Russia. Avant-garde masterpiece

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Hello sweet SG country!
I disappeared from the radar a little this fall: as always, I struggle with the autumn blues and try to learn to enjoy the little things. But the post is not about that. Once upon a time, I made music posts and talked about the music I grew up with, and as a rule, you also knew all this music very well. We live in a very dynamic time, we know a lot, we can do a lot, information of various kinds fills us every day and especially this year. Personally, I am not so easy to impress with the music, as I have probably heard it all the way.. so I thought until recently!
The group from Russia Shortparis surprised me in the most pleasant sense of the word.I forgot that art should shock, surprise, amaze. And I forgot that all this can be done with the help of music and text.

This is a very daring project (especially considering the political realities of Russia, far from democracy and self-expression) and an incredibly charismatic leader. 10 years ago I didn’t listen to Russian music and didn’t understand it, but perhaps it was not that music at all. Since there are no subtitles in the video, I will give a short description of each song: how I understood the song.
Shortparis has no funding, based on an interview with the band's frontman, they filmed all this not professionally and resorted to the help of friends and acquaintances. But damn it, it looks much more impressive than most of what I see marked "professional". I hope you will not remain indifferent and share what you liked (or disliked) the most, I am really interested to know!

1.SHAME.
We are conscious in ourselves, in the dark, alone with ourselves, and our inner critic is watching us on a luxurious sofa: he looks like a snob, and clearly expects something. This song is about shame as it is, how often do we ask ourselves what is shame? Do we often ask ourselves: why is it needed at all?
"There is nothing, there is nothing in you. There is nothing, there is nothing in it." There is no point in being ashamed.


2. KoKoKo/ Structures don't take to the streets.
Here I will use the description of the announcement from the independent media: The musicians themselves acted as directors of the video - in it they sing in the chicken coop and the cutting shop. The lyrics and script were written several months ago - at the very beginning of the quarantine. However, the group again succeeded in predicting real events - many listeners considered that the song was connected with the events in Belarus.



3. SCARY.
Chorus: "That's why it's scary."
Scary why?

National identity in Russia is ironic. We try our best to build an ideal society and preserve culture, but we completely forget about who built our cities. About 20% of Russia are immigrants, but we have no idea how hard it is for them to live here and how strangers they feel, what kind of disrespect they are exposed to (the moment in which the vocalist walks on the rug). The ending: immigrants carry a boy forward through the mud, who is proud of his nation.
We are afraid of each other and do not understand each other, living in the same country - That's why it's scary.


On the net you can find more songs and information on this extraordinary and advanced Russian group, I hope you liked my humble descriptions, and I hope that the video series and music did not leave you indifferent! This is indeed a very important project for Russia.


@missy @rambo @lemon
❤

VIEW 5 of 5 COMMENTS
bronsonquick:
Autumn blues are so fucking hard. My ultimate fantasy would be me playing acoustic guitar and you singing. Something "simple" like this.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxZl2cFvjRs
elune:
@bronsonquick than is fucking amazing song!

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