Next year will officially be the Year of France in Russia as the two countries celebrate 300 years of diplomatic relations. If you cannot wait that long then you can sample a slightly different French-Russian interaction when DJs from both countries play at club Arma in an event that promises much even if it does have one of the worst pun names of a club night in many a year — the Tour de Trans.
“Tour de Trans is a teaser event to prepare Moscow for the French music festival Transmusicales taking place in Moscow next year,” said promoter Philipp Mironov.
“It is part of the cultural exchange planned for the Year of France in Russia in 2010,” he said.
All the artists have been chosen by French producer Jean-Louis Brossard who will produce the Transmusicales event next year.
French DJ quartet Birdy Nam Nam, who won a World Team Championships award in 2002 for best group performance, will headline the event.
The group uses vinyl to produce “musical acrobatics in a unique show of live DJing,” said Mironov, and is flying in 250 kilograms of musical equipment from Paris for the event.
“They asked for seven very special types of turntables. But we couldn’t get them,” admitted Mironov. “So they are bringing everything themselves.”
Birdy Nam Nam described their musical style as “experimental and adventurous, bold even,” in an interview with online music magazine Maximalminimal.com earlier this year.
Hip-hop and funk DJ Andrei Pirumov, electro-house DJs Fstep and Orange as well as Belgian DJ Pat Panic will also perform in the main hall.
DJ Surkin from France, will lead the smaller hall along with Russian group 4 Pozitsii Bruno, who describe their music as toxic dub, Yolochniye Igrushki from St. Petersburg, Space-disco DJ Ritmolider, DJ Zoolander from Low Budget Family, and Zhenya Gorbunov from Russian group Narkotiki.
“I think Russian artists like 4 Pozitsii Bruno provide a very fresh approach toward electronic music and it is much more interesting to listen to them than Birdy Nam Nam,” said Denis Boyarinov from Openspace.ru, who put together the lineup for the second hall. See for yourself, which hall will come out on top at this Friday’s Tour de Trans.
The concert starts at 11 p.m. on Sept. 18 at club Arma, 5 Nizhny Susalny Pereulok, Building 3a. Metro Kurskaya. Tel. 226-59-57, Mir-battle.ru. Tickets cost 550 rubles from parter.ru or kontramarka.ru and 700 rubles at the door.
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