Aleksandr Dolskiy (Александр Дольский) is a Russian bard, along the lines of Vladimir Vysotsky, Bulat Okudzhava, and others. He is a guitar player and actor in addition to a singer-songwriter. His songs have less of a folk style than do those of some bards—his musical education was extensive, and his songs display a high degree […]

Mashina Vremeni (Машина времени) was one of the Soviet Union’s pioneering rock bands. Formed in Moscow in 1969, Mashina Vremeni has worked across various genres over the years, and continues to make music today. Their name translates to “Time Machine.” Mashina Vremeni’s eclectic sound, which has ranged from classic rock, to blues, to Beatles-style pop, […]

Evgenii Margulis (Евгений Шулимович Маргулис) is a prolific Russian rock musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and one of Russia’s most famous blues composers.  He is known as a founding member of one of Russia’s most important classic rock bands, Time Machine (Машина времени), as well as a founder and on-again-off-again participant in Voskresenie (Воскресение), also a […]

Crematorium (Крематорий) is a popular rock band in Russia. Headed by vocalist and songwriter Armen Grigoryan (Армен Григорян), who founded the band in Moscow in 1983, its sound ranges from blues to psychedelic to classic rock and Grigoryan’s lyrics often deal with the fantastic, such as the possibility of life after death. In the beginning, […]

Lolita Milyavskaya (Лолита Милявская) is a Russian-Ukrainian pop singer and TV host. She often goes by her first name alone. Lolita was born in Mukachevo, Ukraine. Her mother was a singer, and her father was her producer and concert director as well as an orchestra conductor. Lolita began singing informally when she was 10 but […]

Iva Nova (Ива Нова; the name translates to “new willow”) is a Russian experimental folk-punk group. They combine elements of punk, blues, tango, and other styles with Russian folk music, creating a sound that has been hailed by rock journalists as radically innovative and interesting.  Their band website proclaims that they’re an “alternative ethno-extreme that […]

Bobsleigh (Бабслей—though note that this is not the usual Russian word for “bobsleigh” and is perhaps also a play on the Russian word баба, “woman”) were one of Russia’s first successful folk-punk bands. The band formed in St. Petersburg in 1998 initially as a bit of a joke. The members all loved folk music, but, […]

KnyaZz (КняZz) is Russian punk band whose sound lands somewhere at the intersection of punk rock, ska, hard rock, and folk. The group was founded in 2011 in St. Petersburg by Andrei Knyazev (Андрей Князев), of Korol i Shut (Корол и шут) fame. Knyazev decided to start the band when he became dissatisfied with the […]

Polina Gagarina (Полина Гагарина) is a Russian singer and Russia’s entry into the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest, where she placed second in a difficult, politically charged atmosphere. Gagarina was interested in music from her childhood, often giving loud, heartfelt performances to her parents. The turning point for her was hearing Whitney Houston perform on TV; […]