What did we listen to in February

The main albums according to "Medusa"

Medusa monthly chooses the most interesting Russian and foreign albums - and tells why they should be listened.

DIIV - is the is are

The second album of the New York group of DIIV is a talented, measured and dreamy post-punk, telling about the not-pleasant period in the life of the vocalist of Zari Smith. Former boyfriend Sky Fereyra finally stopped getting to the police with heroin, but does not stop comparing himself with Kurt Cobain and proclaim DIIV by a group that is ordered to save guitar music. In fact, DIIV, despite direct quotes from Cobain diaries, are quite far from the Granda. The music of the is is at the same time gloomy and bright, appropriate for dancing at a party (but only on not the most fun) and is not overwhelmed with a Kobein tension. On the contrary, the second album of DIIV is a calm repentance in everything that Zakar has done in recent years. Smith does not invent stories, he tells his life, but it is dramatic enough to have enough more albums. “If I do not make a great record, I am over. Like this. To me ****** [end], ”he said before the exit of is the is are. Judging by the disk, Smith has a great future.

Livansky cedar - January Sun

Muscovite Yana Kedrin in February released her first foreign release - a set of old songs and an English -language track. A rare example when you do not need to sing in English to "break through"; Songs in Russian did not prevent the “Kedra Lebanese” to find an American label and get the main website of the PitchFork indie-carpets in devoted fans. Yana Kedrin makes dance music for the party, which occurs somewhere behind the wall, and no one is dancing on it-a kind of song post-techno, where there was nothing left of technology or songs. “Livansky cedar” is a mining music, moreover, like any good creativity, understandable and close not only to the author.

Kanye West - The Life of Pablo

The new record of Kanye West is definitely one of the main albums of the year, and not just February. Here's what the journalist Alexander Gorbachev wrote about him in the Medusa article:

“Perhaps,“ The Life of Pablo “there is not an indefatigable firework“ My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy ”, which finally wrote out the status of a genius, nor the sinister erogenous power of“ Yeezus ”; This album is rather affirmative than a conquest - but this is not bad. Partly in the spirit of the times, prone to renew, partly in the spirit of colleagues in the workshop-di Angelo and Kendrick Lamar, who collected all respects last year, Kanye West recorded an encyclopedia album; Unlike them, it describes not history, but modernity. In other words, “The Life of Pablo” is the instant shooting of the topical American pop music of the present moment, the illustrated compensation, gracefully knitting all relevant trends: TraP (“Pt. 2”), new RNB (“FML”), digitized Danshall, reanimated Souls and so on, Up to the eternal goddessed state-owned gospel and retro-futuristic electrics with an eye on the 80s (“FADE”). ”

Pinkshinyultrablast - Grandfeathered

Pinkshinyultrablast-from St. Petersburg, they have the perfect name, borrowed from the album of the American group Astrobrite, and the maximum cosmopolitan music on the border between the song shugais and a long post-rock. And they are one of the most famous Russian indie groups in the West, the output of the new album of which becomes the reason for the review of PitchFork and in many other publications and blogs. The second PinkshinyultraBlast album called Grandfeathereed sounds like Mogwai made friends with The Joy Formidable and sang in a high voice drowned in Shugais Shuma. The first Pinkshinyultrablast plate clearly lacked melodies and a distinct song structure; On Grandfeathereed this is more than enough.

Pinegrove - Cardinal

The debut album of the Pinegrove group from New Jersey sounds like emo, from which all the excess was removed-a stupid black-pink aesthetics of the middle of the two thousandth, loud dissonant guitars, a tear and excessive drama. The rest turned out inventive emotional songs about simple things - friendship, wrong priorities, love, search for yourself - and how important it is to remember and take care of loved ones. Pinegrove has incorporated the best of the worlds of alternative music of the nineties and alt-kantri, they simultaneously resemble Sunny Day Real Estate, Elliott Smith and Conor Oberst. And Cardinal is perfect in laconicism: 8 tracks, half an hour of beautiful songs, not spoiled by protracted losses, unnecessary repetitions and inappropriate solo.

Abi Reimold - Wriggling

23-year-old Ebi Reimold from Philadelphia either plays loudly and sings insinuatingly, or yells into the microphone with a broken voice against the background of a lonely quiet guitar-the main thing is that there is always noise and whisper. The Wriggling album could not have appeared without alternative music of the eighties and nineties, although in some places it looks not so much to Grandes as an overly loud (and sometimes quiet) country. Ebi does not sink very well, her voice now and then breaks down, emphasizing the nervousness of texts, and music often rolls into a dissonant noise; From the songs with the words "Fuck this and Fuck me in my inopenship" something else is expected and do not have to. Her debut plate is a story about everything that can worry a person at her age, sleeping and played as honestly and as if for the last time. Ebi is rude and straightforward in an attempt to describe disappointment and anger in relation to the surrounding reality - and this is attractive.

Medzhikul - all about Martha

In the Russian pop music, a disco-finge does not seem to exist, and in general there are not enough sensual, sexual albums. The Medzhikul project beats in both directions: “Everything about Martha” turned out to be an almost perfect album in the aesthetics of the eighties (Indian films, deliberately aged clips, retro-sound, disc, dancing) about love and passion with inventive, plastic texts resembling Ivan Dorn. To the world level, there is not enough some jump above the head in terms of vocals: I want Michael Jackson or Marvin Gay, to whom the Medzhikul vocalist is infinitely far away. Everything else at the group on the spot, including the ideal summer hit “planted” and a song about the face of Bollywood Mithun Chakraborty.

Nonkeen - The Gamble

The German minimalist Niels Fram gathered Nonkeen, together with childhood friends, Frederick Gmeiner and Sebastian Singwald, with whom in the nineties he began to make music. Nonkeen was originally an improvisation group - the trio agreed to never rehearse the compositions and record everything from one dubbing to cassettes with a minimum number of processing. Based on these records, often of low quality or simply spoiled, and The Gamble appeared-a tool album-designer, brought to mind in the studio. Despite the unusual origin, The Gamble sounds like one endless jam session of three musicians who know each other very well and share the feeling of a certain elevated melancholy, inherent not only to Nonkeen, but all the other works of Niels Fram.

Pavel Borisov

Riga