"ASSA" (soundtrack, 1988)

Wiki says: "Assa is a Soviet film directed by Sergei Solovyov and released in 1987. It became a cult film, mostly thanks to the fact that it was one of the films that brought Russian rock music from the underground into the mainstream."

As you may remember, in the early 80s rock musicians from all over Soviet Union were releasing their albums in the black market, through home-made tapes. Even if concerts and festivals were allowed, bands from the underground scene weren't accepted by the official Soviet label, Melodiya.

"Assa" changed everything, as Kino and Akvarium performed in it, only to become stars soon after the release. The soundtrack was released in 1988 by Melodiya.

In particular, two songs became enormously popular. The first is "Gorod zolotoy" (transl. "City of God") by Akvarium, a wonderful acoustic lullaby influenced by Renaissance music. It was originally composed by Vladimir Vavilov in 1972, with lyrics added by poet Henri Volokhonsky.

The second is "Hochu peremen!" by Kino, a post-punk anthem with powerful, outbursting lyrics about freedom: "Our hearts are longing for changes, Our eyes are longing for changes, It's in our laugh and in our tears, And in the pulse of our veins. Changes, we are longing for changes!"

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KINO - "KINO [aka CHORNYY AL'BOM]" (1990)

On August 15, 1990 Viktor Tsoi died in a car accident near Riga, while returning from a fishing day. His death was a shock for the entire Soviet Union, leaving his many fans in despair, but projecting his name into immortality. Today Tsoi is still regarded as a music icon and symbol of freedom.

"Kino", also known as "Chornyy al'bom" (transl. "Black album") because of the cover, was released in December 1990. It consists in eight songs, recorded by Tsoi's bandmates Yuri Kasparian, Georgy Guryanov, and Igor Tikhomirov after the tragedy. They used his guitar & voice demos, completing them with new instrumental background tracks. After the release, Kino officially disbanded.

As always, the album was a blockbuster and every song on it became popular, especially "Leto" and "Kukushka". Kasparian's ability on electric guitar shines throughout the entire record, with his mix of rock energy and arcane, seductive folk influences. Tsoi's voice is deep and touching, it's so sad to think what an amazing songwriter and character he was, and how an adverse fate cut off his career.

In my opinion, the strongest tracks are those where folk roots are more evident, such as "Zvezda" or "Leto", but the album offers a bit of everything, including atmospheric breaks such as "Kukushka" and dance-pop songs such as "Krasno zheltye dni" and "Muraveynik" (which strongly reminds of New Order).

A little curiosity: on the first vynil edition, all songs were untitled. Official titles came out only four years later, when the album was reissued on CD and cassette.

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KINO - "ZVEZDA PO IMENI SOLNTSE" (1989)

Kino's last release before Viktor Tsoi's death. It was another success (the title-track, "Pachka sigaret", and "Stuk" all were big hits), confirming the band as a polar star in the local counterculture. 

The tracklist is impressive for its solidity and diversity. 
Guitar player Yuri Kasparian shows his gusto for epicness in the opener "Pesnya bez slov", the title-track is a funky mid tempo number in the wake of "Gruppa krovi", "Mesto dlya shaga vpered" displays the dance side of the quartet, "Pachka sigaret" and "Aprel'" are stunning folk ballads with depressive lyrics and majestic vocal arrangements, while on the new wave anthem "Stuk" you can hear some harsh, distorted guitars. 
Every drum sound was programmed by Georgy Guryanov on his Yamaha RX-5 machine.

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KINO - "GRUPPA KROVI" (1988)

Every Kino album from 1986 to 1990 was a blockbuster in Russia, selling around a couple of millions copies each. "Gruppa krovi" made no exception, as its title-track is probably the most popular Russian rock song ever. "Zakroy za mnoy dver'", "Spokoynaya noch'" and "Mama my vse tyazhelo bol'ny" were also big hits, but every track here is a classic, basically. 

The album was recorded with hi-tech instruments such as the drum machine Yamaha RX-11 and the sampler Prophet 2000, both provided by Yuri Kasparian's American wife, Joanna Stingray. The sound is really advanced if compared to their earlier works: here you can hear a solid post-punk with loud rhythms, walls of guitars, sound effects, and a characteristic melodic sense, vaguely linked to Russian classical and traditional music (just think to Kasparian's guitar at the end of the title-track). Viktor Tsoi's voice is deeper than ever, painting every song with a gothic flavour.  
The first half of the record is more solid than the second, but my favourite is probably the closing track, "Legenda", a tragic ballad with a spare arrangement for guitar and electronic layerings. 

"Gruppa krovi" was the first album of Kino's classic line-up, with Igor Tikhomirov (from progressive rock band Dzhungli) replacing Aleksandr Titov on bass. 

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KINO - "NOCH'" (1986)

"Noch'" is widely regarded as a landmark record in Kino's career, for a number of reasons. In fact, it is:
1. their last album recorded at Andrei Tropillo's home-studio (Vitkor Tsoi and the producer have always had a troubled relationship);
2. their last album released illegally (and at the same time the first legal one, when Melodiya, the official Soviet label, reissued it two years later);
3. their first blockbuster, selling over a million copies in 1988 only;
4. their first effort as an effective quartet, with Tsoi (vocals & guitar), Yuri Kasparian (guitar), Georgy Guryanov (percussion), and Aleksandr Titov (bass guitar). Anyway, Titov would have left the band soon after, to focus on his career with Akvarium.

It is a great album indeed. "Videli noch'", a lovely song which mixes funk and jangle-pop, was Kino's first big hit; "Mama Anarkhiya" is a distorted power-pop anthem; "Fil'my", "Tanets", and "Zhizn' v stoklakh" are some exciting hybrids between new wave and indie-pop. You can also find an amazing, frantic new version of "Posledniy geroy".

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KINO - "ETO NE LYUBOV'" (1985)

Kino was still a duo at the time of this third studio effort, with Viktor Tsoi and Yuri Kasparian as the only effective members. Alekséj Víshnya is the producer and drum machine programmer. Aleksandr Titov from Akvarium plays bass guitar for the second consecutive album, but it's hard to consider him more than a sideman, as he played all his parts here in just one day.

This is Kino's jangle-pop record, heavily influenced by the Smiths on both guitar style and vocal performances. I don't consider it among Tsoi's most personal works, but it is an important step in his discography, with songs such as "Ver' mne" and "Muzyka voln".

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KINO - "NACHAL'NIK KAMCHATKI" (1984)

Kino is probably Russia's most famous rock band, surely the most idolized. They were formed by Viktor Tsoi (vocals, guitar, songwriting) and Alexey Rybin (guitar) around 1981-82. 

I will not post "45" (their debut album, self-released in 1982) because it is basically an acoustic folk record with poor arrangements. It is nice, but not as interesting as their later efforts.

"Nachal'nik Kamchatki" is the second album. By the time of the recording sessions at Andrei Tropillo's home-studio, Rybin had left the project, replaced by Yuri Kasparian. Boris Grebenshikov from Akvarium was the producer.

Grebenshikov had a strong impact on Kino, as he persuaded Tsoi to arrange his songs in the new wave style (Grebenshikov was a fan of both David Bowie and Gary Numan, owning all their records on illegally imported copies. ***Please remember that rock music was not officially approved in USSR at the time: Russian rock bands themselves released albums through home-made cassettes and magnetic tapes***). 

One of the dominant instruments on "Nachal'nik Kamchatki" is a little toy-keyboard called Kassiotona, you can hear it on eight songs out of thirteen, along with gentle electric guitars, post-punk bass lines, some saxophone, and a rudimentary drum machine.

The production is way inferior to Akvarium's albums of the same period (Kino was still an underground act with a small budget), but the arrangements are adventurous and the songwriting is outstanding. 

Viktor Tsoi's voice and his infective tunes lead the way through this anthology of little new wave gems, where you can find titles such as "Trolleybus", "Trankvilizator", "Kamchatka", "Progulka romantika", and "Posledniy geroy". None of them had a great impact at the time, but the latter was re-recorded two times, as a jangle-pop number in 1986, and as a bombastic post-punk track in 1989. Today it is one of their most popular songs.

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