Russian

Billy’s Band is a Russian band from St. Petersburg who plays across the genres of blues, swing, jazz, and rock’n’roll. Started in 2001 by Billy Novik (real name Vadim Valeryevich Novik, Вадим Валерьевич Новик) and Andrey Reznikov (Андрей Резников), Billy’s Band has gone on to produce five studio albums, along with three singles and a slew of […]

Russian Ark (Русский ковчег) is a 2002 film directed by Aleksandr Sokurov (Александр Сокуров). The film was shot in a single, 96-minute take and filmed entirely inside the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. It was an entry into the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. The film features an unnamed narrator who leads a character known as […]

Tina Karol (Тіна Кароль) is a popular Ukrainian singer, one of the brightest lights in the Ukrainian music scene over the last 10 years. Her career started in 2005 and she’s still reaching the tops of Ukrainian hit parades today. She’s often considered a pop singer, but her soulful voice and the baroque instrumentation she uses puts […]

Taisiya Povaliy (Таїсія Повалій) is a classic Soviet and Ukrainian pop and shanson singer. Born in 1964 near Kyiv to a musical family, Povaliy attended music school in Kyiv and then worked at a music hall for a few yeas before starting a solo career. She won a number of Soviet music contests at the beginning of […]

Alyosha (Альоша; real name Olena Kucher, Олена Кучер) is a well-known contemporary Ukrainian pop singer and songwriter who has written hits for both herself and other artists. She is known both for her male name—“Alyosha” is usually a diminutive of “Aleksey”—and, of course, her singing. Her website introduces her thus: “In her character, as well […]

Aurora (Аврора) is a 2006 Ukrainian drama that puts a human face on the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The film is in both Russian and Ukrainian. The film takes place in the 1980s and tells the story of adolescent Aurora (played by Анастасія Зюркалова), who lives in an orphanage in Pripyat, Ukraine (Прип’ять), and dreams of […]

Animal Jazz (normally written as Animal ДжаZ) is a Russian alternative rock/pop group based in St. Petersburg. Since their founding in 2000 the group has released 11 full-length records, including four acoustic albums, as well as 16 singles and four DVDs. They have also played a number of important festivals, including Invasion, Wings, SKIF, Megahaus, and Kubana. The […]

Gilza (Гильzа) is a contemporary Russian rock band fronted by Lesya Gismatulina (Леся Гисматулина). Gismatulina has quickly risen to prominence as one of the leading rock vocalists in Russia, and was nominated for Best Soloist by Nashe Radio in 2016. As a group, Gilza is enjoying a lot of popular success as well, having recently […]