[note for mods: all links lead to pages on the DDT Moscow unofficial website run by the Klad Zvezd (Treasure-chest of Stars) project, which is well-known to the band and their management and is tolerated by them, in other words - downloads are legit]
DDT
Some good reading on them:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainmen ... 568405.stm
http://ddt.ru/eng/25/history.html
http://ddt.ru/eng/25/band.html
A legendary Russian band with a 25-year history; relevant as rebels in a sense that hardly any band in the West is, since they had actually faced direct threats of arrest from the KGB and the Soviet authorities in the 80's, and had been officially banned for a period of time - for songs which weren't even directly political, as DDT's never have been.
DDT are a rock band in the broadest sense of the word, since that fits their broad stylistics very well. They have a range of material, from thoughtful acoustic songs to raging industrial-influenced stomps; from love songs with classical influence to long and odd pieces with all the requisite characteristics of prog.
So, here's some of their official videos:
(for the benefit of the interested, here's translations of lyrics that I had translated myself and that were lying around on my HD for a while: http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... ?mid=73283 )
Рождённый в СССР ("Born in the USSR")
- a quintessential rock anthem of more than one generation!
Расстреляли Рассветами ("Shot with the Dawns")
- very characteristic of Shevchuk's milder, more philosophical material
Небо на Земле ("Heaven on Earth"
- amazing little short artistic movie, a completely true metaphor of what is wrong with Russia
Белая Ночь ("White Night")
- another trip into Russian history, this time into the darker corners of St. Petersburg. Very moving, for me.
Одноразовая Жизнь ("One-Time Life")
- (maybe better translated as "non-reusable life") - I just like the funky but true setting of rotting St. Petersburg back-alleys, but with a twist
Она ("She")
- an example of their softer material
Крыса-весна ("Rat-Spring")
- an example of their odder and more modernistic, even slightly rap-influenced material
Мама, это рок-н-ролл ("Mama, this is Rock-n-Roll")
- an example of their live material
Конвейер ("Conveyor")
-an example of ridiculously hilarious videos that could only be made in the 80's
Я получил эту роль ("I Received This Role")
- an example of Yuri Shevchuk's solo work and searing intensity. Quite old, but the performance, apparently recorded live, is just amazing.
And,
ROK GRUPPA - POPSA - an all-star cast of rockers belting out a tune against the Popsa, including Shevchuk and a couple of other DDT members (such as drummer "Dotza" and keyboardist "Cat"). Get'er if you hate pop music!
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Just throwing this out! If anyone likes this, I can put up more links to that site and goodies on there. If not - suit yourself