One, Two, Three (Raz, Dwa, Trzy) is a Polish band that combines rock, jazz, folk music, and poetry. It was started by Adam Nowak (guitar, vocals), Grzegorz Szwałek (accordion, clarinet, keyboard), Jacek Olejarz (drums), and Jacek Ograbek in 1990, when they were students at the Pedagogical College in Zielona Góra, in western Poland. The group’s […]
Aleksandr Rozenbaum (Александр Розенбаум) is a Russian/Soviet bard, singer-songwriter, and poet who is widely known across Russia. His songs—there are more than 800 of them—have been popular for decades, and he has won many Shanson of the Year and other awards. He was born in 1951 in St. Petersburg to parents who worked in medicine. […]
Infinity (Инфинити—not a real word in Russian) is a Russian electronic/dance group. It was formed in 2007 by Tanya Bondarenko (Таня Бондаренко) and Aleksey Kutuzov (Алексей Кутузов). Before that, the two had created similar music under the name Black and White (Чёрное и Белое), without achieving much success. Bondarenko sings and writes songs; Kutuzov composes […]
Love in the Big City 3 (Любовь в большом городе 3) is the 2013 continuation of the Love in the Big City (Любовь в большом городе) series, which started in 2009 and continued with a sequel in 2010. This film takes place five years after the previous one, and all of the central characters now […]
Love in the Big City 2 (Любовь в большом городе 2) is a Russian romantic comedy released in 2010, the sequel to 2009’s Love in the Big City (Любовь в большом городе). In that movie, the two main characters finally got together; in the sequel, we see the continuation of their lives together. The director, […]
Bek Borbiev (Бек Борбиев; real name Berador Borbuyev, Берадор Борбуев) is a Kyrgyz singer-songwriter still working today, though he is from the generation before the new crop. His style is completely different from that of today, totally uninfluenced by American pop (although it is perhaps influence by the Soviet pop of his time). His music […]
Eles (Элес, meaning “dream” in English, and not to be confused with the Kazakh girl band of almost the same name) was a contemporary Kyrgyz band popular in the 1990s and 2000s. They sang in Russian and Kyrgyz. One of the most successful Kyrgyz bands of all time, they are credited with being one of […]
Arsen Zhumabekov (Арсен Жумабеков, though he goes by his first name alone) is a popular contemporary Kyrgyz pop star who sings in Kyrgyz, Russian, and English. His music is a bit different from that of some of the other most famous Kyrgyz singers of today—less dance-y, more melodic, fitting his more serious-sounding voice. From Talas, […]
Bayastan Botokanov (Баястан Ботоканов; he also sometimes goes by the moniker Ortoasiabayastan, Ортоазиябаястан) is a Kyrgyz rapper. He’s young—born in 1993—but not new to Bishkek rap. While there isn’t a ton of information floating around about him yet, he’s definitely someone to watch out for on the Bishkek music scene. Many of his songs are […]
Omar (Омар; Omurbek Zhanyshev, Омурбек Жанышев) is one of the most popular contemporary Kyrgyz singers, one of the members of Kyrgyzstan’s up-and-coming current pop scene. He sings in Kyrgyz, Russian, and English in a classic pop voice. He also plays the komuz, the Kyrgyz national instrument. Omar was born in 1988 in Bishkek. He began […]
Oakland is a rap group from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan—one of the few (but not the only!) major Kyrgyz rap groups. The group originally consisted of Samat Ismailov (Сэм or Sammy Colt), Dmitry Vorsin (Дима or Noma), and Sardar Zhakypbekov, though Sardar left early on. They rap mainly in Russian rather than Kyrgyz, but they feel themselves […]
Kanykei (or Каныкей; her full name is Kanykei Alymbekova, Каныкей Алымбекова) is a popular contemporary Kyrgyz singer. She is known for singing in the ethno-rock genre—she uses some rock instrumentation, but her music is somehow deeper and fuller than much contemporary rock—and sings in a stunning, powerful voice in both Russian and, more often, Kyrgyz. […]
