Album of Boris Grebenshchikov “Sign of fire” — the completion of the trilogy begun by disks “Sol” (2014) and “Time N” (2018). “Salt”, though, and were written mostly before the events in Ukraine, was heard as a dark emotional musician to review the events of 2014. “Time N” was even sharper and more specific, and cover — darker. “The sign of fire” to a much greater extent associated with the hope and awe anthem “Aquarium”, and on the cover of the disc more color and light. After asking the pre-HD songs on the new album Boris tells Drums.The album “Sign of Fire” includes songs that were written over the past seven years. Some of them, the clips were removed, some were played live, some Boris Grebenshikov performed in the framework of its quarantine project “Offering fun Time” series of videos on their own YouTube channel. A Studio session took place in Saint-Petersburg and London, some of the parties were recorded in Cuba, in California and Israel. According to the author, it is on the album “Sign of fire” these fragments are gathered into a meaningful whole.Moreover, a different kind of “b-sides and outtake” published in this period, this idea was confirmed. Suffice it to recall last year’s song “Evening loudmouth” in which it was easy to hear a satire on political talk shows on Federal TV channels. A simple video, filmed by Ivan Vyrypaeva on the steps of the house of Marat Gelman in Montenegro, scored 3.7 million YouTube views — these numbers do not even have the most popular songs of the “classic” of the “Aquarium”. It turned out that in order to get into trends and YouTube feeds of news, it is enough to write verses on the topic of the day.On the new album BG satires no. There’s plenty of laughter, but very little anger. The mood “the Sign of fire” — rather a way out of the darkness, rather than a statement of facts. “Salt” and “Time N” is relatively monolithic in sound. “The sign of fire” is an album of diverse, heterogeneous. Nearby irreconcilable rage in the rap Zong “Rasta Basta”, encouraging reggae “Emerald song”, the quiet sadness in “a big joke”. There are short songs are long, there is hopelessness and there is hope.Album of Boris Grebenshchikov released a few days after “Rough and Rowdy Ways” by Bob Dylan. Historically, these authors decided to compare. Both poets with guitars, both symbols of the era, both waiting for comments and revelations. So, in the present case, they seem to sing about something different. If Dylan is immersed in memories quotes favorite old poets and bows favorite late bluzmen BG then entirely directed to the future. To the question “Kommersant”, if he is afraid of death, he replied, “once said an expert: “There is a time to live and a time to die”, and other fear — from the evil one”.”Out Vavilo��”The album opens with the song “get Out of Babylon”, the video for which was published on 31 December 2019. This is a rare case when HD frame plays the guitar and keyboards. Programming of electronic instruments dealt mark Titov the son of the wife of Boris Grebenshchikov Irina from the marriage with the bass player of “Aquarium” by Alexander Titov.Quote: “We put sticks in the wheels of nature, do spring in the factory. We buried ourselves in the garden and talk about everything in the pejorative kind.”Review of BG:— For listening of songs it is not so important who of the musicians where playing, for me it is important only one thing — that they speak from the heart or not, real or fake.”Rasta Basta”is the Most evil song of the album, a kind of sequel to the song “500” from the album, “Sister Chaos” (2002). Before there was the album version of the song, there were several dozen versions.Quote: “I am ready to pay tribute to the greatness of banner, but your shamelessness paper ignites. Infants in uniform — attention!”Review of BG:— This song works in all versions, she’s got a big heart. It start to sing and she blows you… And a few dozen Studio options made for two years, is a natural search for the right sound.”My name is dust”Song in the Latin American style of “My name is dust” came out in 2016 on the EP “Songs of the unloved” with a number, recorded in Havana,— “chopsticks.”Quote: “Time to lie, looking into his eyes. Time “is Unnecessary under the knife”. Will not reach us. We will not return”.Review of BG:— a Few years ago I went to Cuba because I had several songs I wanted to record with Cuban musicians — no one else in the world plays. I had this Foundation — my good old friend, sound engineer Jerry boys, with whom we in the 1990s worked on the “Navigator” and “Snow Lion”, once recorded the classic album Cuban “Buena Vista Social Club” and knew the local world. We have been going to Cuba, and at some point, the stars were right, and we took it and rushed back, still alive there were some members of the “Buena Vista”. There I wrote “My Name is Dust”.”Eternal return”In this ballad on the album appears for the first time James Hallawell, musician, in cooperation with which it made a substantial portion of new songs.Quote: “not to smoke in vain, and in a mortar not to pound. The work is done, One took the floor. We return in the night.”Review BG: I wasn’t expecting to record an album with him, it happened by itself, and hence correct; the natural course of events better than any calculations. But in fact James is one of the best keyboardists of London (he played with Graham Parker, The Waterboys, etc.), and also more and a great engineer. I worked with him for several years; the album “Time N” is partly recorded in his Studio. And to his credit to say he’s the only one not afraid of the coronavirus, and we continued to work productively all the time, while the rest stayed at home.”Sign”the mood of the song — a mixture of anxiety and hope. To achieve this effect a drums and guitar brothers Jeremy and Paul Stacey, who in 2014 began occasionally touring with “Aquarium”, dividing his time between BG and Noel Gallagher. Same here — keyboards and bass recorded with Leo Abrahams, producer of recent albums Editors, Goldfrapp, Yasmine Hamdan, Regina Spektor and Hayden Thorpe.Quote: “do Not yield to confusion. Burn your pile of papers. Look at the sky stunned eyes, but don’t do anything until I give you a sign”.Review BG: I’m like a verbatim — record that dictates my life. And “BG” is just a nickname of the “Aquarium”.”Emerald song”In the recording “Emerald song” took the legendary Jamaican rhythm section Sly & Robbie — sly Dunbar (drums) and Robbie Shakespeare (bass). On account of recording with artists such as EMF, Fiddler, Black Uhuru, Bob Dylan, grace Jones, Herbie Hancock, Madonna, Matisyahu, Mick Jagger, No Doubt, Serge Gainsbourg. Attentive listeners can identify the “Emerald song” echoes a long-standing hit Series “Sister.” According to Boris Grebenshikov, Sly and Robbie is absolutely not troubled by the fact that in the distant Russia, people are playing reggae.Quote: “Where are we going now, big-big secret. Stolen tomorrow and yesterday and the roads are really not.”Review of BG:— We once had a conversation with Sly in Jamaica and discussed the idea of playing together. And finally came to the realization of this idea. Sly lives in Jamaica, Robbie is in Miami, but everything turned out well: they were on tour in Europe and after the tour came to me to write to London. Play with them and see how they do what they do, it really is a unique experience: play with the alive legends, because they actually invented reggae music. On “Emerald Song” you can hear it. The extremely funny thing is that while this album is preparing to release the album “Aquarium in Dub”, where the song “Aquarium” recycles another father of reggae, Lee “Scratch” Perry. It also occurred thanks to the amazing Volga wizard reggae Kid Lefty, who’s with our songs went to Jamaica and became friends with Lee. Listen as the mentor of Bob Marley sings the song “Ivan and Danilo” — like walking into an episode of “Alice in Wonderland”. So the adventure continues.”Masala Dosa”Strange paurakhi palosanto, a scattering of absurd one-couplets with a dish of South Indian cuisine in the title.Quote: “Masala dosa, masala dosa, for honour and conscience more present now demand.”Review of BG:— each song here definitely has a story, every song an adventure. And to brag about who is there ��graet, somehow ridiculous.”The big joke”One of the shortest and saddest songs in the repertoire of the BG.Quote: “May you be sated, drunk, only without me.”Review of BG: — death, I mean I don’t think. I have had several occasions in my life that taught me to perceive what is happening as it is and absolutely need to trust the course of things.”Not destiny,”the Central song of the album, faced the listener head-on with the inevitable — and with the inspired playing of guitar virtuoso Omar Torres.Quote: “And the world says, “How can you be so calm? A storm is coming that will tear the very essence of existence.” And I say: “Peace, you do not understand. Yes, a storm. The storm — I””.Review HD:— Last summer, my old friend Alexander Cheparukhin, knowing that we are going to play on the forum “Slovonova” in Montenegro, was invited to play a couple of songs with Omar, as a recommendation, saying that he played with Tom waits. Naturally, I was curious. We tried and we liked it. So in the fall we staged two concerts in a cave near Jerusalem, where once mined the stones for the temple, and at the same time, made those concerts for concert film. And when it came time to record a new song “No Fate”, it seemed to me that Omar will play there what you need. And so it happened.”My clear light,”Full of hope and light anthem with the harpsichord and orchestra. A beautiful reminder of the “Aquarium” of the album “Equinox”.Quote: “My clear light, negocieri, light, carefree. My clear light even when the bottom opens up. Inexplicably, my true my ISP. Will crash the software and hardware will rot, and we — we remain one.”Review of BG:— I can’t separate myself from the human race: what I feel and write, it is my personal and at the same time about all the people. But with the Apocalypse and the “point of no return” I would have to wait a little, there are plenty of unfinished businesses.”In the morning in the”Dance-pastoral study in the spirit of “Aquarium” of the 2000s, recorded with the famous English specialist in medieval, Renaissance and Baroque instruments by Philip Pickett. The percussion played the son of Boris Grebenshchikov Hleb, have long made the state the “Aquarium”.Quote: “Heaven and earth — that’s our share. We were given a free morning in the field”.Review of BG:— All two years of recording, I listened to what songs should be here, how they should be written to reflect exactly what I feel without words, you know in heart about the world. If the “Sign of fire” came more bright and hopeful than “Salt” and “Time N” it’s not because I planned. If so — good.Boris Barabanov
