The Rhodope Mountains in the south of Bulgaria are a gentle mountain range of spectacular natural beauty and biodiversity and it's picturesque mountain villages are a hotbed of ancient culture and song.
We begin in the village of Kostandovo, where apparently you just have to nudge the inhabitants to make them sing. The Boyana Folk Ensemble in the village was established some 50 years ago and is still going strong with traditional song and dance performances. I was lucky enough to witness one of their full-length performances at the European Permaculture Convergence in the Rhodope Mountains in 2014. Here is an extract of their performance:
And here an official video of theirs at the Dorkovo Folk Festival in 2012:
Bulgarian Jazz guitarist Hristo Vitchev resides in California these days, I'm not sure where in Bulgaria he is from. In 2013 he collaborated with fellow Bulgarian clarinet player Liubomir Krastev to produce an album of jazz inspired by Bulgarian folk called Rhodopa, both after the mountains and a mythical Thracian queen. Vitchev is also an impressionist painter and he painted his own album cover. Here is the opening track to the album Devoiko Mari Hubava (Beautiful Young Lady):
Fusion duo Flying Nomads consist of Daniel on Bulgarian tambura and Kristina on Daf (Iranian frame drum). Their sounds are mostly inspired by the nature around them in the Rhodope Mountains, even recording outdoors, as well as by traditional Bulgarian and world music influences. Here is a song from their 2021 EP Synthesis called Omen, which is said to represent autumn:
Ethno-ambient band Kayno Yesno Slonce are actually based in Sofia, but claim their music is strongly influenced by the folklore of the Rhodope Mountains. In fact the name of the band derrives from a line of a traditional song from the region, meaning like a bright shining sun. They do use a lot of traditional instruments such as the duduk, Bulgarian bagpipes, frame drums and Bulgarian tambura, although they give their music very much a modern touch, sounding almost electronic, even though it's all acoustic. Here is the opening track of their 2017 album Mare Verborum called THALASSA:
Trio Ravnogor are a Bulgarian/Hungarian trio who met in the Rhodope village after which they named themselves. Nowadays they seem to be based in Sweden though. They consist of Nina Grantchrova on vocals, darburka and gardon, Mihail Dinchev on Bulgarian tambura, vocals and percussion and Hungarian György Stuber on vocals, duduche flute and hurdy-gurdy. They call their style Rhodopian Mountain Blues. Here is the title track to their 2022 album Bergsblått:
That's it from the Rhodope Mountains, next we're heading to Plovdiv and the rest of Bulgaria. In the meantime, as usual, you can follow my virtual journey on my Tripline map.
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.
Voces Thules is an Icelandic music ensemble consisting of 5 male singers and instrumentalists playing Medieval and contemporary music in polyphonic voices. Here is an extract from a concert at the Nordic festival of Medieval music in Sweden:
Record producer, composer and musician Valgeir Sigurðsson (born 1970) creates a soundscape that blurs the lines between contemporary classical and electronic music. He has been commissioned to write many film scores, but has also written the likes of chamber operas and orchestral scores. He has set up his own record label, the bedroom community, where he closely collaborates with many other accomplished musicians to realise his projects. He wrote the film score to the 2010 environmental documentary Draumalandið (Dreamland) about the damage and destruction caused by the aluminium smelting industry in Iceland. It was also released as an album and here are some extracts from the documentary with the music and some dramatic footage:
Folktronica and indie pop band Múm (pronounced miooyyuujm apparently...) formed in 1997 in Reykjavik. Their music is characterised by soft vocals, electronic glitch beats and effects and variety of traditional and unconventional instruments. Here is a live version of their song A Little Bit, Sometimes from their 2007 album Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy:
Multi-instrumentalist and producer Ólafur Arnalds was born in Mosfellsbaer just outside Reykjavik in 1986. He mixes strings and piano with loops and beats, a sound ranging from ambient electronic to electronic pop. Here are a few tracks from his 2020 album Some Kind of Peace:
That's it from Iceland, next we're taking a quick trip to Greenland. In the meantime you can follow my virtual ramblings on my Tripline map.
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