Ukraine - The West

 Ukraine has obviously entered the international conscience in the last few years due to the ongoing war.  Whilst I set out this blog to try and maintain neutrality, it is clear for everyone to see that this "Special Military Operation" is a war of aggression, and is therefore unjustified, but being a pacifist, I can't justify any war.  

As on this blog I have decided to format the music into countries, which already doesn't work with many fusions across borders, and borders are never and have never been static but change all the time, I have then the task of deciding where I draw the borders for the purpose of this blog.  I have decided to go along with the pre 2014 borders to define Ukraine, which are still recognised by the majority of UN nations.  

So, to continue our journey due south from Minsk in Belarus on our last stop, ignoring any tensions between these 2 countries, we hop across the border to the northern Ukrainian village of Nedilyshche, where legendary folk singer Nina Matviienko was born in 1947.  Starting off as a copyist, then a crane operator she went on to study philology then entering the Ukrainian State Folk Choir.  She then became something of a national treasure as she carved out a solo career championing women's rights and the folk music of her country.  Sadly she passed away in October of this year.  There doesn't seem to be much of her music available to western listeners, but here is a 2020 performance on the World Folk Vision Festival:

The Volyn State Academic Folk Choir was established in 1978 in the western city of Lutsk and is a large all singing and dancing ensemble with some 80 active members, 24 of them being dancers.  Apparently they have released CDs of their music, but I can't find them, nor do they appear to have an active website.  However there are a number of videos on YouTube of their dance performances and here is a fun one called The Enchanted Hat:

Next stop is the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.  Now if you were born in this city before World War I and are still alive today and have never left, you would have lived in Austro-Hungary, Germany, Poland, the Soviet-Union and Ukraine during your lifetime.  This part of the world has changed hands more often then some people change their underwear!  

Anyway moving on with the musical theme, composer and singer Mariana Sadovska was born here in 1972.  She is considered a pioneer of blending Ukrainian folk with contemporary avant-garde elements.  Nowadays she lives in Cologne in Germany.  Here's a song from her 2010 album Just Not Forever (Re-released in 2022) called Zozulya:

Also from Lviv, and I feel I should mention her, is Ruslana Stepanivna Lyzhychko, or simply Ruslana, who won the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest.  As you may have figured out by now, I'm not a fan of that glorified schmalzfest, but Ruslana appears to be quite a talented musician and dancer, whose talent may be wasted in the commercialised world of pop, as well as having a sexy figure, which always goes down well with the voting public.  After her success she got involved in politics and even served in government for a while as a cultural advisor and was voted one of the world's most influential women by Forbes Magazine.  She still is active as a campaigner, particularly relating to the current war.  So here is a quite a moving video, presumably to boost the morale of the troops. 

The Hudaki Village Band is a troupe of 9 musicians from the Ukrainian Carpathians region on the border with Hungary and Romania known as Maramorosh and were established in 2001.  Being from a mountainous border area the regional influences are multi-faceted and include Slavic vocal traditions, Romanian melodies, Jewish rhythms and Roma temperament.  This is all delivered with panache and a great deal of humour.  Here are a couple of songs from their 2018 album Yo! called Let's Drink Boys and Mariko Do You Hear Me:

During lockdown the members of indie-pop band Tik Tu from Ternopil in western Ukraine were getting a bit restless.  Browsing around YouTube they found the joyful Malawian duo the Madalitso Band, 2 guys that had been busking on the streets of Lilongwe on battered old guitars to keep their heads above water, but came to international attention around 2017 when they performed at the Zanzibar music festival.  So the Ukrainians sent them an e-mail about how they admired their music and would they like to collaborate, remotely obviously during those days, which resulted in a single called Sitimamenya complete with accompanying video and here it is:

That's it from western Ukraine for the time being, next stop is the capital Kyiv.  In the meantime you can follow my virtual ramblings on my Tripline map.

Belarus

 We arrive in Belarus, another country I haven't visited and I don't know a great deal about, apart from the fact that it is governed by a pretty repressive dictatorship, a fact I don't think is too controversial internationally.  The national language is Belarussian, but Russian is spoken widely.  As far as the music is concerned, the government stipulates that 75% of music played on the radio has to be Belarussian, whether it be in the Belarussian or Russian languages, and presumably voices critical of the regime don't get a look in.

First stop is the western city of Lida, where multi-instrumentalist Ivan Kirchuk was born.  He specialises in the ethnology and folklore of his homeland and plays rare and ancient instruments such as the ocarina, domra and bagpipes, as well as singing songs.  He is a larger than life character with a beard to match his personality, who now teaches at Minsk university.  Here is a song from his 1999 album Heritage of the Lost Villages called Oy, ishli-prayshli da try yangali:

Accordionist Aliaksandr Yasinski was born in the city Baranavichy in western Belarus in 1989, but now resides in Prague.  He draws on Belarussian and Balkan music as well as tango and jazz in a unique and dramatic style.  Here is the title track to his first 2022 solo album Hlybini (Depths):

Instrumental trio Port Mone were established in 2006 in the capital Minsk.  They have forged their own roots style with influences from minimalism, jazz and ambient music.  In 2012 they got together with the inimitable DakhaBrakha from neighbouring Ukraine to form the Khmeleva Project.  Here is a track from the resulting album called Єлена (Elena):

The Camerata Vocal Group were established in 1992 in Minsk and appear to be quite proudly state sponsored, which isn't to say they are not talented.  The seven or so members give their own orchestral accompaniment to their songs with their voices, using both electronic enhancement and at times techniques like beat-box.  Here is a song from their 2000 album Angels called Сокол (Falcon), complete with snowy backdrop and (bizarrely) fighting knights:

Ethno-musicologist and multi-instrumentalist Zisl Slepovitch is a native of Minsk, but now resides in New York, where he lectures on Eastern European Jewish music and culture and klezmer, in which he holds a PHD.  He has released 2 albums recreating songs remembered and described by Holocaust survivors.  Whilst this sounds like a heavy subject matter, most of the songs are surprisingly resilient, even satirical, a testament of the power of music in adversity.  The lyrics are in Yiddish, French and Polish and are sung by Latvian singer Sasha Lurje.  Here's a song from the 2021 album Cry My Heart, Cry! Songs from Testimonies Vol. II called Kidush Hashem:

Early music folk band Stary Olsa was established in 1999 playing Medieval and renaissance music on from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, of which Belarus was once a part of. To keep it interesting though they also play covers of classic rock songs on the same instruments.   Here's their 2021 single Балада пра Цмока (Ballad of the Dragon):

Finally spare a thought for the members of Tor Band whose protest songs about the regime in Belarus got them into trouble with the government and were sentenced to up to 9 years in prison in October this year for inciting hatred, creating an extremist group, discrediting Belarus and insulting the president.  Their song не народец (Not a Nation) has become an anthem for the anti-government protest movement:

That's it from Belarus, next stop is Ukraine, where we linger a little longer.  In the meantime you can follow my virtual musical journey on my Tripline map as usual.

Lithuania

Next on our virtual trip is Lithuania, which like the other Baltic states has it's own distinct traditions and language.  I have never been, but it has suffered a similar fate to its neighbours in history of being overrun alternately by the Germans and the Russians.  Now it is a prosperous country, proud of its traditions and looking forward at the same time.  Unlike Latvia its culture seems to be less centralised and we will go on a whistlestop tour around the country.

Our first stop in the north of the country and just over the border with Latvia is the town of Joniškis, where singer and self-declared song-keeper Laurita Peleniūtė was born.  She is trying to preserve ancient Lithuanian folk songs and performs in various guises including collaborating with musicians from around the world.  One of her projects is the duo Maros Rijos together with Tadas Dešukas, who accompanies her pure voice gently on violin, mandolin and guitar, whilst she is on a shruti box for a gentle drone.  Here's a song from their 2021 album Ilgių Dainos called Oi Eisiu Eisiu:

Another project Laurita is involved in is MaLituanie, a collaboration between musicians from Mali and Lithuania to find common ground between their respective musical traditions.  The Malian contingent of the collaboration includes ngoni player Baba Sissoko and guitarist Victor Diawara and the Lithuanian half is completed by multi-instrumentalist Saulius Petreikis and singer and Baltic psaltery player Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė as well as Laurita on ocarina and percussion.  Here's a track from their 2013 album called Tres Jolie:

And talking about the above mentioned multi-instrumentalist Saulius Petreikis, he was born in the north-western town of Barstyčiai near the port city of Klaipeda in 1984. He has a collection of 50 odd wind instruments from all over the world and is known as the only professional musician who can play a wide range of ancient Lithuanian/Baltic wind instruments.  He has recorded 11 solo albums and has taken part in some 50 national and international collaborations.  He combines his traditional folk roots with other experimental world music genres.  His latest 2023 album Sapnų Vartai (The Gate of Dreams) was inspired by the lullabies his mother sang to him when he was the kid and that he now sings to his own children.  Here is track from the album called Naktį lyja (At night it rains) with some beautiful art work in the video:

Next we are heading to the eastern city of Tauragė, where accordionist Martynas Levickis was born in 1990.  The classically trained musician calls his instrument his box of tricks and he has been hailed as "amazingly talented [...] single-handedly reinventing the accordion" by the Independent.  He first emerged onto the scene as the winner of the Lithuania's Got Talent competition in 2010.  His repertoire is mostly his interpretations of classical pieces, but he also incorporates Lithuanian folk tunes, such as in this piece from his latest 2013 album Autograph called The Dawn Is Breaking / Beauštanti aušrelė:

Folk rock band Atalyja (The Rain is Coming) debuted in 1998 in Kaunas, the second city of Lithuania.  The focus on the popularisation of traditional Lithuanian folk songs, in particular polyphonic Sutartinės.  They combine those with contemporary rock, funk and blues elements, using both traditional instruments and modern electric guitar, bass and drums.  Here is the title track from their 2009 album Saula riduolėla:

Folk band Sutaras started off in 1988 in the capital Vilnius playing and singing traditional Lithuanian village folk and have since performed over 6200 concerts in Lithuania and all over the world.  Whilst much of their instrumentation is traditional including the daudytes (wooden horns), the ragiliai (reed horns) or the skudučiai (panpipes) and their songs are formed as Sutartinės, they are not afraid of experimentation and throwing a bit of jazz into their compositions.  Here's a song from their 2011 album Ubagų karalystės monai called UBAGŲ SALA (Isle of Beggars):

Folk-fusion trio Merope consist of Lithuanian kanklės (Lithuanian zither) player and singer Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė, Belgian Bert Cools on guitar and synthesizer and Frenchman Jean Christophe Bonnafous on bansuri, a south-Asian side-blown flute.  Their material is based on Lithuanian folk songs, but with the unusual instrumentation and international influences have created their own style.  Here is the title track from their 2022 album Naktės:

And that's it from Lithuania, next stop Belarus.  As usual, you can follow my virtual journey on my Tripline map. 

Latvia

 

Photo credit: By Saeima - Dziesmu un deju svētku pasākumi 2018, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71031165

I've been to Latvia once very briefly about 3 years ago on an overnight stop in Riga on the way back from Stockholm staying with a friend of a friend.  It was getting dark and started snowing heavily as we arrived, so never took any pictures, but we are planning a return visit sometime soon.  We did get to eat a traditional pickled herring and beetroot salad in a cosy restaurant on the outskirts of town though. 

Apparently a third of Latvia's population lives in Riga, so on our musical journey it's the only place we'll be stopping.  First up is all female Ethno-pop band Tautumeitas, who started life in 2015.  The 6 women sing beautifully in harmony accompanied by violins, accordion and percussion.  Here's a bewitching song from their 2018 self-titled debut album called Raganu Nakts (Witch Nights):

Folk fusion band Auļi was founded in 2003 consisting of 6(!) bagpipe players, 3 drummers and an electric cello.  That's enough to put the fear of God into anyone and their performances seem to be a rumbunctious party.  They call their genre Ethno-trance with elements of Latvian folk, rock and other influences.  The pipes they are playing are of course not Scottish, but the native Latvian dūdas, which has a history going back to the 15th century and even appeared on a Latvia postage stamp:

Here's the opening track from their 2022 album Ķekatās called Čigāniņi, pagāniņi (Gypsies, pagans):

Folk band Iļģi was founded in 1981 by Ilga Reizniece and are still going strong.  Initially they concentrated on original Latvian folk with traditional instruments, but gradually transformed into what they call post folk, taking in influences from other world and contemporary music styles.  They have numerous awards to their name and are still touring.  Here's the opening track from their 2011 album Tur Saulite Perties Gaja called Pirts Kurinasara:

The core of contemporary folk band Lata Donga is made up of members of the Rancane family - including Asnate and Aurelia who are also members of Tautumeitas - who have been playing music for at least 3 generations.  Their music is dream-like, using traditional and classical instrumentation.  Here is a song from their 2019 album Variacijas called Vysi Kūceņi, which according to Google Translate means You Bastards:

All female traditional singing group Saucējas was established in 2003 in Riga at the Latvian Academy of Culture.  They are very much sticking to authentic Latvian polyphonic traditions gleaned from archive recordings and by meeting older musicians in the field.  The theme of many of their songs is nature and in nature those women like to be to record their songs, complete with the ambient noises of birdsong and chickens clucking.  Here's a song from their 2021 album Dabā called Aiz Daugavas melni meži, which is a Latvian spring time song from Selonia:

Nature and tradition is also at the heart of the music of folk band Saule I Tuvāk with a dash of mysticism.  I don't know an awful lot about them, but here is a song from their 2022 debut album Aiz Ezera called Raganiņa, which means witch apparently.  Seems to be a bit of a theme in Latvia:

The electro-folk duo ZeMe brings together the queen of the kokle, the traditional Latvian zither, Laima Jansone with elctronic DJ Monsta aka Uldis Zirulis, both born in Riga.  They are inspired by Mother Earth, which Zeme literally means in Latvian mythology, to come up with innovative improvisations.  Laima at times plays the kokle like a guitar Jimi Hendrix style.  Here is the title song to their 2019 album Visuma Vizošā Tumsa - The Glimmering Universe:

3 of the 5 members of ImantaDimanti un draugi hail from the Latvian diaspora abroad and were brought up in Australia, the USA and Germany respectively.  However they formed the band in Riga playing joyful traditional Latvian folk songs, sometimes with a hint of bluegrass, displaying their international influence.  Here's the title song from their 2017 album Izauga mātei brīnuma meita:

And that's it from Latvia for the time being, folks.  Next stop is the last of the Baltic republics, Lithuania, until then you can follow my virtual travels on my tripline map.

Estonia

 We arrive in the Baltic states on our virtual travels, starting in the east with Estonia.  Although declaring neutrality during World War II, they were overrun several times, first by the Germans than the Soviet Union, who occupied the Baltic states until 1991.  Their language is related to Finnish and therefore totally unintelligible to the average human.  I have yet to visit the country, but by all accounts it's worth a visit.  Their national epic poem is the Kalevipoeg, which tells the story of a giant who throws rocks at his enemies, talks to hedgehogs and finally gets his feet cut off by his own sword.

We start at the north-eastern town of Rakvere, where violinist & singer Maarja Ruut was born in 1986.  She is classically trained, but started experimenting in different genres, most notably Estonian village folk, but also Hindustani music, and electronica.  Her interest in Estonian folk came when she discovered an archive of 78's from pre-Soviet times, which became her inspiration to create her more contemporary folk using a loop station to add layers to her music.  Here is a track from her 2016 album Une Meeles (In the hold of a dream) called Siidisulis Linnukene (The Silken-feathered Bird):

Next stop is Talinn, the capital of Estonia.  I'm not actually sure where folk-rock band Trad.Attack!  are based, but they were formed in 2013, taking archival folk recordings and adding their own rock tunes and rhythms to them.  They spine of the group is a trio consisting of Sandra Vabarna on vocals and torupill (Estonian bagpipe), Jalma Vabarna on guitar and vocals and Tõnu Tubli on drums.  Live they really rock the place, especially in their home country, but they have toured internationally.  Here is a live version of the song Jaan'kene from their 2015 album Ah!:

Multi-instrumentalist, story-teller and anthropologist Polina Tšerkassova was born in Talinn in 1986, but is ethnic Russian.  First and foremost she tells fairy tale-like stories form all over the world in Estonian, Russian and usefully English.  She accompanies those stories herself with a number of exotic instruments.  She has an absolutely captivating and enchanting style.  Here she gives her own version of what she does, of course in story form, from her 2017 album Singing Stories (also available in Estonian and Russian).  The piece is called Who Is a Storyteller:

Duo Ruut were formed in 2017 by 2 young women, Ann-Lisett Rebane and Kateriina Kivi, who play one(!) Estonian zither between them and singing together in harmony.  They were still teenagers when they were mucking about in the music room of their school trying to arrange a song together.  They tried every instrument they could or couldn't play until they stumbled across a neglected Estonian zither, which they considered uncool, but tried it out nevertheless.  They soon discovered that they could produce sounds on it, which are not traditionally associated with this instrument, and the rest is history as they say.  Given that Estonian folk tunes appear to have a tendency to be quite simple with sometimes only 2 or 3 notes, this sounds like the result would be very sparse and minimalistic, but they somehow produce a beautiful richness of sound and atmosphere.  Here is the title song from their 2019 album Tuule sõnad (Words of the Wind), which is a spell to drive away the wind.  Apparently the Estonians don't like weather of any description and therefore have a spell to ward of any weather condition.

I'm not sure where Kannel Player and folk musician Eva Väljaots was born in 1986, but she is Estonian, but now resides in Helsinki.  The kannel is the Estonian version of the Finnish kantele.  Her music is purely instrumental and inspired by nature.  Here's the title track of her 2021 album Hundinuiaõis * Bulrush Bloom:

Next stop is the small town of Märjamaa, where mouth harp player and singer Cätlin Mägi was born in 1979.  She plays mostly traditional Estonian music, using a loop station to accompany herself on the parmupill, the Estonian version of the mouth harp.  In fact she uses about 50 different types of mouth harps, which she interchanges mid-song giving the impression of a whole band playing along.  The effect is fascinating.  Here is the opening track to her 2018 album Mu Pill Parmupill (My Harp, my heart) called Koka Nokast (Wood Shavings):

 Finally we visit the south eastern town of Võru, where folk singer and multi-instrumentalist Mari Kalkun was born in 1986 (1986 seems to have been a very good year for Estonian musicians, must have been something in the stars...).  The region where she grew up is surrounded by woodlands and nature, which has inspired her style.  She is considered one of the driving forces behind the revival of Estonian folk.  She accompanies her songs on piano, Estonian zither, accordion and guitar.  Here's a song from her latest 2023 album Stories of Stonia called Lend Põhjataeva All  (Flight Beneath the Northern Sky):

That's it from Estonia, it's only a small country.  Next up on our imaginary travels is Latvia.  In the meantime you can follow the journey so far on my Tripline map.

Russia - The West & St. Petersburg

 After Moscow we are heading due west to the town of Usyaty in the Pskov Oblast.  This is where button accordionist Ekaterina Trusova has recently released an album of traditional music of the region called Usyaty: Russian Music From Pskov Region in Modern and Archival Recordings.  It's a slightly bizarre album.  The modern recordings are Trusova playing traditional tunes on the accordion, but the archival recordings were made by her in the 90's and are of bad quality, especially those of her father Dimitry Kozintsev, so we'll play a tune from the first and better quality half of the album, a short tune called In the Village at the River:

Next for something a bit more polished we are heading to the city of Pskov itself where gusli player and harpist Olga Glazova was born in 1993.  Her speciality instrument the gusli is an ancient east Slavic multi-stringed zither.  On it she plays her own interpretations of Russian folk songs accompanied by her own voice.  Here is a song from her 2023 album Live in Alexandrinsky Theatre called Memories:

Next we are heading into St. Petersburg itself, the second largest city in Russia and the birthplace of the Russian Empire, formerly known as Leningrad.  Here's a picture of the above-mentioned Alexandrinsky Theatre:

Photo credit

First up is the fun folk-rock band Otava Yo (Отава Ё).  They started life around 2003 as a Pogues-style Celtic punk-folk inspired band called Reelroadъ, but have since moved onto Russian folk with their own energetic rock.  Their breakthrough came through their funny YouTube videos, having them dance madly in costume and tell fun stories that are understandable even to those who don't speak Russian, although they often do come with English subtitles.  It is also worth pointing out that they have publicly spoken out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  Here's the opening track to their 2018 album Do You Love / Любишь ли ты called Once Upon a Time in a High Hill / Как на горке, на горе:

The 3 original members of klezmer and Balkan band Dobranotch (Good Night) are all from St' Petersburg but originally met busking on the streets of Nantes in France in 1997.  They left Russia in 2022 in opposition to the invasion of Ukraine and are now based in Germany.  Their main raison d'etre is klezmer with a good dose of Balkan brass, Gypsy tunes and Russian folk.  Here is a song from their 2019 album Mercedes Kolo called Ya Rayah:

Russia's coolest female band, according to Russian Rolling Stone, folk-rock outfit Iva Nova were formed in 2002 in St. Petersburg.  Whilst rooted in Slavic folk, don't expect traditional Russian songs, these ladies rock with a real urban grunge.  Apart from Russian they also sing songs in Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Georgian and Tatar languages.  Here's the opening track from their 2021 live album Snow White Concert called Don't Want It! / Не хочу!:

Gypsy band Loyko were formed in 1990 by Sergei Erdenko initially as a duo, then a trio, sometimes with the addition of his niece Leonsia Erdenko on vocals.  Sergei was actually born in eastern Siberia in 1958 into the sub-group of Servitka Roma, but started this project in St. Petersburg.  What this man can't do on a fiddle is yet to be determined, from lightning fast pizzicatos to making train noises, bird calls, horse trots and other effects.  Whilst gypsy music is at the core of the group, they are not afraid to cross over into other genres such as flamenco, Celtic music, Hungarian folk or classical.  Here's a song from their 2012 album Gypsy Times for Nunja called Gypsy Street:

Finally we head west a bit towards the Estonian border stopping at the town of Kingisepp, where composer and accordionist Evelina Petrova was born in 1974. Whilst vaguely rooted in Russian folk, she very much veers off into experimental music and world fusion genres.  Her singing is mostly in made up language and includes hollers and whoops.  One of her projects is the Evelina Petrova Trio formed in Oslo together with Norwegian trombonist Andreas Rotevatn (also supplying electronic effects) and California Hardanger fiddle player Laura Ellestad.  This unusual combination took the form of an experimental lab where everything was permitted and nothing left untested.  Here is a live version of the opening track Farewell from their 2019 album First Dance.  Ellestad is replaced by Scottish fiddler Sarah-Jane Summers (whom we met in Oslo) on this occasion.

So much for European Russia for now..  I'm sure there's a lot more to find in this vast country, but a lot of websites there seem to be blocked here in the west and it's not easy to find stuff.  Next stop is going to be Estonia, until then you can follow my virtual travels on my Tripline map.

Russia - Moscow

 

Photo credit: By Ludvig14 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31764182

We arrive in Russia's capital Moscow, home to the Kremlin, the centre of power, and unsurprisingly a rich music scene. We'll just scrape the surface with some local acts.  First up is all female ethno-experimental quartet FolkBeat, who started life in 2012.  They combine traditional Russian folk songs with contemporary pop idioms using beatbox techniques and loop stations incorporating hip-hop, drum'n'bass, jungle and punk influences.  Here is a song from their 2016 album FolkBeat & Friends - The Joyful Meeting called I Can't Stand It:

Folk & jazz composer and performer Sergey Starostin was born in Moscow was born in Moscow in 1956 and is famous for his modern interpretations of archaic Russian, Tuvan and Sámi folk music often combined with jazz.  He went through several phases from traditional to more jazz influenced music and back to his original roots.  He collects and makes some of his own instruments including various flutes such as the kalyuka overtone flute and reed instruments.  During his research he recorded thousands of tracks of authentic songs and instrumental compositions.  On his 2004 album Easy As Pie he combines with percussionist Mario to produce a very pared back folk album, which was a result of a jam session.  It includes a version of this song called Deep:

Singer/songwriter Inna Zhelannaya (b. 1967 in Moscow) started her career in rock music as part of various bands and writing her own material.  In 1989 she began collaborating with the above mentioned Sergey Starostin, who introduced her to folk music.  In 1994 she founded her own rock band called Farlander, with whom she performed for nearly two decades.  In 2013 she changed direction again with a new band, incorporating more folk elements as well as psychedelic rock, producing her own psych folk style.  Her 2014 double album Izvorot (The Bending) received much critical comparing her to King Crimson meeting Russian roots.  This a song from the album called Palisade:

Experimental singing group the Dimitri Pokrovsky Ensemble was founded in 1973 in Moscow by Dimitri Pokrovsky himself and his wife Tamara Smyslova to research, collect and perform traditional Russian village music.  Pokrovsky has since died in 1996, but the choir goes on and has recently celebrated its 50 birthday.  Here's a track from their 1991 album The Wild Field (re-released in 2019) called Mosquito:

Gypsy guitarist Vadim Kolpakov was actually born in Saratov in 1981 near the Caspian Sea, but is now based in Moscow.  He is the third generation in his family playing the 7-string gypsy guitar.  Together with his uncle Alexander he formed the Kolpakov Duo.  Here are the 2 opening tracks of their 2010 album Introducing the Kolpakov Duo called Suite of Gypsy Tunes and Dui,Dui:

In the mid 1980's, when Perestroika and Glasnost began to bloom in the old Soviet Union, 4 students around Igor Yuzov got together playing music in their dorm.  Rock'n'roll was still banned, but having a rebellious streak they combined Russian folk with this decadent western genre to create their own Russian folk'n'roll.  They called themselves Limpopo after the river in Southern Africa, because it sounded exotic.  They were having a lot of fun together and at their peak performed at a Soviet/American peace walk.  That's where Igor met an American woman, got married and emigrated to California.  Soon the other band members followed him and they reformed, initially busking on the streets of Santa Monica, adding ridiculous dance moves and a good dose of humour to their performances.  They became so popular that they were discovered by a producer who invited them to record their song.  They went in for one session in which they recorded 20 songs, which became their debut album Crazy Russian Folk'n'Roll in 1991.  Later they entered a talent competition, which they won.  Nowadays they go under the name of the Red Elvises with some changes in personnel.  Here is the winning entry to the talent show called Korobeyniki, which features on the debut album:

 

I can't find out much about singer Anna Hoffman, other than she is based in Moscow and specialises in Sephardic music, the music of the Jewish community that inhabited the Iberian peninsula until they were largely expelled by the late 15th century.  They spoke their own Spanish dialect called Ladino and mixed cultural influences from Spain, North Africa, Turkey and the Balkans.  Hoffman's voice is strong and expressive as her backing band Romancero Sefardi subtly accompanies her.  Here is a short concert of hers showing women's songs of the sephardic tradition, some of which feature on her 2013 album Juego de Siempre:

Finally the all female vocal ensemble and internet sensation Beloe Zlato (White Gold) originally formed in the city of Norilsk in deepest Siberia, but are now based in Moscow.  They all studied music and got together over their shared love of traditional Russian folk.  They made a name for themselves on YouTube performing in romanticised rural settings, wearing simple dress, sometimes traditional costumes, sometimes just jeans and T-shirts, singing in beautiful harmonies a Capello or accompanied by a balalaika.  Their recorded music is not available on the usual channels, but their videos are a joy to watch, as they exude a fresh and carefree energy.  Here is an example of a song called A Week:

That's it from Moscow, next we're heading towards St. Petersburg.  As usual, you can follow my virtual ramblings on my Tripline map.

Russia - Sverdlovsk Oblast to South of Moscow

 We'll be covering a lot of mileage on this post, all the way from just east of the Ural Mountains to the Black Sea and anything else south of the capital Moscow.  We start this leg of our virtual tour through Russia across the Urals in the Sverdlovsk Oblast and in what is technically speaking our first stop in Asia being located just east of the Ural Mountains.  First stop is the town of Verkhnyaya Salda, where singer / songwriter and poet Olga Arefieva was born in 1966.  She is very much a folk rocker, incorporating elements of reggae and hip hop.  Looking at the translations of her lyrics you can see the poet in her.  Like in this song called У попа была собака (The Priest Had a Dog) from her 2016 album Глина (Clay).  It describes the struggles of a priest as he doubts his calling and gets crushed by the questions of the world, but his dog teaches him to live in the moment. 

"The dog wiggled its tail and nose,

She asked a bunch of questions:

No, not about why he’s crying -

But about running, walking and playing ball."

 

Next we are heading to the administrative capital of the Sverdlovsk Oblast, Yekaterinburg, formerly known as Sverdlovsk.  The fourth largest city in Russia it is considered a cultural centre, and the main musical genre associated with it is Ural Rock, which we won't go into.  Multi-instrumentalist Katya Yonder was born and raised here.  Living on the border between Europe and Asia she has long had an interest in musical influences from both continents.  She lists her influences as anything from 80's pop to old video game soundtracks and Japanese animes, ending up with an ethereal ambient pop sound singing in Russian, English, Japanese and French, which actually is quite pleasing. Here's a song from her 2020 album Multiply Intentions called Вновь и вновь (Again and Again):

Next we are heading south a bit to the city of Chelyabinsk in the oblast of the same name.  It is sometimes known as the gateway to Siberia and is therefore not surprising to hear sounds normally associated with the people from further east like Tuva and Mongolia, namely throat singing.  Shaman, throat singer and mouth harp player Tyurgen Kam was born there.  His mission is to bring throat singing to a younger audience incorporating electronic influences and sometimes dancefloor rhythms to his music.  He even appeared on Ukraine has got talent some years ago (obviously before the current conflict).  Here's a track from his 2013 album Bear Trail:

We are crossing back across the Urals into European Russia to Volgograd (formerly known as Stalingrad) in the oblast of the same name.  It is part of larger region which is home to another ethnic minority, the Cossacks.  Historically they were a group of semi-nomadic, semi-militarized people, who in return for military service were given a certain autonomy from the Russian Empire.  During the Communist era they were disbanded and consequently some fought for the other side during World War II.  Between 3.5-5 million people now identify as Cossacks.  

In 2016 the Ensemble of Ancient Cossack Song Kazachya Sprava was founded in Volgograd.  They perform traditional a cappella songs dressed in traditional costumes and uniforms.  Many of the songs have a military theme to them, reflecting their history as an army force.  Here is a live performance of a song from their 2019 album The Sun Will Give the Morrow Birth:

Next we are making another giant leap all the way to the Black Sea coast to the town of Tuapse in the Krasnodar Krai.  This is where balalaika virtuoso Alexey Arkhipovsky was born in 1967.  Now if Russia has a national instrument it is this simple 3-stringed instrument with a triangular body.  In the hands of Arkhipovsky it becomes almost unrecognisable, so much so that he is sometimes known as the Paganini or Jimi Hendrix of the balalaika.  He performs it solo with incredible skill.  His most famous tune is Zolushka (Cinderella) from his 2013 album The Road to Home:

Heading 1000km north we arrive in the city of Voronezh in the oblast of the same name.  This is where folk band Trio Voronezh were formed in 1993 by graduates of the Academy of Music by Vladimir Volokhin on the domra (small Russian lute), Sergei Teleshev on the bayan (a Russian chromatic button accordion) and Valerie Petrukhin on double bass balalaika.  They play Russian and international folk tunes as well as classical pieces and have toured abroad extensively.  In fact their springboard to international fame was when they were 'discovered' busking in a Frankfurt subway station. Here is a tune from their 2014 self-titled album called New York Tango:

Next we go west a bit to the Belgorod Oblast and the town of Prokhorovka, famous for a massive tank battle during World War II.  It is also home to electro-folk outfit Staritsa.  They are really only a duo although they sound like a much bigger band filling their music with electronic rhythms, but having Russian folk songs as their heart singing in beautiful harmony accompanied by electric guitar or balalaika.  They have set out to break through common stereotypes of stuffy Russian folk by giving it a modern twist.  The title of their 2021 album Klyukva means cranberry but is also is a Russian idiom which refers to westerners perceiving Russia as other and reinforcing stereotypes of the balalaika, borscht and bears.  Here's a song from the album called Oh Polno, Polno:

Finally we finish off today in the city of Belgorod itself, where folk-rock band Narechie hail from.  Narechie means adverb in Russian, which means if you google their name, you get a lot of articles and videos on grammatical rules.  They combine electric guitar, bass and drum with traditional Russian polyphonic singing with a clarinet thrown in for good measure to give a touch of jazz.  Here's a song from their 2021 album From the Town called Porushka Paranya - Superstar:

That's it for today, next our virtual travels will take us to Moscow.  In the meantime you follow my virtual trip on my tripline map.

Russia - Karelian Republic to the Ural Mountains

 Russia might not be flavour of the month at the moment, but we'll ignore the politics for the moment and concentrate on its music.  I have never been to Russia, nor do I anticipate visiting it any time soon, but as we all know it's a vast country consisting of 46 oblasts, 22 republics, 9 krais, 4 autonomous okrugs, 3 federal cities and 1 autonomous oblasts.  We won't be visiting all of theses administrative regions, but for now just race through the European part of the country west of the Ural Mountains, taking a particular interest in music from minority groups.

We start just over the Finnish border in the Karelian Republic, where folk fusion band Va-Ta-Ga were founded in 2000 in the city of Petrozavodsk, initially under the name Reel.  Their original name was due to the fact that they liked to incorporate elements of Irish folk into their Karelian and Russian folk.  Here's a song from their 2002 debut album Странные люди (Strange People) called Поморская (Pomorskaya):

Here's a song from their later incarnation as Va-Ta-Ga from their 2007 album Mikuliny Gory Called Cockroach (Tarakan):

Next we are heading several hundred kilometres south to the Yaroslavl Oblast, conveniently located between Saint Petersburg and Moscow, and more specifically to the city of Rybinsk.  This is where folk rock outfit Raznotravie were formed in 1997.  They combine old Slavonic poetics and music traditions with a more modern rocky sound.  In addition to drums, bass and electric guitar they use a number of traditional instruments such as mouth organ and a hurdy-gurdy they made themselves from an old child's cello strung with guitar strings.  Here is the title track from their 2001 album Каторга (hard work):

We take another massive leap southeast to the Republic of Mordovia and its capital of Saransk, situated between Moscow to the west and the Volga river to the east.  This region is home to the ethnic Mordovians with their own culture and 2 distinct languages, namely Erzyan and Mokshan.  Sadly the languages are dying out as more and more people identify as Russian and only pockets of the old culture remain in remote villages.  in 2010 folk ensemble Merema set out to find and research the traditional music of the region and reviving it both in performances and recorded music, which won them the 2017 Russian World Music award.  They are proudly not state sponsored. Merema in Erzyan means 'story' or 'legend'.  Here's a song called Shakshata (Woodpecker) from their 2023 album Eryamon' Koytneva, which has more than a passing resemblance to a song by Swedish/Finnish outfit Hedningarna called Tuuli:

Similarly the neighbouring Republic of Chuvashia has its own language and culture, which are sadly in decline.  Chuvash indie-folk band Tarai, although now based in Talinn, Estonia, aim to reverse this trend.  Some of their lyrics are openly political, lamenting the loss of their culture.  Their song Пуш Параппан / Empty Drum, the title track to their 2022 album, is an example, criticizing the older generation of their homeland for not upholding their language and traditions.

Next we are heading to the Republic of Udmurtia just west of the southern Ural mountains and the city of Sarapul.  This is where singer/songwriter Zulya Kamalova was born in 1969, although she has since decamped to Melbourne, Australia.  She is of Volga Tatar descend, which is the largest ethnic minority group in Russia.  She now simply goes by her first name and, playing with her backing band Children of the Underground, is now known for her interpretations of Tatar music blended with more contemporary Australian influences.  Here is the opening track from her 2019 album Six Days Loving / Алты көн ярату called First Day / Беренче:

I think we have covered enough mileage for today across the vastness of European Russia.  Next time we'll pop across the Urals for a couple of stops before heading west again to explore the south of the country.  In the meantime, as usual you can follow my virtual travels on my Tripline map. 

Finland - The East

 

Picture credit: By Lobke Thijssen - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=849212

Finally finishing off our tour of Scandinavia, we are heading for the east of Finland and the region of North Karelia.  The historical region of Karelia also spreads partially into Russia, has its own culture and is seen by some as 'purer' Finnish.

We begin with prog-folk band Auri, whose connection to the region is keyboard player and backing singer Tuomas Holopainen, who was born in Kitee, North Karelia.  We have already met the band of course in Johanna Kurkela's (lead singer and wife to Tuomas) home region of Ostrobothnia.  This is a song from their 2021 album Auri II - Those We Don't Speak of called Pearl Diving:

Next we are heading to the municipality of Rääkkylä in North Karelia, which despite its small population has produced a lot of good music, including Finland's most internationally renowned folk band Värttinä.  They started off in 1983 by sisters Sari & Mari Kaasinen and nowadays consist of 3 female vocalists, supported by 3 instrumentalists.  They are heavily influenced by Karelian folk traditions and sing in the local dialect, but incorporate many more contemporary sounds.  Here is a single they released in 2013 called Lasetus:

Sari Kaasininen went on to teach children music in her home village and one of her prodigies was kantele player Marjo Smolander (born 1986 in Rääkkylä).  She has developed a unique way of playing Finland's national instrument.  After travelling extensively in West Africa, Senegal and Mali in particular, she has developed techniques similar to the kora players of the region, but still grounded on her own Finno-Ugric traditions.  For her 2021 album Cosmology she has collaborated with various African musicians to produce a beautiful mélange.  Here is song from the album with Gambian kora player Dawda Jobarteh called Kukkani (My Flowers):

Marjo Smolander is alsp part of the duo Zäpämmät, together with percussionist Pauliina Kauppila.  They delve deep into Finnish folk with hints of West African and Cuban influences.  Here is a track from their 2020 EP Zäpämmät for Peace called Miljoonia (Millions):

Next we're heading a bit north to the city of Joensuu, still in North Karelia.  This is where folk duo Hurja Halla are based. Theirs is an unusual instrument combination of cello (Liisa Haapanen) and jaw harp, overtone flute and harmonica (Janne Ojajärvi), with which they produce a surprisingly contemporary sound, yet rooted in Nordic folk.  Here's the dramatic title track of their 2022 album Riitti set in the beautiful wild landscape of eastern Finland.

And finally we are heading further north again to the town of Kajaani, capital of the Kainuu region, which is where saxophonist Sakari Kukko was born in 1953.  In 1974 he founded the jazz fusion band Piirpauke and today is the only original member still involved.  In their long illustrious career they released 20 studio albums, plus numerous live albums and compilations.  Their list their world music influences is too long to list here.  Their most famous tune was Konevsky Kirkonkellot, which reappeared on a compilation called Jazz-Liisa 15 in 2017.  Here's a beautifully dated 1975 version of it:

That's it from Finland and Scandinavia, next we are heading into Russia, although I'll be on some real travels around Iberia and France for the next 3 weeks or so, so there'll be a break again in posts.  In the meantime you can follow my virtual travels on my Tripline map.