I first discovered Sergei Kuryokhin's music about 2 years ago. I was at a free jazz bar in Tokyo with my friend, who had heard his music before at this same bar. What came out of the speakers was unlike any other music I had ever heard. It was extremely odd, but refreshing to hear. It was totally unclassifiable. That particular CD was titled
DON CARLOS. The music went in so many different unpredictable and bizarre directions, but always stayed tightly focused. The ensemble on this particular disc is Sergei's now legendary
"Orkestr Pop-Mekhanika" (Popular Mechanics Orchestra) which he formed around 1984. The ever-changing project included musicians, bands and actors from Leningrad and Moscow, as well as from Europe, such as
Vanessa Redgrave, "Akvarium" and
Boris Grebenshchikov, "
Kino" and
Viktor Tsoy, "
Igry", "
Auktsion",
Dzhungli", "
Tri-O",
Sergei Bugayev, even a
Red Army Ensemble and many others. During "
perestroika" under
Mikhail Gorbachev, Kuryokhin was harshly attacked by the Communist Party ideologist Ligachev who called the Popular Mechanics show an "ideological and artistic jumble!"
Anyway, I have always been on the lookout for his CD's and had no luck until recently. I found
Some Combinations of Fingers and Passion released on the
Leo label a few months back, which is solo piano performances. The way he approaches any instrument, it seems, is by channeling everything into it. He just throws everything into his music. I've rarely heard playing so passionate and personal.
Just a few weeks ago, my firend in Tokyo pretty much discovered a gold mine of rare Sergei stuff, mostly on the
Solyd label in Russia. So far, I've only listened to a few of these CD's, but they're all brilliant. Very odd but striking packaging. Some of the CD's come in jewel cases with a dayglo colored cardboard sleeve to house them in with a booklet of photos from the respective performances.
He also has a 4-CD box set on LEO called
DIVINE MADNESS which contains the rare and long out of print titles:
SUBWAY CULTURE, PIANO ZOOLOGICAL ELEMENTS, INTRODUCTION IN POP MECHANICS and
POP MECHANICS NO.17. This is the next set I'd like to track down. These are all early works I believe.
Anyway, I urge any fan of avant-garde music to track down his music and wallow in the insanity. You'll be floored.
I'm too lazy to write my own biography so the following biography is taken from
http://mitki.kulichki.net/recent/skiif/
"Sergey Kuryokhin, pianist, composer, band leader, actor, director and public figure died of cancer on July 9, 1996, at the age of 42. He first attracted public attention as jazz pianist, playing solo, with Vladimir Chekasin, Anatoly Vapirov and others. In the early 1980s, before he was allowed to travel outside the Soviet Union, his records published by Leo Records, as well as a number of TV programs made him one of the cult figures of the burgeoning Russian underground. In 1984 he formed Pop-Mechanika Orchestra - a band, a concept and a philosophy. The band, which could be anything from a modest trio to a full blown multimedia extravag anza complete with a full symphony, a brass band, a rock group, a circus, a zoo, a gypsy singer, and whatever else his fantasy could bring up at the moment, subsequently toured most of the world. Sergey Kuryokhin's discography counts more than 40 LPs and CDs, he composed music for dozens of films worldwide. His importance however stretches beyond his documented legacy. He was most known and valued as a tireless catalyst of artistic life, as a creative force which united and formed the artistic community, as one of the strongest and most vital voices of a rev olutionary era, the era which transformed the stagnant Soviet Union into new, yet unknown, but vibrant Russia.
Walls all over the world are coming down: cultural, physical and intellectual. As was the Pop-Mechanika Orchestra, the SKIIFestival will be of an interdisciplinary nature. Thus it is rather a Feast of Arts: the Festival stages will host Baroque, Classical , Jazz, Free Improvisation, Rock, Dance, Film, Theater & Poetry."
Recommended links:
http://www.kuryokhin.ru/skif_e.phphttp://www.kuryokhin.ru/http://www.discogs.com/artisthttp://www.raig.ru/kuriokhin.asp
First off, I gotta say that I prefer Tim Berne's live stuff to his studio work, although he still kicks ass in ANY setting. Some bands are just best experienced live and Tim Berne's groups are no exception. This isn’t BIG SATAN’s first live recording, but it’s definitely their best. Simply put, this fuckin' rocks out, balls to the wall.
The music goes many places, from dark and spacious to dense and pummeling in others. Probably this is my favourite live album from Tim Berne since Bloodcount's 3-CD set "BLOODCOUNT UNWOUND". As always, awesome artwork from one of my faves, Stephen Byram (thanks for the comment on my blog : )))))
