2011. BEST FOR GUESTS. 13 ruslan bekurov

Ruslan is from Russia. He's the editor of a magazine, he has a personal website where he writes and interviews people involved with art, has two books published ('That's Me Who Killed A DJ' and 'Spare Planet') and is the man getting drunk and writing songs about love, recording vocals in airports throughout Europe under the alias She'll Be Eating Her Nails When I'm Famous.
He released a single on Holiday Records containing 'Stay (or go away)', a song filled with heartache and interpreted with a rarely seen sorrow...
Timeless indiepop with witty and insightful lyrics.

bandcamp

SONGS/VIDEOS
1. POMPLAMOOSE BUST YOUR KNEE CAPS

Yes, I know that Pomplamoose is a California indie duo of Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn. But actually that's the only thing I know about them – too lazy to read the texts on their official website.  But this song drove me mad – a kind of strange but in the same time simple (in a good way) cocktail of Scott Walker, early Cardigans, The Divine Comedy and (maybe) Beck in his melancholic period. Noticed that I prefer to watch them more than just to listen to their songs. Even if their videos seem to be quite ordinary, I’m able to watch Nataly Dawn for hours. The way she plays for the camera with her Scarlett Johansson face… Mmm, sorry, dudes, but she’s number one for me this year… 

2. TWO WOUNDED BIRDS ALL WE WANNA DO

To be honest, always used to be very skeptic about this band. It doesn’t mean that it’s bad but there are too much bands like them today. Everything is the same – beach, black sun-glasses, girl as a bass player, hipster hair cut… But this video changed my stupid mind. Fresh, dynamic, simple melody and the coolest thing – it’s short. And I always liked short songs and long drinks. Found this video somewhere on Facebook and use to watch every morning. Just to realize that life is as bad as we think. We just have to know the things we wanna do… 

3. MOTORAMA EMPTY BED
I’m the biggest fan of Motorama. Not because they’re Russians and I’m proud of them. No, I just like their songs and aesthetics. It was the last summer day when I went to their gig in St. Petersburg. And they played like it was the VERY last summer day in their life. For me they are the only true “romantics” in today’s indie scene. With good sense of humor and “charismatic monotony”. Just watch this video – it’s totally impossible not to love them. They are amazingly boring, you know…

4. SOMETIMES ALWAYS BE TRUE
Know nothing about this band. Found their page on MySpace. It turns out that it’s a kind of one-man-gang from Indonesia. Really strange but cool in the same time. But I adore the song and the video. It shows a kind of sad happiness of youth, I guess. And if  last year had a big trend to try to follow the Beach Boys style, this guy is the closest to do that. I always liked sad hedonists…

5. GORILLAZ ON MELANCHOLY HILL (BBC RADIO1 LIVE LOUNGE)
Yes, I know it’s a 2010 year release. But I think it’s gonna be my favorite song for the next 10 years. Seriously, sure that this version of On Melancholy Hill is the best song for the last 20 years (sorry Oasis, Nirvana etc.). Always thought that Damon Albarn is the coolest composer of the late 20^th/beginning of 21^st centuries. Just watch this video – you’ll cry after few seconds. And starting at 1'31'' you’re able to watch Damon’s tears. I’m not kidding…

motorama. interview #36

photo by i. kasminin

Coinciding with the release of a new song through Holiday Records (and a new video!), today we feature Motorama: a russian band that will take you to the 80's cold wave era and post-punk movement and still will manage to set your heart on fire and give electric shocks to your feet with hints of twee and dreampop.
All of their releases are available for free and in case you don't know them the best advice I can give to you is to go download their songs as soon as possible.
'Alps' is their debut album and was listed on our best of 2010. It is a gem, a hidden gem that caught the attention of the blogosphere through warm arrangements, dreamy guitar hooks, strong bass lines and a deep voice.
Let yourself get lost into their magical summery forest, always haunted by cold winds.

New single: One Moment

download












And here's my interview with Vlad: creative process, the album, references, influences, visual music and the internet killing the music industry are among the topics...

keep reading...

palms on fire. interview #22

palms on fire
it’s been some time since we had our last round of interviews… so during the next week or two the blog will be featuring bands and people that are really admired around here.
to start, let’s go to russia and talk with palms on fire. actually if you had to take a guess where they come from based on their music, the last place you’d think about would be russia.
the 4 piece band (formed by 3 boys and a girl) makes music for the tropics, beaches and summery places, with a mixture of punk pop and surf music.
they have two ep’s released on holiday records and one of the catchiest songs released this year (‘palm tree’).

here’s what max said…
01. first question is to understand the origins of everything and has a few parts. when did you got together and decided to start the band? where does the name come from? and where in russia are you?
we're from the city of izhevsk. It’s small industrial city located in european part of russia and known as birthplace of the kalashnikov assault rifle.
in 2009, me and my sister anna decided to record some songs. we wanted this to be a "beach punk", but we could hardly imagine how it should sound and what we would have as a result. we were very inspired by bands such as the ramones, beach boys, talulah gosh.
the name "palms on fire" came right after recording the first songs, i made it up while listening to them and we realized that that's really what we need. then we sent those records to our friends and they liked it, and that just encouraged us to gather the whole band. it was not hard to find right people so our old friends drummer konstantin korolev and bassist anton bochkarev went in with palms on fire.

02. what inspires you and if palms on fire' were a landscape what would it be like?
we are inspired by lots of things: old american movies, the romance of the 80's, and everything that happens to us, the stories of friends, people - anything can serve as inspiration for writing a new song.
landscape? hmm. Night, fireworks over wild beach.

03. how do you record your songs? do you have access to a proper studio or something like that?

almost everything was recorded down at home, we like it, and it makes us feel free and independent, and it gives a chance to experiment a lot and not to be in a hurry. we enjoy making it all by ourselves and being responsible for the whole recording process, that's the only way we can get exactly what we want it to be like, and it's great. also we rent some place for rehearsal, so there were something recorded over there. but currently we are not able to rent the entire studio.

04. talk a bit about the independent indiepop scene in your city and russia.

izhevsk in the 90s was considered as the capital of the experimental electronic music of russia, but now, to my mind there's nothing interesting in terms of music, but there are plenty of bands. so it's a bit hard to advice anything special for you to listen.

the most famous indie pop band in russia now is probably motorama, and we really like the band from st. petersburg pinkshinyultrablast, they sound really cool.

05. you have two ep's released under holiday records. how did this partnership started?

it all started with jacob graham who wrote us on myspace, he said that he really liked our music, and offered to release it on holiday records. we do like this label and of course we agreed to partner.

06. both ep's were released as free downloads. what are your thoughts about music distribution nowadays?

i don't think that all music should be just for free. but for new bands it is the only way to bring their music to many people. now i'm not sure that there are any people willing to pay for our music, but if there are some, probably we will think of sales someday. personally, it's been long time that i bought music.

07. what's next? do you have plans of releasing new songs soon?

there are no really big plans right now, just keep on writing and recording new songs.

08. your idea of a perfect pop song is...

actually hard to explain...but you should feel it, that this melody and the lyrics had been in you long before you heard the song.

09. do you get to live of your music?

most of us have jobs, and music for us is a hobby, not a work.

10. any song(s) you'd like to cover?

yeah, we would like to make a cover of devo - space junk.

11. name the perfect place and time to hear your music.

during a bicycle trip on a sunny summer day.

12. recommend something you've been listening lately.

i really like the french group dondolo, especially their album dondolisme.

also like the group control club, they are from france too.

13. anything else you feel like saying?

i just wanted to thank you for your interest and wish you a good luck.

download the free ep's...

01. sweet desire

02. sand castle

03. we have time

01. palm tree

02. deep forest

03. you are my dream

myspace