Viktor Tsoi- The Soviet Legend

The 50s was a horrendous period for rights of free speech. In America, HUAC( House Committee on Un-American Activities Committee) enforced the kinds of censorship on arts that Hitler would be proud of. From films to music, political messages were subtle if completely non-existent. 

But as 60s and 70s approached, things became better. People began to see through the government red scare propaganda and the televised Vietnam War helped the citizens to wake from their stupor. The youth became politically active and brought about a wave of counterculture. 

But in Soviet Union, it was completely different. There was no space for pansy American style democracy here. This was a land, besieged by the hawkish capitalist nations, protecting a ideology that has been stamped out in most of the world. You could say whatever you wanted to, but the government could not guarantee that your head be on your neck after you said it. It was certainly not happy years for the political activists of Soviet Union. Amidst this political chaos rose a band- a Soviet equivalent of Sex Pistols- Kino. Instead of the Queen, the Kino protested the Soviet government and wars. And instead of resorting to saying "dirty old fucker" on a live television, Kino performed anti-government songs under the Soviet Union's direct watch.   

Headed by Viktor Tsoi, this band is considered to be a pioneer in the Russian rock. At the time, rock was severely limited to few cafes and were mostly underground- and even these were heavily monitored by government agents. To the mainstream conservative force of the Soviet society, rock was a corruptor of the youth. And if that was not enough, Kino even had the balls to put anti-communist and anti-war messages within their songs. The music and the lyrics appealed to the disaffected youths of the Soviet. At its heyday, Tsoi performed at the national stadium of Soviet Union with 62,000 screaming fans singing anti-government songs. 

The Ultimate Badass

Kino's music was incredibly fresh at the time. Not only was it melodic and stirring, but the short concise poem-like lyrics was something else altogether. Kino is one of my favourite rock bands of this era and definitely noteworthy. Here are some of my favourite Kino songs. (Pachka Sigaret is a must listen)

 

                                                            Kino- Kukushka (Cuckoo) 

                                                            Kino- Gruppa Krovi (Blood Type) 

        

                                            Kino- Zveda Por Imeni Solnce( A Star Called Sun) 

      

    "He doesn't remember the words "yes" and "no",

  He doesn't remember rank or name.

And is able to reach to the stars,

Not counting that it's a dream,

And to fall, scorched by the Star called Sun."

Kino- Pachka Sigaret ( Pack of Cigarettes) 

" Noone wanted to be found guilty without wine,

Noone wanted to pick the coals with bare hands

And death without music is not picturesque,

So I wouldn't want to die without it

But if there's a pack of cigarettes in my pocket

Then the day's not all that bad

And a boarding pass to a silver-wing-plane,

That takes off leaving just a shadow behind." 

Kino- Сказка (Strange Tale) 

Kino- Невесёлая Песня (Unhappy Song) 

Recommended Music

RHCP- The Funk (Part 1)

You may have heard at least once bout Red Hot Chili Peppers, or RHCP. Being one of the few US mainstream rock bands that I can at least listen to without dying, I RHCP tops my list of favourite musicians as of now. Not only that, they are also one of the most musically diverse group I have ever had the chance of listening to. The band is constantly changing and developing their style- partially due to their frequent change in members. If I had to choose a band to listen to for my entire life, I would choose RHCP.  

RHCP's career spans for almost 30 years during which they would produce era defining sounds. It began with the Anthony Kiedis's inclusion into a band of three: Jack Irons (drummer), Hillel Slovak(guitarist), and Michael Balanzy(Flea, bass)- who was a trumpet prodigy. Their band was called "What is This?" apparently because that was the questions many of the audience had when they first heard them perform. They first began performing in clubs around LA in which they received a mostly positive receptions due to their energetic performance. It was during this era that Slovak took most of the control over the style of the band. Initially, RCHP began as a sort of side project . Slovak and Irons did not join the band because they considered What is This? But his funk and hard rock derived sounds helped to create RHCP's one of the first demo tape Out In L.A.. Initially, as heard in this tape, Anthony Kiedis would rap his vocals out- strengthening the rhythmic sounds of the Flea's slap bass. Their first album, Red Hot Chili Peppers, would include these demo tapes. This album did not see positive critical review or high sales. However, MTV(when it used to be good) and RHCP's live performances helped them to gather a fan base. 

Friction built up between Anthony and Sherman(guitarist in RHCP) and he was soon fired. Slovak was hired in 1985, and his arrival kickstarted the second RHCP album Freaky Styley. This album is notably funk derived, more than the Red Hot Chili Peppers, because Freaky Styley was produced by George Clinton of P-Funk. Hip Hop fans might recongnize this name from George Clinton's collaborative work with Ice Cube such as Bop Gun, in which Ice Cube sampled One Nation Under A Groove, or Paint the White House Black( RHCP makes a cameo appearance in this video). Even without his hip hop friends, in the 70s and 80s, George Clinton and his band, was defining the funk genre and reached out to millions of audiences. And it was the album Freaky Styley that George Clinton would produce. His influence is clearly audible when compared with RHCP's previous album. Several of his songs, such as Hollywood or The Brothers Cup sound borderline straight funk. In this album, Kiedis's vocals would still consist mostly of rapping.  

Throughout the recording, Kiedis and his band members along with George Clinton experimented heavily with cocaine and heroine, increasing the addiction and a negative vibe within the band. When they neared the end of the tour, Anthony was so dependent upon the drugs that most of his days were spent in drugged stupor. The band briefly fired Anthony to force him to undergo rehabilitation. By the time he was nearing his rehabilitation, he has become visibly healthier. His love for music also rebounded, and on his plane ride to home, he wrote Fight Like a Brave. 

Their next album was much more successful commercially and reached Gold. Named The Uplift Mofo Plan, it was also more critically acclaimed than before and contained more melody-based songs such as Behind the Sun. The album also includes RHCP's interpretation of Bob Dylan's famous Subterranean Homesick Blues. Although the band enjoyed recording this album, they struggled behind the stage. Anthony returned to addiction and Hillel Slovak also followed. Both used cocaine heavily and spent much of their time looking for drugs. Kiedis would later recall this period as full of shame and pain as he could feel his bandmates disapproval. For Slovak, his withdrawal symptoms would be so bad that he had to cancel an appearance once. At the end of the tour, Slovak was found dead in his Hollywood apartment. The band lamented and Anthony fled the city, thinking that the situation was unreal. The shock of losing Hillel shook the band to the core and Jack Irons, the drummer, left the band. He did not want to be in a band where his friends were dying. As a result, RHCP hired Chad Smith and John Frusciante as the new drummer and guitarist. 

Case for “Sedentary” Lifestyle

           

            In a typical city- be it a suburb or a bustling metropolis, it is not rare to see a physical activity from time to time. But despite these common occurrences of exercises and healthy activities, we tend to generalize about the city dwellers that we are somehow lacking physical activity. True, we normally lead a life detached from our physical connections. As a student, my life is spent mostly sitting on a desk or gazing at a computer screen. This, however, is not a definite proof that I don’t somehow stay connected with my physical self. I play tennis regularly and run on the track to stay active. If you receive adequate amount of regular physical activity and stay healthy, how is this so-called “sedentary” lifestyle bad?

            In the essay written by Kate Braid “A Plea for the Physical,” we see this gross generalization made once more. In fact, the essay does very little other than managing to sound so desperate that she seems to be pleading to us (at least her title is accurate). The worst of it all is that the essay lacks clear focus. It begins talking about the obsessive hygiene of North Americans and then steers off into a personal biography about how she began to work as a construction worker and found the experience exhilarating. And throughout all this storytelling, I could only think of one thing: “so what.” Sure it is great that Kate Braid has a physical job that she likes. It is great that she thinks we are getting out of touch with the physical realm. But who cares. Throughout the whole thing, we see a person who is so wrapped up in her own dogma that she fails to realize what world is actually like.

            Let us be realistic here.

            We are not immobile creatures, stuck onto our automobile seats with laptop perched on our laps. We realize the value of exercise and try to get as much time to do so. And this is not just in Vancouver. All over the world, there are different forms of exercise that people regularly participate in to try to improve their health, spirituality, and strength. Whether it is a game of ping-pong, weightlifting, skiing, jogging, or Tai Chi, we all try our best to engage ourselves in a physical activity once in a while. But here are the drawbacks of sedentary lifestyle- we sometimes cannot accumulate enough time for physical activities. Even myself, a student, can skip an hour of jogging some day because of the amount of studying I have to do. But at the same time, this does not make me somehow increase my “sense of being “out of touch” with our bodies,” as Kate Braid puts it. It is not like I do not know what feeling that adrenalin pumping through veins and sweat pounding down feels like; I feel it at least every week. But Kate Braid fails to see that city dwellers like me regularly experience physical activities.

To me, the one-hour jog and my weekly tennis is enough to realize who I am. And I have no doubt that other people would agree. I don’t have to become a Luddite and a construction worker to become “connected” to my physical realities. But as a wise person once said “one’s moderation is another’s extremism.” To Kate Braid, her position seems logical- and I understand that. But her logic starts breaking when she assumes that her positions apply to her audiences.

            But this is not the end of my rant. Throughout the essay, Kate Braid also constantly mentions the importance of nature in our lives and how we are abandoning it. But people need to realize that “our habit of living a life increasingly detached from earth” is not a bad thing! The elusive “spiritual” that Kate Braid keeps referring to might have worked for a Daoists thousands of years ago, but it really doesn’t convince modern audiences. There really is no such thing. The only reason nature is so special to us now is because there are few. Ask a girl from countryside what she thinks about nature. The answer is obvious: boring. Because we sometimes live so huddled up within our own creations, we miss nature, so it becomes special to us. But it is this process of making something special by ourselves that creates this “spiritual” atmosphere every time we immerse ourselves in nature, and it is not that the “spiritual” atmosphere is not just inherent in nature. The symbolism we place upon nature- that it is opposite from men is why nature can becomes a sanctuary for those seeking refuge from bustling metropolis. In Korea, there is a rather famous spa in a remote rural area. The rustic farmlands and forests as well as the “healing spa” was claimed to have healed a cancer patient. Little did those who viewed the advertisement know that it was relaxing and stress free environment that accounted for the spa’s “curative” qualities- not the “relieving of the spirit” as the advertisement described it.

            For many readers, Kate Braid is advocating a way that has been heard many times over the years. We never hear about people advocating for city life. It is always for nature people advocate. And we never hear about people advocating for less active society. We always hear complaints about how lacking in physical activities we are- never that we have to much. But I think this superstition has gone too far. We need to recognize that our lifestyle has nothing wrong with it. I lead a sedentary lifestyle- but so far, me and other millions of people have lived on fine and it will continue to do so.