Slavic

Illusion of Fear (Ілюзія страху) is a 2008 Ukrainian drama/thriller film. It is the screen adaptation of a novel by Oleksandr Turchynov (Олександр Турчинов), a Ukrainian politician—he is currently the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, and was the acting president of Ukraine after Yanokovych’s ouster, before Poroshenko took office. In terms of […]

Firecrosser (Той, хто пройшов крізь вогонь; also written ТойХтоПройшовКрізьВогонь, or “one who passes through fire” when translated directly) is a Ukrainian drama/adventure film from 2011. The film is based on the life story of Ivan Datsenko (Іван Даценко)—or rather, the version of his life that a comrade-in-arms supposedly uncovered. (You can’t make this stuff up, after all.) […]

Lama (Лама; they usually use the Latin transliteration, though) is a Ukrainian pop-rock band founded in 2005. They sing exclusively in Ukrainian. The current members are singer Natalya Dzenkiv (Наталя Дзеньків), guitarist Andriy Alekseev (Андрій Алексеєв), bass guitarist Zurab Rogava (Зураб Рогава), synthesizer-ist Zheka Kobzaruk (Жека Кобзарук), and drummer Dmitro “ZI” Suprunyuk (Дмитро “ZI” Супрунюк). […]

Russkoe Radio plays pop music exclusively in Russian. What’s big in Russian-language pop and dance music? Russkoe Radio’s pop playlists can tell you. Once a month, SRAS provides a snapshot of what’s at the top of their charts, with YouTube videos and links to our Russian music site.   1. “Твои Глаза” (“Your Eyes”)—Світлана Лобода […]

Boris Grebenshchikov (Борис Борисович Гребенщиков) is a Russian singer-songwriter, and one of the “founding fathers” of Russian rock. He is a founding member of the seminal and long-running Russian rock band Aquarium (active since 1972). As a lyricist, Grebenshchikov has an eclectic style that combines themes of Buddhism, Russian Orthodoxy, alcohol consumption, technology, and so on. […]

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 […]

SerGa (СерьГа) is a Russian rock band from Moscow. The band is fronted by legendary rock musician Sergey Galanin (Сергей Галанин) of Brigada C (Бригада С) fame. The group plays an experimental brand of rock music, and their official motto is “For those who have ears” (“Для тех, у кого есть уши”). SerGa was formed […]