IZO

Music

Ramona Falls, Russia (thanks, HB).

15-year-old Ryazan schoolgirl Darya Suskina is an internet mini-star though she can't sing.

Balalaika cover of Mikhail Krug song Vladimir Central (via LJ viketz).


Artur Pirozhkov, Peredayz.

Mister Boss and Jimmy G, Went Long Way and Didn't Find Woman, 1995.

PM Putin stuff

Putin and Jean-Claude Van Damme together visit Ultimate Fighting European Championship (AFP).

Profile of rocker Yuri Shevchuk, who sparred with Putin recently at a conference (NYT) (thanks, MK).

PM Putin meets Joaquim ("Vasili Ivanovich") Crima, Russia's first black politician, aka the "Russian Obama" (Hindustan Times) (thanks, MK).

Mikhail Pletnev returns to Thailand (RIA Novosti, in Russian). Background (IZO).

Head of Russian National Orchestra Mikhail Pletnev arrested, accused of sexual assault of a boy in Pattaya, Thailand; bailed to attend court (Lenta.ru, in Russian). Press conference with statement by Pletnev here (Murmansk KP, in Russian). Maybe the fullest info is in the Russian-language Pattaya Daily News, which reports that a hard disk full of pedophile images was seized by police at Pletnev's home (Pattaya Daily News).

This is a massive scandal if proven: Pletnev probably has every Russian award going. Russia being what it is, it's conceivable he has been set up, but there has been no suggestion of this.

He has a date in the Lincoln Centre on 18 July, the same day he is due in a Thailand court (dolboeb, in Russian).

Music

Noize MC, The 31st. Lyrics (Botinok, in Russian); commentary (NR2, in Russian).

Download latest album by Alexander Zalupin, founder of "gay chanson" (via LJ art-quasar) (ifolder).

Alla Pugacheva is "mortally ill" (Paparatstsi, in Russian).

Music

In USA, prez Medvedev buys "three Hendrix records, two by [BB] King, plus music by Gil Evans, Blossom Dearie and Mark Murphy" (WP).

Gogol Bordello Tiny Desk Concert (npr).

Alexander Rybak accused of plagiarism again (gazeta.ru, in Russian).

Uncensored Piter.

Megapolis, Supertango (via LJ dmitrivrubel).

Music

Victoria Daineko wonders what the reaction in the Kremlin is to her song about a tattoo on her ass (Twitter).

Katya Gordon/Blondrock, Mathematics (via LJ nasha-canada).

Cinema

Ministry of Culture approves second cinema union (stanis-sadal, in Russian). Report by Maria Semendyaeva (who used to work for me: I'm glad she's getting ahead in the world of journalism).

On Semyon Pinkhasov's documentary films (WP) (thanks, MK).

Biopic of Vladimir Vysotsky in the works (Variety) (thanks, MK).

Pop is first movie blessed by Russian Orthodox Church (AV) (thanks, MK).

Trailer for Stranger (Чужая), just released.

Russian businessman "Arkadi" purchases role in Lady Gaga Alejandro video (Trud, in Russian). UPDATE: "In Soviet Russia video actor pays you!" (thanks, AN).

Media group Amedia may sue social network VKontakte over piracy claims (Vesti, in Russian).

Meanwhile, Zemfira is letting you download her albums free (gazeta.ru, in Russian).

And German Eurovision winner Lena Mayer-Landrut is accused of plagiarising a Bulgarian song (gazeta.ru, in Russian).

Readers of Marat Guelman's blog suggest good karaoke spots in Moscow (maratguelman). Last time I karaoked was several years ago: an off-season, around-midnight performance in a small resort on the Black Sea near to Simferopol, of the song below.

Various music

Lika MC, Bi Bi Taxi. I think this is an old old clip.

Come On!!! Metrosexual.

Retro and other music

Ekaterinburg Military District HQ band, Austin Powers theme.

Twist from the 1965 movie The Foreign Girl

Red Elvises, Cosmonaut Petrov

Is Alexander Rybak, last year's Eurovision winner, gay or not (Yandex, in Russian)? Was his facebook statement a joke to ward off female groupies (Dni, in Russian)?

Youtube bans Sergei Shnurov song which he performs nude, although wearing a guitar; in the background a TV shows pornography (MK v Piter, in Russian). The clip's online on Russian sites, but every time I tried to open it, it crashed my browser.

Various music, girls, boys.

Dimaz, Natasha.

Moderately amusing vid.

Good cover of classic song by Yanka Dyagileva.

Tamara Gverdtsiteli and Bi-2, My Love

Aleksin, Young Tarts (уж извините англицизм). Harsh song, voyeuristic video maybe justified here.

Syava, Иди На Хуй

Ruble, Похуй Все (via LJ mrparker).

Peter Nalitch represents Russia with this song in the Eurovision contest this week (final on 29 May).

Alyosha sings the Ukrainian entry; a song written in 1977.

Mona Kalina, Big Dick. IZO correspondent IW informs me that the woman singing and dancing here is Ilona Orel, the noted Russian gallerist.

Various music

Psoi Korolenko, Still-Life.

EK Playaz, Valera.

Vopli Vidoplyasova, California.

A. Liver, Jew, Don't Do Wrong.

Faggots.

Ten Beatles' tracks with Russian words (avmalgin). And here's twelve Russian covers of the Beatles own versions (avmalgin).

Gitler kaput, again.

Stalin song (via LJ dmitrivrubel).

Rare clips by Vadim Mulerman, who pinched Iosif Kobzon's wife, Veronika Kruglova, and found himself persona non grata in Soviet light-entertainment (via LJ avmalgin).

Rotoff, Star.

Blog of pianist Levon Oganesov (oganesovl) (via LJ drugoi). Below: demonstration of how to play the same piece of music in different national styles – Jewish, hot-blooded Caucasian...

Reconstruction of Arseni Avraamov's Symphony of Hoots (1919-23), played at the Peter and Paul Fortress, 2010.

Shenderovich affair

Viktor Shenderovich is the latest in a series of opposition politicians and commentators to fall into a honey-trap and find secretly-shot video of his sex-escapade posted on the internet. Difference is, unlike previous victims, Shenderovich is married. So the public opprobrium is greater. Here's his confession (shenderovich, in Russian). Here's his decision to shut his blog (shenderovich, in Russian). Here's a salacious mocking vid with multiple covertly-shot scenes involving Shenderovich, politician Eduard Limonov and several others paying bribes, taking cocaine and having sex  (Kanal911, NSFW). Other honey-trap victims describe their experiences (Kompromat, in Russian). Recent background on previous victims of the same sting, Mikhail Fishman, Ilya Yashin (IZO). If you don't want to read the above, here's an English-language report (Times) (thanks, MK).  Below: Katya, the girl claimed to be involved in several of the honeytraps.

A propos: BIS, Katya.

Some "music"

Rap of the Norilsk Army Enrolment Office.

Some guy enjoying the nineties: Give Me A Chance, Eba.

I don't usually post this degrading stuff, but I'm hoping this is staged; even so, it's totally risky for the reputation of IZO, but here goes... This is why Katya didn't get the telephone.

Belarus troops parade in Venezuela. Great parading!

Various music

Lyudmila Lyadova, 1985.

Steklovata, 1990s (via LJ nefartoviy).

Klimbatika, Quarantine.

23-year-old composer Anton Lubchenko follows up Beslan hostage tragedy-themed opera with Shtokman gas field-themed symphony (RIA Novosti).

Basta, Under The Dome.

Syava's Ambush (Засада) is in Moscow on Saturday (Praktika Teatr).

Summer! Home-made video to what sounds like Peter Nalich song.

Music, various

25/17 and Grot, Strength of Resistance [great crowd scenes].

Rabfak, My Russia.

PR (Porno Rap), Aty-Baty.

Some kind of pole-dancing pop: Gluc'Ose, That Kind Of Love.

Art legal & crime

Tel Aviv flat of late "Georgian" artist Meir Pichkhadze robbed of hundreds of thousands of shekels by two men who delivered flowers (Izrus, in Russian).

Kyrgyz pop star Mirlan Doutov found stabbed to death (RFE/RL).

Nevada District Court rules on the tangled ownership dispute about Norman Rockwell's Russian Schoolroom (artknows).

Igor Demarin's rock-opera Le Parfumeur, part I.

"Armenian Power Gang": What's real, what's parody?

Book-club girls sing Viktor Tsoi.

More R. girls: Sazh, Chix.

Smolensk air-crash

Wojciech Seweryn, Polish artist whose father was killed at Katyn, died in the Smolensk air-crash (Chicago ST).

According to this Russian press article from last year, one of Kaczynski's TU-154 planes was serviced in Russia [quite possibly, both were serviced there] (Obozrevatel, in Russian). The plane that crashed was last serviced in February and seems to have had some kind of mechanical problem before landing, which caused the pilot to jettison fuel (Times). The pilot apparently ignored repeated instructions from the ground to divert [but if he was having to throw away fuel, was he able to divert?] On the other hand, Russia "rules out" technical malfunction (RFE/RL). Also: prez Kaczynski alienated everyone: Russia, Europe, Lech Walesa (NYT). UPDATE: more theories. Crash was caused by "VIP passenger syndrome" – Kaczynski pressured pilot to land despite warnings? Pilot's poor command of Russian was to blame? Russians wanted plane to divert so Kaczynski couldn't attend Katyn ceremony (Telegraph)?

Zemfira, Aeroplane.

50 Cent to play at Б1 Maximum club, Moscow, tonight (RIA Novosti, in Russian).

President of China (?) sings Moscow Nights.

The late Anatoli Krupnov, On The Way (Дорожная); great video.

This is what I like to see: some older guys getting it on.

Sergei Mazaev at "50".

Boris Davidyan (aka Boka) in LA.

Pop

Larik Surapov.

Veriko Turashvili and Zuzu, Get Lost.

Zemfira.

Eduard Khil's wordless Trolololo song (IZO, earlier) was in fact a censorship-beating tactic (CS Monitor) (thanks, MK)!

...[Khil] explained that the reason the iconic song has no lyrics is that the original ones, about a cowboy riding the range while his wife sits at home knitting socks, were banned as "too naughty" by Soviet censors of the day.  "A theme like that was unacceptable, so we decided to sing it without any words at all," he said. "So, in this case, I was an instrument rather than a singer."

Russian religious-political rap, somewhere in Baltics I think

Cossack rap!

Eduard Khil taking Youtube by storm: last week there were 500K views, now (13 March) over 2 million (Youtube). Below: a later TV interview; best of the karaoke-style tributes; Hungarian version. And BONUS TRACK Valery Leontiev, Rondo Turkish March.

UPDATE:

Not yet over the Khil (via National Post).

Hitler hears Trolololo song:

Russia's Eurovision 2010 representative is Petr Nalich. He says there will be no dancing to accompany his performance (gzt.ru, in Russian). Interview (KP, in Russian).

Meanwhile, Ukrainian artistes have written to prez Yanukovich asking him to replace Vasili Lazarovich, the Ukrainian choice, because he was selected by underhand influence, not on merit (gazeta.ru, in Russian).

Mikhail Boyarski, Businessman (via LJ max1976).

Видик к 8 марта (via LJ shtarker). Beautiful, hypnotic thing.

Mikhail Krug, Sucker (Фраер - OK, you want to know what it means (index, in Russian)?) (via LJ shtarker).