Reviews: SKIF Festival, St Petersburg, Russia [25-04-2001]  |  Heather April 20-22.04.2001 SKIF 2001 was a sensory-pulverizing experience for body and mind as upwwards of 200 Russian and international music and performance artists took over the "Leningradskiy Dvorets Molodezhi" (Leningrad Youth Center) on the weekend of April 20-22. Petersburg sprawls across a high zone in the hemisphere such that daylight endures far into the evening, until at least 10 pm. Days were long, and nights were longer, but nothing seemed to phase the almost 2500 fans of modern music who bounced, boozed, and bedraggled for three days at SKIF: fans, musicians, organizers, and technicians all pulled it off no worse for the wear. There were three stages open constantly, and a fourth opened after midnight, as well as free-floating musical and creative happenings which proved to be some of the most fun and exciting music of the fest. Artists such as American trumpeter Frank London took up with local Pburg musicians for dervished Yiddish dances, while Moscovites Pakava Ith rapped acoustic to Russian folk um-pah, while passersby whooped and danced along. The beauty of the Youth Center was clearly in its crazy multi-usefulness: not only did the center contain several concert halls and an adjacent hotel, but it was also the proud home of an indoor watery "winter garden" minigolf course, a gnome-figured shooting gallery, a billard hall with slots, a school for dancing in the nude, a glass-fronted hair salon, 3 restaurants, many bars, and many levels of long-winded (Communist?post-Communist?minimalist?) architectural cement fun. Surreal for sure, especially the entrance to the rock hall, which was overhung and instepped by a "magical garden" type tree formation, with requisite neon puffy paint, which caused all to trip each time. It was an impossible feat to see all of the fest's highlights, between oggling the events in the corridors and chatting with any of the hundreds of jolly and loquacious musicians in house. Like a forestfire, a vicious little cold spread round unifying us coughing gang of motley music lovers which only vodka seemed to stymy. Nevertheless, the atmostphere was consistently full of excitement and tinged with a healthy bit of chaos with acts in the smaller venues certainly as exciting as those in the bigger halls. For foreigners, SKIF was like a breath of fresh air to loosen the tie, throwing oneself unabashed into the whilrling melodies and madcap chaos. For locals, SKIF was a great hang-out. Chatting musicians: Knjaz Mishkin (left and center) with Evgeny Fedorov (right, Tequila Jazzz/Mummy Trol) SKIF is an occasion entirely devoted to the life and musical spirit of aritst Sergej Kuryokhin, a major figure in the intense avantgard music scene in Russia. A more-spirited Philip Glass, the Neva's John Cage, a modern multimedia Prokoviev and a truly inspiring composer, musician, performer, and arranger of music, Kuryokhin died an untimely death. At a very young age, only in his 30's, Kuryokhin was taken by cancer and was unbelievably not able to collect sufficient funds for treatment. The SKIF Festival was started by his widow Anastasja, and friends in international music and cultural instituations. The fest continues to be funded by local and international supporters, as well as the concert performers who basically donate their talents to the event. SKIF began in NY and migrated back to Petersburg, and is now in its fifth year. Highlights from this year's press conference included an explanation of the festival's incarnation and development, described so beautifully by festival president Anastasja Kuryokhina and artistic director Aleksej Plusnin: the fest is meant to be a continuation of the spirit and energy of Sergej Kuryokhin, giving a forum for international "magical" artists to bring their talents together and to introduce the audiences' ears to new and current sounds. Before launching into the musical delights of the fest, a word or two about the wandering and stationary visual and sonic art installations also taking part at SKIF. Kolner aritst Björn Schulke is a designer who recently became fascinated with Theremins and occilators, and so has created playful interactive works perfect for festivals such as SKIF; one of the works from his "Dynamic Capacities" series occupied a space in the fest main hall, engaging thousands of passers-by in an interactive sonic experience, as their hands could control Theremin sounds which came out through tin tubes. And further on in the front of the hall was an ongoing multimedia installation which displayed morphing images to sombre and soothing electronic sounds; this wonderful installation served as a welcome respite to be revisited and relaxed in, to refresh from the constant sensory overdrive of the festival. There were two ethnic bands upstairs by an open bar that were outstanding, pumping up klezmer/hungarian tunes while all danced around. And walking painted people creatures with drums would take to the hallways once in a while, freaking us out and of course, adding more cream to the adventurous SKIF crop. Polish accordionism The first night of the festival offered quite a bit in the main hall. The Michael Alperin Trio were one of the first to perform, playing a wonderful set with prepared piano and other handmade string and percussion instruments. My favorite piece was a surprising funny folk song gone all avant in the middle, as Alperin suddenly broke into a hollering session a la Helmet and then sweetly resolved. The Moscow Ensemble of Contemporary Music joined with Dutch composer Theo Loevendie for slightly dry yet crystalline avant-composition. Then, Piere Moerlen's GONG brought together local musicians with Moerlen for a Leningrad incarnation of the infamous prog collective. In the smaller hall, Norway's duo Snakebobbler pulled out all of the stops with a charming set on bass and voice, of songs and poetry from Tom Waits to William Carlos Williams. Popsters Behemoth ("best young band" award winners in Pbg) brought on some nice and unexpected mod-rock, Interpreters-meets-Pixies, clearly to woo the young ladies. Then followed three of my picks for this night. First, underground DJs Cabina/Clutch delivered a sample of the experimental electro sounds of the Peterburg scene, fusing rough and scratchy beats with beeps and blurbs. Then anti-rockers The Last Tank in Paris from Vyborg came on, with a totally nuts singer in vest and black sport jacket, spitting poetry like a modern pastiche Mayakovsky to the rollicking sounds of backing band. Drum Ecstasy from Belarus exemplify artsy beatful rebellion: bass guitar and three drummers, Drum Ecstasy are provocateurs known for their 9-mim dance performance "O Imperija" (under the flags of the Belarus state) being cancelled by the Belarus cultural ministry. I caught the much-written-about Vermicelli Orchestra, creating quite a nice ruckus from strings and horns, combining jazz and Russian folk. Late this night was a finale by a wonderful Peterburg mixed group called Markshneider Kunst, featuring Zaire singer Makangila Selenge, a long-time Peterburg resident and a wonderful spirit, connecting artists and musical friends. MK's music is like a combination of rasta and big-band, jocular and heartfelt and soothing, it brought everyone to their dancing feet even at the indecent hour of 4 am when they performed. Dennis, aka DJ Clutch The second night's activities opened with a fascinating dance/musical performance by Japan's Store House Company, combining minimalist sounds and movements with highly conceptual imagery; the performance began by dancers s-l-o-w-l-y walking single file throughout the auditorium. Next, all held out their hats for a duo that was made to play together, trumpeter Frank London and trombonist Curtis Hasselbring poking fun at all traditions and pushing past the norms in musical playfulness. It was a shiny, fiesty fest for the eyes and ears, ending in uproars of applause. An unbelievable quintet from Baku were next to the stage; I only found the concert as I heard the voice of Azerbajzhani singer Alim Kasimov from Baku, the Unesco-award winning vocalist who brings goose-pimples to your skin with his incredibly versatile voice. In rhythms that you couldn't count but could feel, and in words you couldn't understand but could somehow relate to instantly, Kasimov told stories and sang songs that spoke to anyone's heart, with brilliant instrumental accompanists on stringed and skinned varieties like the tar, the nagara, the kemancha, and the Armenian clarinet. Diving further into ethno, the night continued with Purba, the theater of Tibetan Music, who are from Moscow but you'd never have known. Purba was clearly the most bewildering stage presentation of the festival, with candlelight and red flames engulfing the swastica symbol that is the basis of religions such as the Tibetan Buddhism whose music Purba relate. A stringent adaptation this is not, as the deep hollow tones of the monotone/overtone singers and their instruments like the massive gong and the massive horn-like, digeridoo-like bellows combined to create almost its own musique konkrete/industrial sonic overdrive that ripped straight through to your very heart and lungs. In the smaller halls, the second night brought a host of fabulous stuff. Daughter of Monroe and Kennedy is a fabulous punk/turbo-folk band fronted by three girls who play great guitar and have super vocals, and one excellent guy on the acoustic guitar. Very punk, very indierock, and crazily raw DMK melded together tight punk with intense poetic lyrics and fiesty guitarwork; they can do more with 3/4 than you could shake a virtual balalajka at, should be touring with Sleater Kinney. Finnish electrounderground artists Pink Twins recreated their electroacoustic set before a wide-eyed crowd, employing a full gammet of noises to the tune of their own mutual impulses; these twins are actually brothers who alight from the smoldering electromusical hotbeds of Helsinki. Then hardcore rockers Bondzinsky hit the podium, with a well-heeled set of great songs poking fun at politics and geared for the audience to get involved and to have fun. Bondzinsky's past had them playing more of a wild fusion of jazz, hardcore, and almost progressive rock sounds, and now with European tours under their belts their sound has really firmed into a challenging yet quite engaging live show. At some point on this evening, and I cannot remember when it took place, ex-Kolibri singer Natasha Pivovarova hit the stage with her new material and new band, the name of which I've been yet unable to confirm. The crowds seemed to know the words to the songs and sang along, and it was awfully cramped as Natasha's fans crammed in for their reggae/pop/alternarocking set. Fab performer Natasha Pivovarova Moving to the other smaller hall, the showstopper for real was an enigmatic solo performer from Moscow calling himself by the simple cyphric title of 386 DX. A seemingly intentionally geekily-dressed 70's style rocker, the guy came up on stage with just his frothy shoulder-length locks and an old keyboard strapped around his neck like a guitar. The stage was dark as he stood and performed before a video screen which displayed a series of soviet/constructivist/primitive-computer-art imagery in multi colors which somehow missed psychedulia and shot straight for perhaps a self-invented multimedia pallette which you could probably call retro-post-electronica, begging questions regarding 386 DX's degree of self-awareness. What he played was sheerly fantastic: scrolling through song after song in classic Russian tunes that everybody knew, all chopped up and put through his own primitive beat box and sample blenders, so that they came out sounding robotic and purely hilarious. 386 DX was like a wily Weird Al with much better taste, and as each song began the audience hushed til they caught the original tune, obfuscated by his manipulations, which tickled ribs and instigated hoots of delight. Skipping genres drastically, the next up was the brilliant Grant Ajrepetjan from Armenia by way of Moscow, a virtuoso playing what is called a "kemancha", a tightly strung bulbous violin-like, guitar-like instrument with metal over the soundbox and with a long cello-like neck which, particularly when amplified, produces a tone equally capable of singing with Prokofiev's violins or accompanying Zorn's Naked City. Awe-inspiring, Ajrepetjan drew serious applause with his renditions of Armenian and Azerbajzhani folk as well as contermporary classical and jazz. Another fantastic multimedia perf included Vladimir Miller and Aleksandr Alexandrov, who improvised with their ensemble to two incredibly rich, silent Armenian b/w movie shorts. Truly spectacular films and seamless improv, nothing dry about it, rich with humor which never lagged or skipped a beat; the first short was somehow a parable about the fleeting nature of love, demonstrated by a courting couple chasing a maverick floating white umbrella throughout a rocky hillside. Next to perform were Austrian/Czech/Turkish artists Metamorphosis, who call their art "contaminated chamber music." Well, however you wish to call it, this string quartet (2 guitars, cello, violin) plays music that should be the film score for any Tim Burton film, a churning prog--new-classical hybrid that extends beyond chamber to make a totally unique sound. People were talking about Metamorphosis still days after the show, as the band went on to more successful gigs still in Moscow. I was very interested in seeing the Lithuanian ensemble Dainius Palauskas Sextet, but was not able to find when they were to play. So my eve in the main hall began with the Moscow Composers Orchestra, which was a delightfully crisp trio treat in contemporary composition, based on sax, (prepared) piano, and flute. An intense duet with Hans Reichl and Rudiger Karl from Germany followed this set, and then the stage opened for the ladies of Me Naiset from Finland. Me Naiset created beautiful layers of vocals, performing exquisite contemporary arrangements of Finnish folk songs. Vladimir Volkov, Petersburg's pride contrabassist and composer and friend and musical compatriot of Kuryokhin, performed a highly anticipated set combining free jazz with distinctly Russian folk elements. In the upstairs small hall, the famed female art-rock Russian group Kolibri performed to a room full of waiting fans, but to my great disappointment I could not attend as I was amidst an interview; Kolibri are an incredibly special collective of eccentric yet down-to-earht talent, for more information read about them on Russianwebgirls.com. Peterburg heavies Tequila Jazzz were supposed to follow, but the band unfortunately really grew ill upon returning from a long tour with reached as far as Moldova. Highlights from the second small hall included 4.33, a post-rock ensemble who'd have been right at home in any Chicago post-rock circle. And, the brilliant electromeisters associated with the Exotica label came as multimedia group F.R.U.I.T.S. , with excellent video graphics and sounds from industrial and noise to techno. Among the many performers in the late-night fourth hall upstairs, where a stage was tossed up stadium-style, for the duration before the doors of the main concert hall. Here you could see fun stuff, like the King Shiloh Sound System from Holland, masterful reggae artists who had em dancing still at 5 am. Also, Lja Minor performed their rembetica-sounds, steeped somehow in a French/Russian combo of traditions. Bely Ostrog are a duo, guitar and violin, who were just engaging as hell as performers; accessing everything from folk to avant-jazz to blues to raggle-taggle, the duo of Yuri Matveev on guitar and Artem Jakushenko on violin brought about quite a sonic jamboree. Stuff I didn't see there but heard great things about included Sedmaja Voda, an acoustic post-folk collective, and SKA (in Russian, this acronym translates to "the society of the commercial avant-garde"), whom I've seen previously and who are thrilling along the lines of The Ex and Jablkon. There were many many other groups and events that took part in SKIF, and one review cannot tell the whole story. Nor could I even attempt to provide for you a surround-sound IMAX full-sensory report of the festival. You had to be there, and if you didn't go this year you better head there next time. Check Tamizdat's website for: Metamorphosis Kuryokhin Auktyon .....and coming soon: Clutch/Cabina Tequila Jazzz Kolibri Bondzinsky Daughter of Monroe and Kennedy F.R.U.I.T.S.
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