Ayana Kasymova (Аяна Касымова) is a young, emerging Kyrgyz pop singer. She sings in both English and Kyrgyz, though her repertoire also includes songs in French and Uzbek. Aside from the compositions written especially for her, among her favorite music to sing is Celine Dion and Whitney Houston. While her main genre is pop, she also […]
Ayym Ayylchieva (Айым Айылчиева) is a young, up-and-coming Kyrgyz pop singer from Bishkek. She sings mostly in Kyrgyz. Ayylchieva was born in 1998 to a supportive family to whom she says she owes her success. She always dreamed of becoming a performer, and her parents encouraged her; her first musical performance was on the TV […]
Nurlan Nasip (Нурлан Насип) is a Kyrgyz pop singer and occasional actor. He was born in 1990 in Toktogul to a large, rather musical family: Nasip’s father plays the accordion, and an aunt plays the komuz, a traditional Kyrgyz musical instrument. Several of his siblings sing and play the guitar. He himself plays several instruments, in addition […]
Cargo 200 (Груз 200) is a 2007 Russian thriller based on a true story. It was written and directed by Sergey Balabanov (Сергей Балабанов, who is most famous for the Brother (Брат) films. Cargo 200 takes place mainly in two villages, Nizhniy Volok and Leninsk, with some later action occurring in St. Petersburg, in 1984. […]
Kandahar (Кандагар; called The Crew in its English-language release) is a 2010 Russian drama. It takes place in 1995, unsurprisingly in Kandahar, a city in Afghanistan, several years after the withdrawal of Soviet troops after the end of the Soviet–Afghan War. The film is based on true events—the Airstan Incident. The film hewed pretty closely […]
Yulia Rutskaya (Юлия Руцкая) is a Russian-Kyrgyz pop singer, television host, and model who sings in Russian, Belarusian, and Kyrgyz. Originally from Vitebsk, Belarus, her family moved to Kyrgyzstan when she was five. She is a member of the significant Belarusian diaspora in Kyrgyzstan and has embraced her Kyrgyz side, singing in Kyrgyz at least […]
Salt Peanuts (Солёные Орешки) is a popular Kyrgyz jazz group that has been in existence for almost 15 years. Their name from the Russian more accurately translated to “salted nuts,” but they have their own preferred English-language name, taken from a famous Dizzy Gillespie tune. Salt Peanuts were one of the first jazz groups to […]
Kuralbek Chokoev (Куралбек Чокоев) is a Kyrgyz contemporary singer and actor. Evening Bishkek (Вечерний Бишкек) has described him as “a wonderful and modest person with an open soul and heart.” He sings mostly pop, preferring happier tunes. Chokoev was born in 1987 and grew up mainly in Kara-Balta, a town in Chuy province (not too […]
The Boys of Paul Street (Chłopcy z Placu Broni) is a Polish classic rock band formed in 1987 in Krákow by Bogdan Łyszkiewicz. The name of the band is a reference to a Hungarian classic children’s novel about two groups of boys who end up in a territiorial war with one another. Łyszkiewicz was the […]
Tadeusz Wózniak is a Polish musician, composer, and singer. He has performed with various bands over the years as well as written songs for other performers and for films. Wózniak went to music school for a few years when he was young, but didn’t finish. He picked up the guitar on his own a few […]
T.Love is a Polish rock/pop band that was founded in 1982 in Częstochowa. Originally called Teenage Love Alternative, they chose an interesting time to start the band—during martial law. The four original members, Zygmunt (Muniek) Staszczyk (vocals, bass), Janusz Knorowski (electric guitar), Dariusz Zajaç (keyboard), and Jacek Wudecki (drums), were all in high school together, […]
Sztywny Pal Azji (which seems to mean something like “Rigid Pole of Asia”—something may have been lost in translation) is a Polish classic rock band that was formed in the 1980s and is still active today. It was formed in 1985 by Jarosław Kisiński (guitar), Leszek Nowak (vocals, piano), Paweł Nazimek (bass), Janusz Deda (drums), […]
