Official Website for Mumiy Troll

April 26, 2015

April 23, 2015

SXSW LP Questionnaire/Pick Three: Ilya from Mumiy Troll

Mumiy Troll will be playing at SXSW 2015 in Austin, Texas on March 19th (International Day Stage, Austin Convention Center in Ballroom G.) and March 21st (V-ROX Showcase at “Lucille”, 77 Rainey Street)

4:00PM - 4:40PM

International Day Stage Austin Convention Center
531 E 4th St (Ballroom G)

Today Ilya Lagutenko from the acclaimed Russian band Mumiy Troll tells us about the song “Vitamins,” which is the title track from their brand new EP. Here is the story:

If you’re prone to impromptu dancing, you need to add this song to your playlist immediately! Dance away my little freaks, dance away!

Moscow, December 18, Work&Rock Battle

Ilya Lagutenko, an iconic figure in Russian music, has made his once local Vladivostok band, Mumiy Troll, into an international sensation. For many years now, the band has been on the road and has …

The group Mumiy Troll is a rock and roll institution in Russia and neighboring countries and is now poised to expand deep into the Western world in 2015. Originally formed in 1983, long before the fall of the Soviet Union, the band is led by composer and frontman Ilya Lagutenko, who defines his group’s unique musical style as “rockapops”. Through the decades, Mumiy Troll has performed before over 10 million people, was notable as the first group to appear on MTV Russia, and was later voted “Best Band of the Millennium” by Russian music fans. More recently, Lagutenko founded the Vladivostok Rocks festival in his home city in the Asia-Pacific region, which has grown in stature and popularity in the few years it has been held. Mumiy Troll has now finished recording a new English language album called Malibu Alibi, a potent collection of original songs which will be released in early 2015.

Lagutenko formed the band as a trio and they took their name from a character in Russian children’s books. They recorded their debut studio album in the mid 1980s but their early career was cut short by Lagutenko’s enrollment in the Soviet army and a later stint with an international business consultancy firm. While living in London in 1996, Lagutenko became influenced by the “Brit Pop” sound and reformed Mumiy Troll, which soon found unprecedented popularity back home in Russia. Through the next decade and a half, the group recorded multiple studio albums as well as film and television soundtracks. In 2013, the group produced Vladivostok, their first full-length English-language effort.

“Flow Away (Utekay)” was well received when they played it at Vladovostok and is catchy with a good 80s vibe, but almost too “standard” compared to the rest of the material on the album. Then comes, “The Girl”, the finest track on the early part of the album. With a laid back, Roxy Music-like quality, the song contains a cool drum beat complementing several topical styles and the vocals are potent in their delivery restraint. The song also contains some poetic lyrics, with lines like “they broke the glass of love”. “My Luck” is surreal, almost spooky through beginning with a couple of bell-themed keyboard sounds by Keefus Ciancia. This track builds in intensity and interesting sounds with the inclusion of bass and distant drums, which gradually get closer.

“Golden Heart” contains a rotating bass riff and beat by Anthony ‘Fu’ Valcic and just a hint of funk guitar in the background, while “Swimming With Sharks” has more reserved synths, nice chord and key changes, and a real Bowie-like vibe throughout the vocals. “All of Mine” starts with an excess of high-frequency synthesized percussion but does get a little interesting later in the song. The payoff comes with the album’s closer “November”, which employs masterful synths by Ciancia such as those that remind the listener of a grandfather clock or a boiling tea kettle. In between, a consistent bass riff and marching drum mesmerize the listener through this sound-scape with minimal but potent lyrics that refrain, “congratulations November’s here again”.

At a time when Russia is making global headlines for all the wrong reasons, it is important to remember that, amidst all the wide-reaching political machinations and life changing military decisions,

Liverpool Sound City is now the largest metropolitan music and arts festival in the UK, playing host to over 360 artists in 25 venues across the city.

http://www.liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk/

Mumiy Troll will play at SXSW Festival in Austin, TX

March 12 - SOHO Lounge (217 E. 6^th Street, Austin, TX 78701), showtime 00:00
March 13 - Austin Ale House (301 W 6th St, Austin, TX 78701), showtime 18.00
March 14 - Old School Bar & Grill (401 E 6th St. Austin, TX 78701), showtime 14.30
March 14 — Russian House (307 E 5th Street Austin, Texas , 78701), showtime 01.00