Our Russia podcast pulls several more tracks from the goldmine of a Soviet collection we picked up in Odessa.  There were too many great tracks to fit into one podcast, so we split them between Ukraine and Russia.  Tracks 2, 7, and 14 are from a pair of discs we picked up in Elista, a Buddhist, ethnically Asian enclave in southwestern Russia.  While definitely distinct, Elistan music’s horse-inspired rhythms share a lot with the Central Asian music we came across later in the trip.  We also included three tracks we heard all over Russian radio and TV this summer, taken from a 2011 pop compilation we grabbed in Elista.  Track 13 is Vera Brezhneva’s “Realnaya Zhizni”, which topped the Russian charts all summer, and particularly dear to our hearts is track 15, Sak Noel’s magnum opus, “Loca People.”  We heard it whenever we turned on Russian radio from the Volga to Siberia.  There are also a pair of songs from Vespero, a space-rock band from Astrakhan, the border city we passed through on our way to Kazakhstan.  We found them on Far From Moscow, an unbelievable source for music from Russia and its neighbors.

Track Listing:

1. ПЛАМЯ – На дальней станции сойду (52:11)

PLAMYA – Na Dalneyi Stantsii Soyidu

The listed artist for this track is a bit confusing.  Plamya appears to be the artist name; however, after a a few minutes of research, I couldn’t find any cover art for them, and videos for the song appeared just as often, if not more often, under Samotsvety, who we heard from in the Ukraine podcast.  Both groups are definitely led by Yuriy Malikov, so I’m not sure what the differences are, if any. Below is video of another great Malikov tune.

2. хальмг дуд – мендря хальмг дуд (49:08)

Khalmg Dud – Mendrya

3.  Мираж – Эта Ночь (38:02)

Mirage – Eta Notch

4. Банд’Эрос – Полосы (46:00)

Band’Eros – Polosi

5. VESPERO – Turquoise (41:43)

6. С. Рязанова – Белый танец (36:00)

S. Ryazanova – Beliyi Tanets

7. цевек цагадинов – дфрвуд би. (33:14)

Tsevek Tsagadinov – Dfrvud Bi

8. Электронный мальчик – Дитер Болен не курит (30:09)

Elektronniyi Malchik – Diter Bolen Ne Kurit

The video for this song is pretty special.

9. Бьянка и Ираклий – Белый пляж (25:34)

Byanka i Irakli – Beliyi Plyage

10. Р. Горобец – Виолетта (22:08)

R. Gorobets – Violetta

Isn’t this what you might imagine a Soviet approximation of rock’n’roll to sound like? Great boogie piano break though.

11. А. Ведищева – Песенка о медведях (19:39)

A. Vedisheva – Pesenka o Medvedyakh

12. VESPERO – Lino (16:50)

13. Вера Брежнева – Реальная жизнь (11:30)

Vera Brezhneva – Realnaya Zhizni

14. цевек цагадинов – зун гучин зурган (7:42)

Tsevek Tsaradinov – Zin Guchin Zurgan

15. Sak Noel – Loca People (4:40)

“Shozha Khunya!”