Slavic

Northern Fleet (Северный Флот) is a contemporary Russian rock band. Formed in 2013 by members of the seminal King and Jester (Король и Шут) after the death of frontman Mikhail Gorshenov (Михаил Гошенов), Nothern Fleet plays a distinctive brand of rock influenced by metal, industrial, and hardcore punk. Northern Fleet annouced their formation as a band […]

Casual is a contemporary Russian rock group. Started in 2009, Casual has seen quite a bit of success, with a number of singles climbing the Nashe Radio charts, as well as four successful albums: Inside (Инсайд), People Always Went (Все время люди шли), 242 Grams (242 грамма), and Be Quiet (Сделай тише). The group has played […]

Gaitana (Ґайтана; real name Ґайта-Лурдес Ессамі, or Gaita-Lurdes Essami, which means “strong and great” in the Lingala language) is a Ukrainian/Congolese jazz, funk, soul, and pop singer. Her biggest fame may have come from representing Ukraine at Eurovision in 2012, but she also has a slew of successful albums to her name and is one of Ukraine’s most […]

Skryabin (Скрябін) is an alternative pop band from Novoyavorivsk (Новояворівськ), Ukraine. Proceeding through many stylistic changes throughout its long career, from rock and punk, through synth-pop and techno, to more standard pop-rock ballads, the band’s artistic trajectory is normally divided into two periods: old (pre-2003) and new (post-2003 to 2015) Skryabin. Formed in 1989 by […]

Svetlana Loboda (Світлана Лобода) is a contemporary Ukrainian pop singer. Though she sings mainly in Russian, most of her career has taken place in Ukraine, and she is widely esteemed in her country. She was named a Distinguished Artist of Ukraine in 2013. Loboda grew up in Kyiv, where her parents encouraged her musical leanings […]

DakhaBrakha (ДахаБраха) is a contemporary Ukrainian folk- and world-music quartet. They actually call themselves an “ethno-chaos group.” Its current members are Marko Halanevych (Марко Галаневич), Iryna Kovalenko (Ірина Коваленко), Olena Tsibulska (Олена Цибульська), and Nina Garenetska (Ніна Гаренецька). All sing and play a variety of traditional folk instruments. Unlike many other Ukrainian bands, they are very much […]

Ani Lorak (Ани Лорак; real name Karolina Kuyek, Кароліна Куєк) is a multitalented Ukrainian pop singer. Lorak isn’t shy about her contributions to Ukrainian pop culture—her website describes her as “a singer who was fated to become the nation’s idol.” Born in Bukovina, Lorak wanted to be a singer from the time she was four years […]

Controversial, bizarre, and talented, there is no one quite like Ukrainian singer/comedian/actor/drag queen Verka Serduchka (Верка Сердючка). Serduchka is the drag persona of Andriy Danylko (Андрій Данилко) and frequently performs and sings at concerts and in films. Danylko himself is a wide-ranging actor, composer, singer, and performer who was born in Poltava, Ukraine, to rural roots. […]