Update thread

Top 5 best music releases of the beginning of the year

Fragment of the cover of the album “Aliens”

The first months of 2026 presented listeners with several music releases at once, the covers of which featured big names well known to the Russian-speaking audience. Boris Barabanov selected five records, the authors of which not only released new songs, but revised the very approach to releasing music, from the name of the group to the structure of the album.

DMITRY SPIRIN*
"Aliens"
Dmitry Spirin is one of the most respected punk rockers singing in Russian. His group "Cockroaches!" ceased to exist in 2022. Having moved to Argentina, the musician began his life anew and made his debut as a solo artist.
Dmitry Spirin’s first full-length album, “Hot War,” consisted of his own songs, and the latest “Aliens” is a collection of pacifist works, the authors of which often cannot even put their names on the cover, because they live in Russia and work practically in underground conditions. Spirin recorded their songs, and not only performed in the well-developed territory of punk rock, but also released some of the compositions in his own interpretations. For example, the song of the ANTIDOT virtual YouTube project “Soldier” gave Spirin the opportunity to try his hand at the “ragamuffin” style.
“Tonight” - by musicians who also hide their names - is Spirin’s first experience in post-punk, which has become fashionable again. “There’s a gloomy, dangerous atmosphere in this song,” Spirin says about the song, “there’s a bombing, you have to quickly run away, save yourself and save other people. And hope that no one dies tonight."
Finally, Spirin reworked the song “Spoiler,” a little more familiar to listeners, written by musician Joker James, from “bard rap with a drum machine” into a piano ballad in the spirit of Nick Cave.
Album link

"AQUARIUM"
"Strange News from a Distant Star"
The first album in a long time released by Boris Grebenshchikov* under the Aquarium brand. The musician gave many comments about this decision, but the main thing is not the title on the cover, but the music that is hidden under it. And she doesn't let me down. Boris Grebenshchikov collected in this album songs that he polished for quite a long time at concerts, including with the participation of the venerable English guitarist and producer Leo Abrahams.
Grebenshchikov begins the album for repose with the song “Let's Talk About the Dead,” which captures the total dominance of the cult of death: “The dead are a holiday, they are our everything.” Paired with this song is “All Cats Are Grey,” a hymn to “life in spite of” in a world where no one needs songs, there is no one to pass the post on, there is no home, and it is no longer clear why every time one has to get out of the endless sores that haunt the author in the most real life.
In this album you can find almost literal diagnoses: “the eyes are no longer the same,” “the heart is no longer needed.” Why live? Yes, because if you give in, “surrender your post,” then they will immediately begin to include you in this or that code, endow you with current values, in general, they will hang you like an order.
Going through the usual milestones of any of his albums of the last 20 years - “Russian folk” “Crows, Crows”, waltz with accordion “Save and Preserve”, reggae rebus “Green Angel”, Irish dance “Sheela-na-gig”, absurdist choir “Horizon” with the voices of Alexander Vasiliev, Evgeny Fedorov, Andrei Makarevich and Seva Gakkel, - BG traditionally taxis towards the light, namely, towards the universal joy of the ballad “From the Rock Garden”.
Album link

VERA POLOZKOVA AND ALEXANDER MANOTSKOV
"Red Thread"
Working on their new joint album “Red Thread,” poetess Vera Polozkova and composer Alexander Manotskov made do with only two instruments—their voices. The material on this album is intuitively perceived by the listener as folklore or having “folk” roots. In fact, these compositions have a complex relationship with folklore. For example, the song “God,” according to Alexander Manotskov, is “the melody of Znamenny chant, harmonized in the spirit of partes polyphony.”
At the same time, the songs are perceived easily, often festively and even childishly. Preparing to record and perform this material, the poetess was seriously worried, experiencing a lack of professional training. Her colleague reassured her, since in his opinion, singing is a natural thing for a poet, and it is through the voice that language takes on poetic forms.
Perhaps the greatest achievement for Polozkova in this album is that she did not try to artificially squeeze out “folklore” vocals, did not strive for deliberately rustic or, conversely, philharmonic sound production. In some non-Euclidean world, the musical route of Polozkova and Manotskov even intersects with the current official fashion for kokoshniks and berezonkas. But only formally. “Red Thread” sews in its own way.
Album link

"BI-2"
"A Trip Around the Sun"
The new album of the group “Bi-2” is created in the traditional sound of the group - at the intersection of synth-pop and stadium pop-rock. All experiments remain overboard, or rather, in the experimental projects “Heartbeat” and “Odd Warrior”, which are carried on the shoulders of the incorrigible enthusiast and music lover Shura Bi-2. For the group's "numbered" albums, Leva Bi-2 , Shura Bi-2 and Yan Nikolenko compose shock action songs with undeniable hit potential.
The album “Journey Around the Sun” contains songs that, after the first listen, begin to play in your head: “The Sun Doesn’t Warm Without Love,” “Withdrawal Syndrome,” “Summer Thunder,” “Don’t Make My Angels Angry,” “I’m Moving On.” The album ends with the potential stadium anthem “Psalm 26,” which Bi-2 considers the best song of their career.
In the experimental “space” version of the album, which is released on March 27, musical compositions are interspersed with comments from astronomers, biologists, historians, and artists reflecting on the topics raised in the songs. In the podcast accompanying the release of the album, Ilya Kolmanovsky, Nadezhda Tolkonnikova , Alexander Baunov , Mikhail Zygar*, Fr. Alexey Uminsky and others. The category of light indie pop in the album includes “Bicycle” and the bonus track “Enemies”. But even in them, if you wish, you can find hidden messages to haters and Internet trolls. For example, in the lines from “Bicycle” “Under a furious downpour, there is no longer any point in twisting the steering wheel in a vain attempt to miraculously break through between the streams,” commentators see the answer to those who believe that “Bi-2” could still work calmly in Russia, having come to terms with the new reality. We couldn't.
Album link

IGR TITOV
“To “Are you leaving? Leave!
Actor Igor Titov and his friends released a soundtrack for the concert play “Are you leaving? Leave!”, which was shown in Berlin and was recently shown there for the last time. The last evening of the Soviet bard and dissident in his homeland, that is, his farewell to emigration, was recreated on stage. In the second act of the play, philosophers, poets and writers from different times reasoned and argued about the place of their country in the world. As conceived by the authors of the play, Shalamov, Astafiev, Letov, Chaadaev and Galich continued the never-ending conversation that Galich began in the first part of the production. The disc features the voices of young actors - Igor Titov, Vadik Korolev, Anna Nazarova, Nikita Yelenev and Nina Guseva.
In the musical solution of the album, one should not look for similarities with the original, bardic performance of Alexander Galich. This is rather a tense, tragic performance, inspired by the tradition of the Siberian alternative ranging from “Civil Defense” to “25/17”. On the other hand, this performance is very actorly, so if the concept of an “actor’s song” has any life, then this is it. The album is small, but it contains several key songs for Galich’s legacy, first of all, “Prospector’s Waltz,” which, by and large, has not been accepted by young artists. But the attempt was counted, as well as recorded and published.
Album link

Boris Barabanov

* The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation included “foreign agents” in the register.

Date

03/27/2026

Author

Hidden

Source

Novaya Gazeta

Preserved copy

Internet Archive

Translated material

Update thread

Top 5 best music releases of the beginning of the year

The first months of 2026 presented listeners with several music releases at once, the covers of which featured big names well known to the Russian-speaking audience. Boris Barabanov selected five records, the authors of which not only released new songs, but revised the very approach to releasing music, from the name of the group to the structure of the album.

DMITRY SPIRIN*
"Aliens"
Dmitry Spirin is one of the most respected punk rockers singing in Russian. His group "Cockroaches!" ceased to exist in 2022. Having moved to Argentina, the musician began his life anew and made his debut as a solo artist.
Dmitry Spirin’s first full-length album, “Hot War,” consisted of his own songs, and the latest “Aliens” is a collection of pacifist works, the authors of which often cannot even put their names on the cover, because they live in Russia and work practically in underground conditions. Spirin recorded their songs, and not only performed in the well-developed territory of punk rock, but also released some of the compositions in his own interpretations. For example, the song of the ANTIDOT virtual YouTube project “Soldier” gave Spirin the opportunity to try his hand at the “ragamuffin” style.
“Tonight” - by musicians who also hide their names - is Spirin’s first experience in post-punk, which has become fashionable again. “There’s a gloomy, dangerous atmosphere in this song,” Spirin says about the song, “there’s a bombing, you have to quickly run away, save yourself and save other people. And hope that no one dies tonight."
Finally, Spirin reworked the song “Spoiler,” a little more familiar to listeners, written by musician Joker James, from “bard rap with a drum machine” into a piano ballad in the spirit of Nick Cave.
Album link

"AQUARIUM"
"Strange News from a Distant Star"
The first album in a long time released by Boris Grebenshchikov* under the Aquarium brand. The musician gave many comments about this decision, but the main thing is not the title on the cover, but the music that is hidden under it. And she doesn't let me down. Boris Grebenshchikov collected in this album songs that he polished for quite a long time at concerts, including with the participation of the venerable English guitarist and producer Leo Abrahams.
Grebenshchikov begins the album for repose with the song “Let's Talk About the Dead,” which captures the total dominance of the cult of death: “The dead are a holiday, they are our everything.” Paired with this song is “All Cats Are Grey,” a hymn to “life in spite of” in a world where no one needs songs, there is no one to pass the post on, there is no home, and it is no longer clear why every time one has to get out of the endless sores that haunt the author in the most real life.
In this album you can find almost literal diagnoses: “the eyes are no longer the same,” “the heart is no longer needed.” Why live? Yes, because if you give in, “surrender your post,” then they will immediately begin to include you in this or that code, endow you with current values, in general, they will hang you like an order.
Going through the usual milestones of any of his albums of the last 20 years - “Russian folk” “Crows, Crows”, waltz with accordion “Save and Preserve”, reggae rebus “Green Angel”, Irish dance “Sheela-na-gig”, absurdist choir “Horizon” with the voices of Alexander Vasiliev, Evgeny Fedorov, Andrei Makarevich and Seva Gakkel, - BG traditionally taxis towards the light, namely, towards the universal joy of the ballad “From the Rock Garden”.
Album link

VERA POLOZKOVA AND ALEXANDER MANOTSKOV
"Red Thread"
Working on their new joint album “Red Thread,” poetess Vera Polozkova and composer Alexander Manotskov made do with only two instruments—their voices. The material on this album is intuitively perceived by the listener as folklore or having “folk” roots. In fact, these compositions have a complex relationship with folklore. For example, the song “God,” according to Alexander Manotskov, is “the melody of Znamenny chant, harmonized in the spirit of partes polyphony.”
At the same time, the songs are perceived easily, often festively and even childishly. Preparing to record and perform this material, the poetess was seriously worried, experiencing a lack of professional training. Her colleague reassured her, since in his opinion, singing is a natural thing for a poet, and it is through the voice that language takes on poetic forms.
Perhaps the greatest achievement for Polozkova in this album is that she did not try to artificially squeeze out “folklore” vocals, did not strive for deliberately rustic or, conversely, philharmonic sound production. In some non-Euclidean world, the musical route of Polozkova and Manotskov even intersects with the current official fashion for kokoshniks and berezonkas. But only formally. “Red Thread” sews in its own way.
Album link

"BI-2"
"A Trip Around the Sun"
The new album of the group “Bi-2” is created in the traditional sound of the group - at the intersection of synth-pop and stadium pop-rock. All experiments remain overboard, or rather, in the experimental projects “Heartbeat” and “Odd Warrior”, which are carried on the shoulders of the incorrigible enthusiast and music lover Shura Bi-2. For the group's "numbered" albums, Leva Bi-2 , Shura Bi-2 and Yan Nikolenko compose shock action songs with undeniable hit potential.
The album “Journey Around the Sun” contains songs that, after the first listen, begin to play in your head: “The Sun Doesn’t Warm Without Love,” “Withdrawal Syndrome,” “Summer Thunder,” “Don’t Make My Angels Angry,” “I’m Moving On.” The album ends with the potential stadium anthem “Psalm 26,” which Bi-2 considers the best song of their career.
In the experimental “space” version of the album, which is released on March 27, musical compositions are interspersed with comments from astronomers, biologists, historians, and artists reflecting on the topics raised in the songs. In the podcast accompanying the release of the album, Ilya Kolmanovsky, Nadezhda Tolkonnikova , Alexander Baunov , Mikhail Zygar*, Fr. Alexey Uminsky and others. The category of light indie pop in the album includes “Bicycle” and the bonus track “Enemies”. But even in them, if you wish, you can find hidden messages to haters and Internet trolls. For example, in the lines from “Bicycle” “Under a furious downpour, there is no longer any point in twisting the steering wheel in a vain attempt to miraculously break through between the streams,” commentators see the answer to those who believe that “Bi-2” could still work calmly in Russia, having come to terms with the new reality. We couldn't.
Album link

IGR TITOV
“To “Are you leaving? Leave!
Actor Igor Titov and his friends released a soundtrack for the concert play “Are you leaving? Leave!”, which was shown in Berlin and was recently shown there for the last time. The last evening of the Soviet bard and dissident in his homeland, that is, his farewell to emigration, was recreated on stage. In the second act of the play, philosophers, poets and writers from different times reasoned and argued about the place of their country in the world. As conceived by the authors of the play, Shalamov, Astafiev, Letov, Chaadaev and Galich continued the never-ending conversation that Galich began in the first part of the production. The disc features the voices of young actors - Igor Titov, Vadik Korolev, Anna Nazarova, Nikita Yelenev and Nina Guseva.
In the musical solution of the album, one should not look for similarities with the original, bardic performance of Alexander Galich. This is rather a tense, tragic performance, inspired by the tradition of the Siberian alternative ranging from “Civil Defense” to “25/17”. On the other hand, this performance is very actorly, so if the concept of an “actor’s song” has any life, then this is it. The album is small, but it contains several key songs for Galich’s legacy, first of all, “Prospector’s Waltz,” which, by and large, has not been accepted by young artists. But the attempt was counted, as well as recorded and published.
Album link

Boris Barabanov