Russian

Mikhail Shufutinsky (Михаил Шуфутинский) is a Russian jazz and shanson legend. Growing up in postwar Moscow, he was drawn to music from his early childhood, learning to play the accordion—which was considered a “bourgeois” instrument in that Soviet era. He switched to the similar button accordion (баян), which he was able to learn at school […]

Venya D’rkin (Веня Д’ркин; originally Aleksandr Litvinov, Александр Литвинов) was a Ukrainian (Russian-speaking) poet, songwriter, musician, artist, and storyteller, and one of the later generation of bards. He had a much more informal, unpolished image than some other recent musicians, showing his truly countercultural ethos. D’rkin grew up in a small mining town near Luhansk. […]

Kirill Komarov (Кирилл Комаров) is a Russian rock and experimental musician, one of the stranger and more interesting of recent times. From St. Petersburg, he studied Turkish philology at the Eastern Department of Leningrad State University, after which he began translating Turkish poetry and also writing his own original verses. He started writing the songs […]

Troeraznykh (Троеразных; the name translates to “three different”) is a Kyrgyz rap collective most of whose songs are in Russian. They originally consisted of two beatmakers and one guitarist—or, as Boorsok, a Kyrgyz magazine, has put it, “three forms who don’t resemble one another even by a drop.” They aim to be a “human” group, […]

Saltanat Ashirova (Салтанат Аширова) is a Kyrgyz rock and pop singer known for her “crystal voice,” according to New Faces (Новые лица). She sings mostly in Russian. In addition to her solo career, she is known for her membership in the now-broken-up band Eles and in her new project, The M.A.P. She sings and plays […]

Timur Rodriguez (Тимур Родригез, also often written as T-moor Rodriguez) is a Russian DJ, singer, actor, and TV personality. Timur is known especially as the host of various popular music television shows, as well as a participant in the show Comedy Club. He often goes by his first name only professionally. Born in Penza, Russia, […]

Skalpel (Skaльпель) is a Russian ska band hailing from Moscow. They are one of Russia’s best known bands playing old-school ska. Skalpel have made a mark on the international scene as well, playing shows with seminal bands like Bad Manners, The Beat, The Toasters, Be Nuts, Dr. Ring-Ding, Valkyrians, and others. They have released material […]

Male Factors is a Russian ska-punk band with a strong chanson influence. Their lyrics generally deal with criminality and drinking, and they were signed to Hobgoblin Records, a label notoriously owned by a former hacker and black marketer. They sang in Russian, English, Spanish, and German. They use the English name consistently. The band started […]