Reviews

There are very few developments in the recording process (it's slow as is, but also exacerbated by Yuri's intense schedule), but it's kinda moving along. Just to give everybody an update:

1. One song, "Gypsy Blues" ("Цыганская") is completely finished.

2. Another song, "Death Convoy" ("Прикованные Шоферы", "Песня Солодова") is almost finished. My good friend from St. Petersburg, Leo Verman, a guitarist for a death metal band, STALWART, has contributed a solo, and we are now working on encorporating it into a song.

3. We have already started working "Race to the Horizon" ("Горизонт"). John Macaluso has recorded drums, Yuri has recorded most of the bass, and I have recorded most of the vocals. There is a hope for a very famous guitarist to come by our studio next week to lay the guitar parts, but we'll see. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

That's all for now.

The gig went well, but I wish there were more people there. Still, big thanks to those that came and Volodya for the second guitar.

Cafe "Creme de La Crepes"
12-56 River Rd.
Fair Lawn, NJ

Sunday, January 10, 2010
6 pm

Featuring a Russian poetess, Julia Belotserkovskaya, and my longtime friend, Vladimir Ponomarev, who this time will be playing guitar.

It was about 20 people and it was very intimate. I also did a little experiment: since this was the introduction of many of the new songs -- some of them not very familiar even to many Russians -- I interspersed my translations with the Vysotsky's recorded originals in Russian. I was risking sounding vastly inferior to the original, but, strangely enough, it went over very well. The energy and the delivery of the original were in congruence with my live presence. One girl said to me that when she listens to me, she always subconsciously tries to recall "how it sounds in Russian." But in this instance, with the Russian original having just played, she could just enjoy the translated poetry. Being the first time I've ever played most of these songs, I was making little mistakes here and there, but overall it went well. Great reception, decent sound, good energy and feeling overall. Excellent!

Setlist (new songs have original titles in the parentheses):

The Cab Meter
Uphill (Песня о Друге)
Tale of a Wild Boar, a King, a Princess, and an Ex-Royal Ranger (Про Дикого Вепря)
Race to the Horizon (Горизонт)
Robin Hood
Ballad of Love Eternal (Баллада о Любви)
Death Convoy (Прикованные Шоферы)
He Didn't Return from the Battle (Он Вчера не Вернулся из Боя)
A Merry Funeral Song (Веселая Покойницкая)
The One Who Was with Her Before
Two Fates (Две Судьбы)

Encores:

S.O.S.
Лирическая
Диалог у Телевизора
Камнем Грусть Висит на Мне
Охота на Волков

Two people made video recordings of the gig. I'll see what I can do with posting it here, once it's ready.

Again, thanks to everybody who came and who keeps supporting me!

V

Dec. 3, Thursday, 6.30 pm, Russian Bookstore #21 (5th Ave and 22nd St.)

========================================================

Vadim Astrakhan Presents: "New Translations of Vysotsky: Work in Progress"

Vadim Astrakhan, a poet / translator / musician, who has recently released the album of translations of songs by Russia's greatest singer-songwriter, Vladimir Vysotsky, invites you to a unique performance. He would like to introduce his newly translated material, followed up by the discussion, in which you will be invited to participate. Of course, the performance will include some of the old favorites as well.

========================================================

Вадим Астрахан представляет: "Новые Переводы Высоцкого: Рабочий Процесс"

Вадим Астрахан, поэт / музыкант / переводчик, недавно выпустивший альбом переводов песен Владимира Высоцкого, приглашает вас на уникальный вечер. На нем состоится представление нового материала и последующее обсуждение, в котором будут участвовать все присутствующие. Конечно же в программе будут исполнены и старые произведения.

I'm back from ProgPower X USA! It was excellent, as always. However, I must admit, there were no "perfect" performances for me. Every band that I saw had some kind of a flaw. Even Brainstorm, that came the closest, had Andy Franck forgetting lyrics on THREE songs! Other than that, they were their usual machine-like selves. Crimson Glory was emotional, Royal Hunt -- lush, Sabaton -- tight, and Diablo Swing Orchestra -- fun.





Interviews will follow.

Завтра, во вторник, я буду в гостях на радио ГородФМ, с 8 до 10 вечера по восточному времени. Если хотите, то идите сюда:

http://www.gorodfm.com

This time it's RTVI. Friday, July 24, at either 3pm or 7pm EST, I will be in the news segment. Today we were filming it at Paddy Reilly's bar / open mic. Overall I was not in the top shape, but I think it should still be alright.

В пятницу, 24го июля, в 3 часа и 7 часов я буду в новостях на RTVI. Можете полюбопытствовать.

Wednesday, July 1, at 10pm EST, I will be on the "PERSONA GRATA" show on the channel NTV-America.

В среду, 1 июля, в 10 вечера, я буду на передаче "ПЕРСОНА ГРАТА" на НТВ-Америка. Можете полюбопытствовать.

Vysotsky (and myself): first time in English, first time in England!


Thursday, July 9, 7.30pm
“MOST” CAFÉ / Bar
The Horace Jones Vault
Shad Thames
London SE1 2UP

Sunday, July 12, 7pm
"MEADOW" Bar
42 - 44 Buccleuch St.
Edinburgh, UK

Over the past couple of months I have attended several open mic nights. Most of them have been a pleasant experience. Here are my thoughts and ratings on the ones I played at or tried to play at:

Tagine (Hell's Kitchen). The basement of a Moroccan restaurant. A bunch of mostly bad startup comedians, so I was clearly an odd-ball there. Still I had fun. I wonder what was it like for people who can barely put two words together to hear actually funny songs: with rhymes, alliterations, etc. I got to play 3 songs, instead of usual two. The hostess was very nice, but as a comedian she... well, needs work. Plus, she had no idea about the equipment. Too well lit for my tastes, killing the atmosphere. Extremely overpriced food, but I actually tried a pheasant dish for the first time in my life, and it was terrific. C+

Paddy Reilly's Music Bar (Kips Bay). An Irish pub near NYC Medical Center. All music, all folk: blues, country, Celtic, etc. The host has a strange sense of humor. Two songs to play, 1 drink minimum. Solid reception. B+

Nightingale Lounge (East Village). A lounge. Mostly poets (with some musicians) and old hippies. Two songs to play, 1 drink minimum. Good reception. B

Bowery Poetry Club (East Village). Held in a comedy club, but mostly musicians. A lovely hostess. Two songs to play, good crowd, excellent sound and reception. The problem is: the hostess draws the names and people then sign up, leaving much to a chance. I got lucky and ended up going second. A-

New York Comedy Club (Kips Bay). A pitch-black room in the back of the bar, a comedy club. Mostly terrible comedians. A handful of people, 2 songs to play, good reception. C+

Rehearsal Studios NY (Times Square). A small room that resembles a classroom. Mostly poets (some -- very good), a few musicians, 3 songs. An old hippie hostess. A $5 contribution. Excellent reception. B+

Common Ground (Stuyvessant City / East Village). An excellent place, folk musicians, a competent host, 20 minute slots (5 songs!). Excellent reception and sound, but I wish people were more interested in music than food. A

Silk Road Cafe (China Town). Played there last night. Comedians, rock/folk/rap musicians, anything goes. A very cool host. 2 songs to play, a superb reception. Will be going back. A-

WHERE I DIDN'T GET TO PLAY:

NYC Baha'i Center (North Village). They were celebrating Women's History Month, so it was for "sistas" only (the place is clearly African-American oriented).

Cafe Vivaldi (West Village). Been there twice, both times drew very late numbers from the bucket. But the place is packed, so I'm gonna try again.

Last Saturday I played three songs -- "The One Who Was with Her Before," "The Airfight," and "The Flight Aborted" -- at the legendary pub Paddy Reilly's. Even though there weren't many people in the audience, the reception was good. I managed to sell one disc and got a free Henessey shot from the excited bartender. Ah, my humble beginnings

They have an open mic there every Saturday, and I try to get there around 6 pm. I will probably do this again, and I'll keep you posted as far as my next open-mic gig. I was gonna do one today, but the circumstances beyond my control prevented it.

Last night I, rather unexpectedly, played almost a full set at "Le Caire" lounge in the Village (3rd St, between A & B). I was told it was going to be a freestyle open mic night. However, when I showed up, the promoter told me they were going to have a hip-hop night instead. I decided to stick around anyway (plus, they have really great Turkish coffee there). Around 11 pm the promoter said that there's not enough people, and he's canceling the event. I convinced him to let me play anyway, in front of four ghetto rapper boys. Incredibly enough, they loved it so much, that they kept asking for more and more, and I ended up playing 6 songs. They were nodding and rocking along, laughing at all the right places, and certainly cheering me up. After the show two of them bought CDs. It was truly a surreal experience.

Setlist:

"The One Who Was with Her Before." That one got them started. I think the line "Hold on, bro, if you can" broke the ice.
"The Cab Meter." Superbly received. From the first line "He told me 'Fine, but she's mine!'" they listened very carefully. And the line "You gotta pay up when the ride is over" just rocked the house.
"Seven Years of Blue." This one I explained a little bit, but it went fine also.
"The Airfight." They loved the groove here big time; along with "The Cab Meter" -- the most popular number of the night.
"The High Jumper." I tied it to the overall sports theme; went well.
"The Flight Aborted." Definitely the most challenging number, they were still very impressed.

Overall, a smashing success. I only wish there were more people in the audience And big kudos to Max and Alya for showing up and more so to Arina and Polina for showing up and staying.

After the show Polina said that I made history: could anybody imagine these fellas rocking out to Vysotsky? But, of course, it makes sense: the "real-ness" of Vysotsky's songs is such that people as lyrics-oriented as hip-hoppers, can't but appreciate it. And that's exactly what happened.

A lot of people seem to be upset at the job that the engineers did when mastering Metallica's latest album, "Death Magnetic". They complain that the mastering was simply too loud, obliterating all details in the sound. Indeed, many people prefer to download the "Guitar Hero III" videogame version, which, for some strange reason, has a much quieter, more accessible sound. I bought the original, but still found the "GH3" version as well.

The following is a culmination of this public frustration, expressed as a parody of Metallica's classic song, "Master of Puppets." It was posted on the forum of a famous producer, Andy Sneap. I loved it so much that decided to post it here.

MASTERED BY MUPPETS (lyrics by Dan Weapon)

End of session day, Rubin works away:
I'm your source of song-destruction
Tunes that hurt you ear, poor sound engineer
Leaving spikes on my instruction
Trust me you will see
Volume’s all you need
Dedicated to
How I'll limit you

Compressing faster
Limit your Master
Your albums sell faster
With a loud Master
Master

Mastered by muppets, brickwalling your dreams
Clipping, distorting and smashing extremes
Ruined by me, you can't hear a thing…
Just spiking snares, and auto-tuned screams
Mastered
Mastered
Rubin’s my name, and I'll hear you scream
Bastard
Bastard

Need to mix this way, never you dismay
”Loud” makes death magnetic clearer
Gain monopoly, ritual Waves L3
Squash your tracks til it’s severe
Gate and you will see
More and more dB
Dedicated to
How I’m killing you

Compressing faster
Limit your Master
Your albums sell faster
With a loud Master
Master

Mastered by muppets, brickwalling your dreams
Clipping, distorting and smashing extremes
Ruined by me, you can't hear a thing…
Just spiking snares, and auto-tuned screams
Mastered
Mastered
Rubin’s my name, and I'll hear you scream
Bastard
Bastard

Master, Master, where's the version I've been after?
Bearded, Bastard, you promised only lies
Blaster, Blaster, recorded on a ghetto blaster?
Laughter, laughter, laughing at those highs
Spike to me!

Lars ain’t worth all that – “natural” kick and hats
Kirk adds wah without a reason
Never ending phrase, Jaymz goes on for days
Rob, your shirt is out of season…
I’ll record til 5 (then)
I will help you buy
Sandals that suit you
Now you look cool too !

This is a letter I have received from my buddy, a Swedish vocalist Urban Breed (ex-TAD MOROSE):

==============================================
First of all, I would like to congratulate you on how you saw this project
through. Impressive! Not because it's your first album (while this is true and it's somewhat
difficult not to have that in mind when listening) but because I think, overall, when you sing, it comes across as being sung
with that same conviction we spoke about earlier.

While you may not sing in a style that would normally appeal to me, it is a
style these songs for the most part demands. It is also not a style that makes me go, "Hey! That's a highly accomplished
singer", but nevertheless you had the hairs on my arms standing on end more than once over the course of the album.
That is far more important than impressive range and near perfect intonation. Occasionally, style-wise, there are times I wish you had backed off just a little but that's inevitable, I'm sure.

So a quick run through with some comments then, shall we?

The opening track, 'The One Who Was With Her Before' is an interesting
little number that keeps me interested throughout the track.
I find, however that the format with repeating the last two lines gets in
the way of the storytelling. Traditional, I know, and also, I'm sure, how
the song was originally performed, right?

'The Cab Meter' then. Excellent guitar playing. Very tasteful and I like the
sound. The vocal melody lines are a little too similar to the first track
but that's not your fault. It is after all how it's supposed to be.

'Seven Years of Blue'. I rather like this one. So much that I feel like
getting in there and changing things that would (to my ears) make
it catchier. First and foremost I would change the "Here are the storms and
the blue winters" into "Here are the storms and the winters blue". Oh, well,
never mind me...

'Everybody's Gone to War'. This is a captivating song. I just love the
lyrics here. Hmmm, no, I'll stop here and write some more about each song
while on the plane. I want to do your work justice. As I'm unfamiliar with
this style of music I need to focus on one track at a time. Writing my
review while listening intently and, quite possibly, repeatedly.

Btw, I was listening to this yesterday and at one point I was skipping to
the next song half-way through another when Belinda (my daughter) said; "No! I like this. Go back. You can't just skip
through songs like that."

Later then!

...Urban
=================================================

Urban and I in Chicago, April 2005