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Moscow's cultural scene is famously enormous and varied - but where to start? Our arts-savvy editorial team trawl what's on offer, to bring you our selection of Culture Picks for your leisure time. Current and upcoming recommendations are:
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| 13.02.10 20:00 |
Uriah Heep (UK) | |
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Uriah Heep's by-the-books progressive heavy metal made the British band one of the most popular hard rock groups of the early '70s. Formed by vocalist David Byron and guitarist Mick Box in the late '60s, the group went through an astonishing number of members over the next two decades - nearly 30 different musicians passed through the band over the years. Read more
GlavClub  |
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| 14.02.10 21:00 |
Sonata Arctica (Finland) | |
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Finnish prog metal quartet Sonata Arctica specializes in a soaring, orchestral variation on European heavy metal, fusing the sweeping, romantic bombast of bands like Europe with the over-the-top instrumental chops of Dream Theater. Tonight They are presenting songs from their new album "The Days of Grays" released in October 2009. The Days of Grays is about a lot of death and difficult subjects. The necessary gray areas. Just stories, no different than any other fiction piece you may find, with some historic spices, comments frontman Tony Kakko. Read more
B1 Maximum |
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| 22.02.10 21:00 |
Ian Brown (UK) | |
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The Stone Rose released just two albums but it proved to be enough to achieve cult status and enter all musical encyclopaedias as one of the most influential bands of the 1980-90s. Britain's New Musical Express magazine has recently published the Best Album Ever list topped by The Stone Roses' album of the same name leaving even such legends as The Beatles and Radiohead behind. After The Stone Rose's splitting up Ian Brown went on as a solo musician, released several brilliant records and New Musical Express magazine lately awarded him with the prestigious Godlike Genius Award. Read more
B1 Maximum |
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| 27.02.10 00:00 |
The Crystal Method (USA) | |
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According to The Crystal Method, they're accessible to all because they'd like to draw in the electronic music as many people as possible. The Crystal Method are heroes of the Los Angeles rave scene of the early 1990s. The unresting electronic duo of Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland has been constantly gaining higher and higher positions on the charts. The neon lights of the southern megapolis, rumbling breakbeats and metal-edged synth melodies - these are the main components of The Crystal Method's unique style called funky breaks.They have a lot of platinum-selling albums under their belt, as well as remixes for Moby, Black Grape and Zen Cowboys; a Grammy nomination (for their album "Legion of Boom"), a record-breaking amount of awards at the 2004 American Dance Music Awards (Best American Band, Best Album ("Legion of Boom"), and Best Single ("Born Too Slow")). Read more
B1 Maximum |
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| 26.02.10-28.02.10 |
International Music Video Festival "Museek" | |
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On February 26-28 Tour de Film presents the International Music Video Festival "Museek" at Pioneer Cinema in Moscow. "Museek" ("music" plus "seek") aims first of all at seeking after and supporting actors and directors who try to show music in a very original way. For two years "Museek" has already become the major Europe's cinema event: programs of 2008-2009 were demonstrated in France, UK, Germany, Austria and Russia. About 2000 music videos from all around the globe from Russia, USA, Europe and Australia to India, Philippine, Albania and Luxembourg were reviewed by the curators of the festival to select just those that had added something new to the genre for the last two years. And, of course, they selected the best of the best! Read more
Pioner Cinema |
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| 04.03.10 22:00 |
Current 93 (UK) | |
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With a glut of industrial-pop hybrids on the market in the 1980s and 1990s, several bands stayed true to the experimental nature of early industrial music. The Psychic TV axis alone spawned many creative artists, including Current 93's David Tibet, who blends Gothic chanting and haunting atmospherics with industrial noisescapes courtesy of tape loops and synthesizers. Though Tibet doesn't quite have bandmates, he frequently works with a core of collaborators. Steven Stapleton is probably the most frequent member, appearing on virtually all Current 93 releases - a favor which David Tibet returns by working with Stapleton on most projects by Nurse with Wound. Read more
Ikra |
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| 07.03.10 20:00 |
Faithless Sound System (UK) | |
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A prime house-pop group and consistent club act, Faithless is at its core a duo of producers Rollo and Sister Bliss. Before the group officially came together in 1995, Rollo had produced a previous club hit ("Don't You Want Me" as Felix in 1992), plus an album for Kristine W. and remixes for the Pet Shop Boys, Bjork and Simply Red. Sister Bliss, a piano and violin prodigy from the age of five, converted to acid house in 1987, and quickly became one of the UK's best house DJs, also recording several singles as herself. Though the two had begun producing together as early as 1993, Faithless became a stable quartet two years later with the addition of vocalists Jamie Catto (previously in the Big Truth Band) and Maxi Jazz (from the Soul Food Cafe Band). Read more
Expocentre on Krasnaya Presnya |
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| 10.03.10 19:00 |
Tokio Hotel (Germany) | |
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Emo quartet Tokio Hotel emerged as one of the most successful new German acts of their generation, scoring three number one singles via 2005's debut LP "Schrei". Bill and Tom Kaulitz - twin brothers - formed the group in their native Magdeburg in 2001, recruiting drummer Gustav Schafer and bassist Georg Listing to round out the lineup. Originally dubbed Devilish, the teen foursome toured aggressively before signing to Universal in 2003, adopting the moniker Tokio Hotel in tandem with the deal. Read more
Olimpiisky Sports Complex |
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| 11.03.10 21:00 |
Múm (Iceland) | |
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Iceland pop experimentalists Múm were formed by Gunnar Orn Tynes, Orvar Þoreyjarson Smarason, and classically trained twin sisters Gyða and Kristin Anna Valtysdottir. Mum's music is a delicate eclectic mix of intellectual noise electronics, full range of various wind, stringed, keyboard, electronic and electrical sounds and fascinating, infantile, mellow, enveloping vocal. Mum performs as an orchestra with the wind and violin sections, lots of made-made noise devices, bells, psaltery, whistles. Read more
B1 Maximum |
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| 12.03.10 21:00 |
Bloodhound Gang (USA) | |
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Bloodhound Gang - American alternative band with a post-punk revival-influenced sound currently consisting of Jimmy Pop (vocals), Lupus Thunder (guitars), Evil Jared Hasselhoff (bass), DJ Q-Ball (turntables, vocals), The Yin (drums) first started out as a small alternative band called Bang Chamber 8. They released one known tape, which was self titled. Soon they changed their name to the Bloodhound Gang and changed their style to a blend of obnoxious sexual innuendo and politically incorrect punk rock with hip-hop. Read more
B1 Maximum |
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| 14.03.10 21:00 |
Hypocrisy (Sweden) | |
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The Swedish metal band Hypocrisy was formed in 1990. At first it was none other than Peter Tägtgren's solo project. He recorded solo demos entirely by himself performing as a vocalist, keyboard player and guitarist and invited other musicians only after singing a record deal. The band got its start with some eerie musical experiments but zealously honed its sounding with each new album. Finally all previous sound-chaos turned into modern music of good quality. Being a brutal-death band in the beginning, for the past decade Hypocrisy have worked out their own identifiable sound characterised by extreme tough solo parts that won't let you stand still. Read more
B1 Maximum |
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| 26.03.10 19:00 |
Alessandro Safina (Italy) | |
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The early 21st century saw the rise of Italian singer Alessandro Safina, who has combined his opera roots with modern-day pop music, to create a striking, hard-to-categorize style. Born in 1968 in a small town of Siena, Italy, Safina became interested in opera at an early age, and sang in stage productions across Europe of such operas as Puccini's La Boheme and Tchaykovski's Eugene Onegin. It wasn't until he was late in his teens that Safina became an admirer of pop and rock music, drawing inspiration from such bands as Genesis, the Clash, Simple Minds, and U2. Shortly thereafter, he began to combine the two styles together. Read more
Crocus City Hall |
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