I won't pretend that two years of studying Russian was enough for me to fully get at what this album is about. Nevertheless, I still love it. And you probably will too. I think I read about this band (now defunct after the untimely death of main man, Yegor Letov) in an interview with Kevin from Pink Reason. Good think I paid attention since this is some really essential stuff. Pretty strange that for a group considered to be one of the most important Russian bands of all time they're hardly ever mentioned. Find out why they were significant. And then find everything else they recorded since it's all worth owning.Here (Reposted 3/19/12)
For those of us who have no Russian, would you mind writing out a phonetic translation of the band name & album title?
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Hmm...I think it would be (and in English the sounds don't quite match up) Grazhdanskaya Oborona. The album would be Optimism, basically. But like I said, my Russian is pretty shit. Now if it was Polish, Italian, Spanish, French, I might be better. But that's about as good as I can do at the moment.
ReplyDeleteWith a name like that I'm not surprised they are hardly mentioned outside the eastern bloc ; ) Very interesting record, and pioneering work in what must have been an incredibly difficult environment.
ReplyDeleteYet, this reminds me of the Fall in numerous ways. But you're right. It's oddly unpredictable.
ReplyDeleteTheir name is usually translated to mean "civil defense," and is often abbreviated GrOb, which I've read is Russian for "grave." Anyway I'll bet this is a great album; the other ones I have by them are!
ReplyDeleteThe way the music twists and turns brings Family Fodder to mind as well. It is most peculiar. I can certainly see the Fall comparisons too.
ReplyDeleteDo you have anything by Yanka Dyagileva as well?
Ah, I can see the Family Fodder similarities (love them too), though I never made those connections. Unfortunately, I have no Yanka. Is this something I should seek out?
ReplyDeleteI was wondering the same thing myself. She seems a highly individual character. So, here's a link I found quickly:
ReplyDeletehttp://proskynesis.blogspot.com/2009/08/yanka-dyagileva-styd-i-sram.html
And there is another link in the comments to a much larger archive.
Спасибо.
ReplyDeleteOh thank you! I've been studying russian for two years and have only really gotten into the Bard genre so far...I've been looking for something like this.
ReplyDeleteWelcome. Keep up the studies. It's a fucking hard language to learn.
ReplyDeleteя очень благодарна! more russian music, please! here's a greeting from dagistan. not that i've been there - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKk7toR2484
ReplyDelete!!!
I'll try to post more, but it's always been pretty hard for me to find. I have a pretty limited selection unless I start getting into folk or traditional music.
ReplyDeletehave you heard молотов колктейль? russian 80's indie/post-punk, really beautiful.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c93tM0w8TIQ
sorry for spamming you with youtube-clips
Nope. Haven't heard them, but thanks for the link. Definitely no need for apologies.
ReplyDeleteJerry Orbach: "GrOb" is not quite "grave". It means "coffin" in Russian.
ReplyDelete