Nogu Svelo!
| Nogu Svelo! | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | Golos Vselennoy |
| Origin | Moscow, Soviet Union |
| Genres | Alternative rock, punk rock, ska punk, experimental rock |
| Years active | 1988-present |
| Website | http://www.nogu-svelo.ru/ |
| Members |
Max Pokrovsky Igor Lapukhin Maxim Likhachev Dmitry Krichevsky Alexander Volkov |
| Past members | Vitaly Akshevsky Dmitry Yakomulsky Konstantin Prokofiev Mikhail Serov Viktor Medvedev Vitaly Raevsky Anton Yakomulsky |
Nogu Svelo! (Russian: Ногу свело! Cramp in the Leg!) is a popular Russian rock band from Moscow, usually associated with humor and parody and accessible and sometimes childishly simple melodies. They have experimented with many styles in the past and seem to pay particular attention to instrumentation and arrangements and production values. The extravagant style of their late nineties albums has given way to a simpler and more commercially accessible sound in their post-1999 releases - perhaps a return to the guitar-centered sound of 1995's Сибирская любовь [Sibirskaya lyubov'] (Siberian Love), yet arguably not possessing the youthful, hook-filled songwriting of that early-career round-up LP.
Of particular interest to English listeners is their nonchalantly zany use of the English language and sometimes, completely made up English-like lines in their early albums. "she drew me away and locked the door/my girl doesn't love me anymore/I didn't say anything but in my head/I had a plan to make them dead" from the track "Super Creature" on the album Сибирская любовь is an example of singer Maxim Pokrovskiy's style. The band's last few albums are recorded entirely in Russian:
Max Pokrovsky - music, lyrics, vocals, bass Igor Lapukhin - guitar Dmitriy Krichevskiy - drums Maxim Likhachev – trombone Aleksandr Volkov - keyboards
The group Nogu Svelo! was founded in 1988 by singer and bass player Maxim Pokrovsky. "Nogu Svelo!" can be translated as “I've got a cramp in my leg!” - like people shout when they come into cold water. At the beginning Nogu Svelo! was a member of Moscow Rock Laboratory, an organization which supported both well-known and promising independent groups. When Moscow Rock Laboratory broke up in 1992 Nogu Svelo! already recorded two albums, took part in several big festivals and were well-known far outside Moscow.
The band's first two albums are difficult to find, even in Russia.
The debut, 1:0 в пользу девочек [1:0 v pol'zu devochek] (The Girls Lead 1:0), recorded in 1990 but released in 1993, shows the band's creative processes: the music being written by the bassist Maxim Pokrovskiy and drummer Anton Yakomul'skiy is built around sometimes loose, sometimes tight bass riffs, and spacious drum cascades, with synths and guitars flowing in to play something that seemingly was made up on the spot by the respective players. The improvisational quality and the complete ignorance of any sort of commercial demands characterize this LP, yet plenty of songwriting talent is on view. The childish melody of "Дурдом" [Durdom] (Nut-House) - a track recorded in 1989 - is ethereal, and "Тычинка" [Tychinka] (Stamen) has a near-orchestral repeated synth passage surrounded by loose guitar and bass interplay. "Элегия" [Elegiya] (Elegy) has a driving bass riff, soaring guitar passages and an intense chorus relieved by a humorous acoustic guitar chorus. "Тазепам" (Tazepam) sounds like a less-successful attempt at the same thing until a locomotive-esque synth interlude recreates the song as a sort of psychedelic cartoon music. Several of the songs were re-recorded by the band on their later albums, with only "Лысая девочка" [Lysaya devochka] (The Bald Girl) gaining something in the process. The humorous nature of the band's music is here underscored by "interludes" between the songs that consist of repeated synth music and recited poetry about people falling off buildings and dogs getting "stuck" on each other in the yard.
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