKQSA - Sonia
Qisho Da Inteligencia - Cheshmariteba (Truth)
Spandera Da Kompratia - Datom Ramtove Zemze
Taqsi - Chemi Saxli Jojoxets Hgavs (My House Looks Like Hell)
Vietnam Radio - Ann's Room
Marlene Dietrich - Do Vstrechi
Not many people know that Georgia (of course I'm talking not about the US state, but a country in the Caucasus) had a thriving post-punk / new wave scene during the late 80s and early 90s. However, this community has recently ran a great series of posts that helped to unearth quite a few forgotten gems from that era. That's where I found this compilation as well. Unfortunately, it looks like its author has deceased, but I don't know for sure what has happened to him. Either way, his blog was great, certainly recommended to everyone who's interested in discovering Georgian underground electronic music.
"Hateful Abandon is a band playing a unique blend of music ranging from
Post-Punk, the Industrial pioneers, Black Metal & Anarcho Punk with a
wide variety of other influences. The band was formed in Bristol, UK in
2004" (last.fm)
While their previous album "Move" (2011) featured a quite impressive mix of black metal and post-punk, they got rid of almost all their metal influences on this one (although it didn't make their music any less dark and scary). My personal favourite of theirs is still "Move", but all their works are great, including this one, and anyone who's seeking for a more modern interpretation of the classic 80s' British post-punk and the late 80s-early 90s' darkwave should definitely check it out.
The debut full-length album by Xmal Deutschland, generally not as interesting as the subsequent two releases, but all the trademark elements of XmalD sound and atmosphere are already present on this one. "Hand in Hand" is an especially good track, albeit very minimalistic.
"Viva" is the 3rd album by Xmal Deutschland, released 3 years after their best work "Tocsin". In terms of sound and atmosphere, it's somewhere between "Toscin" and XmalD's late 90's new wave works that had more to do with 80's pop than gothic rock. That said, "Viva" is 100% old style goth rock/post-punk, just a bit "lighter" than XmalD's first two releases, and with more English lyrics. If you follow my blog closely, you probably already are familiar with one of the best songs off this album, "Polarlicht" (which was covered by Coptic Rain on their "Discovery" EP). The two opening tracks are awesome too.
Xmal (or X Mal, X-mal) Deutschland were an important old-school gothic rock band from Hamburg, Western Germany. I already have mentioned them in connection with Coptic Rain, but this album (the best in their discography, in my opinion) deserves its own entry.
Xmal Deutschland started in 1980 as an all-girl band, and while this album had a different line-up, all vocals on there are female, performed by Anja Huwe with her unique "howling" style. XmalD are often compared to Siouxsie & The Banshees, but I think their music is much darker, more "gothic" than "(post-)punk" or "new wave" etc. In particular, this album sounds exactly how the classic gothic rock should sound IMO. I well remember showing it during mid-2000s to the people whose idea of "gothic rock" were HIM-like bands :) Too bad XmalD had to split up in early 1990s (just like many other interesting 80s' acts), and didn't receive the recognition they've deserved. Still, they managed to release this album on 4AD records, which gave them some international recognition (which wasn't that easy for a band singing primarily in German). The atmosphere on this album is just amazing, which might be the reason why it left a much stronger impression on me than many much better known releases by British goth rock bands from the same epoch.
"The Homosexuals (and they were beaten up for it too), existed in London squatland from 1972, and recorded mostly to mono cassettes for themselves and friends. Hardly releasing anything in their lifetime, except a couple of singles and an e.p. between 1978 and 1982; this record collects the releases and selected highlights from the bucketload of cassettes they recorded... Their angular guitars, complex melodies, and experimental leanings distanced them somewhat from the punk rock being created by their contemporaries, and has now cemented them as uk DIY legends. So much so that they(Bruno Wizard and backing band!) have now reformed and are touring"
I personally have discovered this band through last.fm (and judging from the shoutbox there, a lot of people are still upset by their name, lol). Leaving aside their name, their music is actually quite interesting, and indeed sets them apart from the mass of other British post-punk bands that emerged during the late 1970s.
You won't expect a band named "Picnic" to play post-punk and gothic rock, right? Yet they do it, and their name is actually a reference to Strugatskys' well-known book "Roadside Picnic". They were formed in 1981 (although some argue that the band existed in some form as early as in 1978) as a part of the Leningrad Rock Club, and recorded their debut album at Andrey Tropillo's studio in 1982. Initially they played classic rock, but their sound became more "progressive" with the time, and since the late 80s, they were highly influenced by gothic rock as well.
Unfortunately, I'm not very familiar with their discography, because as of today, I've listened only to their "Best of" compilation and this album, which is considered to be their most experimental work. As a whole, it's still art rock, but heavily influenced by industrial and dark ambient. It's probably not the best album to start listening to their discography from (as in the case with DDT's "Мир номер ноль"), yet it's without a doubt one of the most interesting albums of the 90's Russian rock I've heard so far.
As I've said several times before, the "dark" music scene in Russia was rapidly developing in late 2000s, until it was cast down by hipsters in early 2010s in the same manner as the 1980s metal scene was destroyed by grunge in early 1990s. Today, most of what's described as "underground music from post-USSR" is just shitty indie rock/pop, but there are some really interesting new projects as well (although not many). Here's one of these.
Сруб was formed in Novosibirsk by Igor Shapransky, and quickly became a sensation among both hipster crowd and 2000s' gothic rock fans. The music is more or less standard post-punk, but with lyrics more typical for neofolk or pagan/black metal (fortunately it's rather well written and nowhere near as ridiculous as the lyrics of Arkona or many other "Slavonic metal" bands). All in all, it can be described as a mix of neofolk, darkwae and post-punk (or "witch punk", as the band members themselves call it), with a great "forest" atmosphere comparable to that of the best atmospheric black metal acts. Would agree with this comment on bandcamp:
"Surely one of Russia's very best acts. Tremendous energy, powerful rhythm section, superb vocals and
unbelievably catchy. Do yourself a favour and pick up their entire
discog, these guys are seriously addictive!"
So far I've heard their whole discography, except for their latest album which was released only a few days ago. Have high hopes for it too, even though Сруб is becoming a bit self-repeating as of late... Still, all their albums and EPs I've heard so far are awesome, and this one is certainly one of the best.
The name of Anastasia Poleva, better known as just Nastya, is familiar to nearly everyone who's interested in Russian rock, but actually very few people nowadays remember what exactly she was singing, even if she was really popular in late 80s. That's a shame, because she stands out of the USSR rock crowd of that time, and not only because she was one of the few female vocalists in that scene back then. This is her debut album, recorded in summer 1987 at a studio in Urals State University, and it's worth attention because its sound is heavily influenced by post-punk and new wave, borders on 80s' gothic rock. (In fact, a lot of the late 80s' bands that are lumped into the "Russian rock" category were actually post-punk and not classic rock. Same thing with J-rock, which can be nearly anything musically, although I'm certainly not an expert on J-rock).
Nastya began to sing in various local hard rock bands in 1980, and started to write her own music around 1986. Initially her songs didn't have any meaningful lyrics, just some meaningless placeholder words to sing along with the music. Ilya Kormiltsev, one of the most prominent Russian rock lyricists of that time, has noticed that some of these words, like "matsu" and "tatsu", sound like actual words in Japanese language. This led Nastya to the idea of adding a Japanese theme to the album, particularly to the title track, "Tatsu" (#8). That's how the first weeaboo release in the history of Russian rock was born :)
Here's an official video for Nastya's most famous song, "Snow Wolves". When I shown it to one of my friends, his first reaction was: "But that's synthpop"! While calling it "synthpop" would be a stretch, it indeed has the overtones of 80's synthpop and gothic rock, and the lyrics are pretty "gothic" as well. The quality of video is poor (only 144p), but I couldn't find any better:
If the quality is too low for you, here's an unofficial video which is a Wolf's Rain AMV (one of my favourite animes, and the song suits it very well too):
