Zvuki Mu

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Last year, while on one of my searches for eBay fodder, I stumbled upon a 1989 CD titled "Modern Songs From Russia" by a group called Zvuki Mu.

This intrigued me.

The picture on the back of the CD, of what I assumed to be a band member, intrigued me even more (see photo above).

And to lock in my "hat trick" of intrigue, I noticed that the album was produced by none other than Brian Eno.

I thought, for $4.98 . . . what the hell. I mean - even the cover was pretty cool.



I just got around to listening to the album this past weekend. What it appears to be is some kind of twisted Russian concoction of the band Roxy Music. No surprise I guess, with Brian Eno doing the knob twisting. The album is very unusual and fairly entertaining.

Today I decided to do a Youtube search and I stumbled upon a song by the band that sounds absolutely nothing like the album I own.

Au contraire, this song kicks serious butt.

To be very candid and direct, there is absolutely nothing about this song and video that I don't like. From the manic behavior of lead singer Pyotr Mamonov (pictured above when he had more hair), to the scorching guitar playing, to the bass player's mid-song howl, to the very cool little kid playing air guitar throughout the entire song. Even the clumsy, self-conscious "walk-off" ending is spot on.

This song and video also unequivocally answers the following two questions:

1) Can Russians rock?

Yes.

and

2) Do Russian musicians have a sense of humor?

Yes.


One suggestion: Make sure to hit the "full screen" button so that you can experience Pyotr Mamonov in all his spastic glory.

So without furthur delay, ladies and gentleman I give you the song "Grubiy Zakat" by Zvuki Mu:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyCsJAj69sc







ADDITIONAL PHOTOS: the first one is of the band, and the remaining three are of Pyotr Mamonov. The final picture is from the set of a movie. Apparently, Mamonov is a well-respected actor in his Russian homeland. Why am I not surprised?









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