Лосины Маршала Потемкина — Дебютный альбомчик (2010)

Hi everyone! Just before the work on a new Лосины Маршала Потемкина's single is, as far as I'm concerned, crawling to the end, it's time to tell about their very first release.

 While observing its cover, you might have prepared for extraordinary amount of weirdness, and this is indeed the weirdest Лосины...'s release. The history of the band, started in 2009, was frustrating at that moment, as mates began to leave it, and I remained the only member since late summer 2010 and for long, long years.

The "doctrine" of the band in 2009 and first half of 2010 proclaimed we ain't going to record, and we didn't even manage to perform live in a club then, so when I was left alone I felt like I should make this record just to save the impressions from being in a band. Of course, I was very limited in instruments.

The faces who stare at you from the cover were our avatars created in a PhotoRobot software which is, as we believed, was quite close to ones used by the police. The cover was also decorated with excise stamps from alcohol bottles which represented "alcoholic folk" genre we played back then.

I believe this EP is really, really hard to listen to. It's pathologically lo-fi. It's recorded to irritate listener. It's weird, it's atonal, it's noisy and hopelessly out of tune. It represents mostly anger.

The EP includes 4 songs, some of which we still play in 2018: I have to mention sort of "alcoholic folk anthem" "Я не могу сказать где, твои деньги" ("I Can't Tell You Where's Your Money"), re-recorded in 2011 and still quite popular in a post-punk version (set timecode to 36:21); "Мягкие игрушки" ("Soft Toys") — also check out truly magnetic post-punk version (the timecode is 7:17).

It also featured melancholic yet ironical "Шерстяная кофта" ("A Wool Sweater") which we still play in a modified version, and "Заначка" ("A Stash") with weird arpeggios, and it's the only song from the EP we don't play now.

Well, the primary instrument for the EP was a steel-string guitar, sometimes accompanied by harmonics and synths. The EP touched upon topics of alcoholism, fear and poverty. Perhaps it's anti-music but it's definitely not anti-folk; it's real Russian outsider folk music, as it's close to people.

Retracing this way, I find it easy to surprise how far we've gone, how much we've mutated, and before releasing a post-punk single, our 2nd post-punk release, and dreaming of making an abstract hip-hop record and conceptual post-punk album, it's fitting to recall the very beginning. Moreover, I found this EP missing on BandCamp, so this link is possibly the only chance to download it.

I feel sorry that our new stuff, including annual sampler, is still delayed, but it only means we'll have a bunch of new releases at some moment.

Stay tuned,

sincerely yours,

John "Grey Lenses" Grey

Лосины Маршала Потемкина — Триумфальное возвращение (2015)

Hi, fellows! From the depths of profound sorrow I’m writing you now just because I need some readers (I wouldn’t dream of interlocutors) who would make me a company on this dark autumn (in Russia it’s already winter, actually) evening.

Poverty and unemployment are surely among our biggest troubles, you all must have heard about it. Actually I’m facing it every day, and I’d like to look in the eyes of those who claim that troubles like these can become some sort of sources of inspiration — how wrong they are!

The latest album by Лосины Маршала Потемкина, «Триумфальное возвращение» (“The Triumphant Return”) is basically about it. I wasn’t about to return to this project after previous release which turned out to be pretty devastating, but I think I had to return due to external reasons. I felt I had to remind that things are still going wrong.

The title cover was traditionally contributed by my friend Pavel Chainichkov, who also takes part in a conversation in the opening track «Алкоголик-фолк» (“Alcoholic Folk”).

Starting with this album, «Лосины…» correct their direction again. Having begun with “alcoholic folk” with heavy found objects’ sound, this project turned to completely acoustic folk, and then — to somewhat I call “conceptualist folk” on this record, meaning actually the influence of poets representing Moscow conceptualism (firstly, Dmitri Prigov, but also Vsevolod Nekrasov and German Lukomnikov, whom I had a chance to meet personally).

The second track, «Вторичный крик» (“The Secondary Scream”) refers to “Primal Scream” theory, as it’s easy to find out. I doubt if some accidents occurred during the first year of a life can determine the whole living, as there is always some breaking point, which, I suppose, is the “secondary scream”.

The third track, «Вечная гармония» (“The Eternal Harmony”) is another reference to Kirillov, mixed with real-life cautions and rows:

“One year ago I was told to get a job

And I still can’t get rid of the fear”

The fourth track, «Дискриминация» (“Discrimination”) doesn’t need to be explained, I believe. Well, maybe you haven’t been discriminated. Lucky for you! Poetically, it’s some kind of cut-up lyrics read using one-chord harmony and industrial synths.

One of favorites from this album is an instrumental «Музыка для поножовщины» (“Music for a Knife Fight”), one of few tracks from this record which got positive acclaim and pretty big (for me) amount of plays. Certainly, I used a real knife, recording it. When I tried to promote the record, some editor of a magazine wrote:

“It’s not music at all, it’s not art at all… you wouldn’t prove anything to me, because I have musical education”.

When I received this answer I was on cloud 9: I reached my goal! “Music for a Knife Fight” (knife fights quite often occur in Russian towns, because holding a gun is most likely illegal, and there’s a heavy risk of suicides, as Dostoevsky thought) contains some very heavy overloads, although it’s not harsh at all, it’s very sweet noise-pop with some sweet acoustic guitar, at least that’s what I thought.

The song «Камни» (“The Stones”) is a sad sadness song, like stuff from previous album. The title refers to Ivan Turgenev, who wrote: “I envy to the stones”. There is also a line about savage faces which was a nod towards my hero Blaine L. Renininger’s song “Teenage Theatre”.

“Look closer and you’ll see

Things which seemed to be made of iron

Are actually made of paper”

“I’m fed up with living in constant fear

I’m fed up with living with pain

I’m fed up with living like a dog

Who notices only bad things”

“When no-one knows you,

No-one’s going to forget you”

“Hopes of our childhood have been mixed with dirt”

“So many years have passed,

But I have just noticed how much I’m exhausted

How futile it was to envy the strong ones

How futile it was to envy the stones

Because the stones have crushed me”

Another sad song is «Чувство дистанции» (“Sense of Distance”). It nods to The Sound’s song “Fatal Flaw”. But the most depressing song here is, probably, «Похороны безработного провинциала» (“The Funeral of an Unemployed Province Dweller”). This character, unemployed province dweller, gave a title to second Лосины…’s album, and now I found out that he’s gonna die if he’s about to stay unemployed. Actually I’m still unemployed and in the hour of need there’s nothing to wait for. This song includes a hard work of applying effects to acoustic guitar, and I think I can be proud of the result. It also includes Akutagawa’s quote “I don’t have a conscience, I have only nerves”.

“I have nothing to be afraid of

I have nothing to lose

There is no difference at all

If I stay or if I go”

“Those who love the life that much

Jump down from the bridge”

“If you’re that far ahead

Maybe your way is wrong”

“When each and every of us was put in hell

You were thinking if you’ll be allowed to return for a cell phone charger”

The album ends with song «Времени нет» (“There’s No Time”), it repeated the Apocalyptic line “there is no time anymore”. I guess I was wrong then. Well, maybe I’ll need to release another Лосины…’s album then. 

Download for free from BandCamp:

Sincerely yours,

John “Grey Lenses” Grey

Лосины Маршала Потемкина — Бессмертные шлягеры (2013)

Hi everyone! We’re happy that our blog has recently reached its first anniversary, now we’re one year old, and it’s encouraging although we still barely know who are our readers and if they like what we do. I’m counting views and see some progress, though maybe less than 5000 views per year is a poor result, but I still got enthusiasm in showing you the deepest stuff from Russian underground.

That’s why I chose for the autumn the third album by Лосины Маршала Потемкина, «Бессмертные шлягеры» (“The Immortal Hits”). 

Photo by Pavel Chainichkov

It’s the deepest and the darkest one, I consider it as the best album by Лосины…

I wrote, recorded and released this album in Summer 2013, it was the most depressing time in my entire life when I thought I reached the bottom, and the album was the pure expression of pain which I suppose didn’t have a reason, and now I think I dared to be too brave in my honesty, I shared things which seem too personal, but I guess it was the right way to solve the problem because it was like a discussion with my own self.

The whole period of “production” was very short. I remember there was maybe a week of time when I was laying on the floor in my flat and playing guitar all day long, improvising and recording stuff which formed the songs. Some of my friend told me, after listening to it, that it has “totally the same atmosphere” as “Pink Moon” by Nick Drake as it was written in similar circumstances, but I consider it as a white lie :)

Actually it’s a folk album, only atonal me and my atonal guitar. And it’s all about lyrics. I’m still proud of the depth of this record, I may be flattering to myself too, but I haven’t heard a modern Russian folk singer who could reach such depressive mood (but yeah, there’s not much to be proud of, I realize).

The album goes deeper slowly. The title song «Лед» (“Ice”) is about ice “in the mind”, contrary to “fire in the mind”:

“The ice in the fridge would melt faster than the ice in my head would even start to melt”.

 The next song, «Противоречие» (“The Contradiction”), tells a story of painful frustration:

“When I try to seem smart I feel that I’m so stupid”.

 And the third song, «Невеселое открытие» (“A Sad Discovery”) became Лосины’s hit for its minimalism, raw sound (some of my friend said it sounds like Bain Wolfkind) and lyrics. And it was a pure improvisation.

“Once I went out in the yard and found out that no-one is waiting for me here”.

 There’s also an instrumental, «5:35 утра» (“5:35 AM”) — a sign of early awakening, often a symptom of depression which annoyed me for a long time. The song «Знаешь, что» (“Do You Know What?”) became a favorite of my friends who also suffered from depression. I even found some of its lyrics in a post on some psychological help forum where my friend cited it as his favorite. I wish I could help people somehow.

“Do you know what tortures me?

I’m possessed by the devils”

 The next song, «Кисель» (“Kissel”, a sort of Russian traditional soft drink based on berry juice) also found consoling feedback from my friends. This is the picture of total isolation and devastating sense of guilt. In such conditions, people often turn to aggression as their primary weapon, as attack is the best defense. But this sort of revenge is fruitless as any act of revenge, and the isolation will never be broken.

“The cold sticky kissel has been spilt on your pants in the dining room

The sick life experience cannot be useful for you anymore

What to do know? Now you’re forever dirty

No-one will allow to clean the slur

Set the borders and open the gaps again”

 This line is about postmodernist slogan, published in Playboy. I thought the time of postmodernism is over for a long time, and we should build something different. The song «Папоротник» (“A Fern”) tells another story of isolation, but it involves mythical figures and attributions, like Sisyphus and the doom as natural force. “I’m doomed” — that’s how Nick Cave’s novel begins, that’s how it feels when you’re thinking about laws of nature, I mean, about death, too much.

“You know that any activity can be easily destroyed”

 The next song, «Бледное солнце» (“The Pale Sun”) is the pure outsider music piece, too atonal even for me. Hypnotic, it’s like some feeling of psychic seizure which is coming at you with war drums and horns.

“And now there is none to tell if something’s going on”

 Finally, album is finished with the song «Позавчера» (“The Day Before Yesterday”). It was the heaviest experience in my entire life but some signs point that it was the heaviest experience just so far.

“And there’s no truth anymore

We have kidnapped it

The day before yesterday”

 You can check out and /or download this album for free, just as usual

 
Stay tuned, new releases will follow

Sincerely (too sincerely for this time!) yours,

John “Grey Lenses” Grey

VA — Music to Play with an Axe (2016) (rec. 2011—2015)

Hi everyone, we’re happy to announce that finally we managed to release the physical tape of our “Best of”. This C90 compilation includes 27 tracks, released in the web in 2011—2015. This very limited edition (50 copies) is “almost totally handmade”.

Design & photo by Hipstor Smith

If you want to get a copy or even more, feel free to post a comment or write to Hipstor Smith, the coordinator of this project (you may need to sign up). Unfortunately, tapes are not free, but I believe that price won’t be much higher than postal costs. If you’re a member of Russian social network VK, you may win a copy if you take part in the repost contest!

In the tracklist, you will find songs by artists about whom you might have already read in our blog, like Лосины Маршала Потемкина, Grey Lenses, Acid Socks, Hipstor Smith, Nervoese Leute, Man With a Dictaphone, as well as by artists about whom we haven’t written a post yet, like Алёна Кидун, Константин Охотный (a side project of Man with a Dictaphone), Шумотрон and Concern Void (a band which released only 1 song).

The music varies from Russian neofolk to lo-fi synthpop, from ambient to post-industrial.

The tapes and tape boxes were manually painted black, check out the enormous amount of care we invested in this release!

Design by Hipstor Smith

 We hope this is only the first physical release, and the next will follow soon!

Sincerely yours,

John “Grey Lenses” Grey