русский (Russian) Shoegaze & Dream Pop, a guide. Part 1
In the largest country in the world, Shoegaze had grown in the last few years, bringing us world-class music.
As a taster to the Russian scene, we selected 7 bands that are carrying high the Shoegaze & Pream Pop flag, inviting you to listen to their beautiful music.
One amazing thing, that is actually pure coincidence, it that all these bands have a female frontwoman. Fair play to them!
A word of thanks to Greg, Shauna, Wayne, Nestor and Douglas for their recommendations on the DKFM FB group, that were instrumental in some of the choices made.
You can find the volume 2 of this guide on our blog at the following LINK
And now follow the guide:
Created in 2007, Pinkshinyultrablast has been on the international radar since 2009 with their EP Happy Songs for Happy Zombies. They have released 2 EP since then.
This little song is from the last one, grandfeathere. It is a nice and happy-go-lucky song with waves of reverb guitars.
Life On Venus have released their first LP earlier this year, Encounters. They have been inspired by elders like Slowdive, though their beautiful sound is their own. It is a very mature album both in the sound and the composition.
The community at large shared their music widely and they gained a quick notoriety. This song is one of my favourite of this excellent album.
There is a reason why Blankenberge 2017 album, Radiogaze, has been voted in many polls as one of the best Shoegaze 2017 albums of the year. The sound is vast. Imaging MBV played in a Cathedral instead of in a small concert hall!
The arrangements and textures are remarkable, even better when you think it is their first album. This song is amazing a show the sonic and melodic palette of the band well.
Sounds of Sputnik is the brainchild of Roman Kalitkin, whose periodic collaboration with Canadian-Ukrainian indie rock dream pop duo Ummagma has culminated in this 'New Born' LP.
This album also features Graham Bonnar (Swervedriver/ Brian Jonestown Massacre) on the song'Overdrive', and an array of remixes, including by Malcolm Holmes (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) and Fran Ashcroft (Damon Albarn/ Lords of Acid). Newborn, aptly named, is a gem of a song.
After a first EP in 2015, Chudesa, Your Friends Polymer released in December 2017 a 6-songs album, v chuzhoi strane. Among others, there is a Lush influence in their music, which is rare enough to notice, as most bands are more on a Slowdive/MBV/ride binge.
The song from this fresh opus is fresh and would have been perfect in the 90's "indie discos".
The brand new band Shimmerance, was formed in 2016.
They released one year later a 6 song EP, Bright, full of both raw power and melodic cleverness. Advice, the first song of the EP is featured there.
I do not know what advice they got but it transformed into great music. Listen for yourself.
And a little bonus for the end, Aerofall. They released their first Eponymous album 3 years ago. It was an excellent noise pop album that I recommend and that got them a nice notoriety.
They are releasing this year their second opus, Forms, from which this song is extracted.
Outro
This Russian scene is impressive by the maturity and quality of their music. I hope that the bands we chose for you gave you a good taster that will incline you to continue your Russian journey. Do not hesitate to let me know of the treasure you will discover in the process.
