Kimmo Pohjonen - "Kalmuk" [2002]

Artist: Kimmo Pohjonen

Title: Kalmuk

Genre: Avant-Garde, Contemporary Classical/Folk, Free Jazz

Country: Finland

Release date: 2002

Track List: 

1. Kellua
2. Mantis
3. Escher
4. The Furies
5. Spore
6. Vortex
7. Ehtola
8. Genesis

The name of Kimmo Pohjonen, an accordionist from Finland, is quite big in the world of the contemporary classical music, and for a good reason. His music is exceptionally original, fusing folk, jazz, classical music and avant-garde experiments (with a big emphasis on the "avant-garde" part) that are on par with those of Rock In Opposition bands. His first track I ever heard was "Genesis" (that was at the time when I was getting into RIO bands btw), which has completely blown my mind:

"Pohjonen's instrument is a large five-row chromatic accordion, which has been modified to include microphones, pedals and wires, which allows him to play acoustically and electronically at the same time.

Over his career the music he has produced on the accordion has included traditional folk, classical, rock and theater, but he is best known for avant garde and experimental music. He blends musical styles such as rock, electronic beat, jazz and more. His composition are mostly instrumental works, based on the accordion, along with his voice to some extent, and with other instruments when he collaborates with other musicians. He also experiments with technology, using loops and layering effects onto the accordion's natural sound.

Pohjonen believes in constant innovation in music, and his compositions range from delicate tones to the ominous, contemplative and even frenzied, accompanied by shrieks, shouts, chanting, and noises from non-musical instrument. His music has been described as "soundscapes" sound designed to evoke emotions and images...

His live performances are uninhibited and athletic and have been called "extravagant" and "unhinged" and can included singing, acrobatics, electronic samples and art... Pohjonen is attracted to old customs and obsolete technologies, and these appear in his shows, such as sound from old farm machinery"

Сергей Курёхин - "Опера богатых" [1992]

Artist: Сергей Курёхин

Title: Опера богатых

Genre: Avant-Garde, Free Jazz, Minimal Electronic

Country: Russia

Release date: 1992

Track List:

1. Донна Анна (pt. 1)
2. Аль-Кадбар Буги
3. Невеста Крумхорна
4. Трагедия В Стиле Минимализм
5. Харе Кришна, Донна Анна! (pt. 2)
6. Синагога-буги
7. Связанные Одной Пиццей

"The Rich's Opera" is a compilation of Sergey Kuryokhin's minimalistic works recorded during 1987-91 and released as LP in 1992. The name is probably a play on a popular Italian proverb "Bed is the poor man's opera". This is one of the best known Kuryokhin's works, possibly because it's less avant-garde than his early albums. In particular, the opening track "Donna Anna" is among his best-known and easily recognized compositions.

It has very little to do with rock music, but I'll place it under the "progressive rock" label nevertheless. Actually, it's fairly close to Kuryokhin's early 80's free jazz experiments, but more influenced by classical music and minimalistic electronic music. Fun fact: he was one of the few Soviet electronic musicians that owned a SCI synthesizer (namely SCI Prophet 2000) that was bought for him by one of the labels associated with Leo Records, and brought to Soviet Union by Joanna Stingray. According to Andrey Tropillo, having access to such equipment (which never was officially exported to the USSR, and costed almost like a new car on a black market in mid-1980s) was the main reason for Kuryokhin to start experimenting with avant-garde electronic music. The operatic female voice which you can hear in both parts of "Donna Anna" was recorded with the help of Olga Kondina, a professional opera singer. The rest of the album is entirely instrumental.

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Сергей Курёхин & Поп-Механика - "Насекомая Культура" [1987]

Artist: Сергей Курёхин & Поп-Механика

Title: Насекомая Культура

Genre: Avant-Garde, Free Jazz, Sound Collage

Country: USSR

Release date: 1987

I already have mentioned Sergey Kuryokhin on here before, but he, as one of the most prominent Soviet avant-garde musicians, deserves much more. Today, 20 years after his death, he's remembered mostly for his "Lenin was a mushroom" prank that was aired on TV in 1991, but his legacy (as a musician, actor & screenwriter) is much more than that.

He became known at home mostly as a member of Aquarium during the first half of 1980s, and he has played in several other rock bands prior to that, but his main interests lied in free jazz and avant-garde music. In late 1979, he tried to send some of his piano compositions to BBC, which attracted the attention of Leo Feigin, who worked at BBC and owned the experimental jazz label Leo Records. In 1981, Feigin's label has released Kuryokhin's debut vinyl, which gained a considerable amount of recognition in the Western bloc. Inspired by this success, Kuryokhin decided to continue his career in experimental music, and started his own project "Pop Mechanics" (named after the Popular Mechanics magazine) in mid-1980s.

Pop-Mechanics, like many early industrial bands, always were rather a performance art group than a music band. They never had any fixed line-up, and most of the prominent members of the Leningrad Rock Club took part in Pop-Mechanics at some moment. This particular album was recorded with the help of Igor Butman, a very well-known jazz saxophonist, and the members of Leningrad-based techno duo The New Composers. It's probably the most avant-garde work of Kuryokhin released during the 80s, and it's mentioned in DMT's Industrial Culture FAQ as one of the early examples of Soviet experimental music that's fairly close to early industrial & musique concrete. I'd say it's rather free jazz mixed with minimalistic techno, but a work as experimental as this one defies any attempts of classification. The album was released on tape as one long track (presented in the video above), and re-released on CD in 1998.

Джунгли - "Весна в Шанхае" [1989]

Artist: Джунгли

Title: Весна в Шанхае

Genre: Instrumental Art Rock, Jazz-Rock

Country: USSR

Release date: 1989

Track List:

1. Измерения
2. Весна в Шанхае
3. Ностальгия
4. Пляска (Хоровод)
5. Замкнутый круг (Цикл 22)
6. Эпитафия

I've mentioned this band in my previous entry and then realized than their music is surprisingly hard to find, so it'd be nice of me to post their album too. While I don't think it's avant-garde enough to be called "RIO" or "avant-prog", it's certainly influenced by the Rock In Opposition sound, and it's one of those Soviet experimental gems that are undeservedly forgotten nowadays (along with Стук Бамбука в XI Часов).

Джунгли / Jungle were formed in Leningrad in 1983 (according to other sources - in 1981), initially as a standard hard rock band. Fun fact: the name "Jungle" was chosen after some old man has called the audience of Leningrad Rock Club "a real zoo", and the band members answered jokingly: "It's worse than a zoo, it's jungle!".

By 1984-1985, their sound has evolved into art rock / jazz-rock. According to the band's gutarist, Andrey Otsryaskin, they were mostly influenced by Peter Gabriel, Robert Fripp, King Crimson, Oregon, and Krzysztof Penderecki. Sergey Kuryokhin, probably the best known avant-garde musician in the Leningrad rock scene of that time, also had a lot of influence on them (and it's most likely him who sparked their interest in free jazz). Since late 1987, their style finally shifted away from standard rock music (apart from jazz, they were also interested in medieval music and polyrhythmic folk music at that time). The same year, they had their first chance to perform abroad - first in Poland, then in Denmark and Finland. Their decision to play purely instrumental music has helped them a lot, since they wouldn't have to worry that the audience won't understand the lyrics. By 1990, the band's lineup was reduced to a trio. Then in 1992, when Andrey Otsryaskin realized that his band doesn't have much future in a country which just entered a deep crisis, he decided to emigrate. Thus the story of Jungle has ended.

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