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.