This weekend's music picks feature a few heavyweights as well as some promising newcomers. Whatever you pick will surely dissipate the foggy gloom that hangs over the city, which may have given you an attack of spleen...
Splin, a Russian band hailing from St. Petersburg, doesn't often give concerts in the capital, which is why their Friday performance at Stadium Live is in high demand. Splin is made up of Russian rock veterans — the band has been around for more than twenty years. Formed in 1994 and named "spleen" in the sense of "depression" or "melancholy," their first nationwide hit was "Sugar Free Orbit" devoted to the eponymous chewing gum. Ranging from comical to melodramatic, their oeuvre has never been less than entertaining, including their latest album from 2014, "Resonance." After touring with "Resonance" for a year, Splin came up with a new program, "Paradise in a Hut," which includes both old hits and new songs and will be presented on Friday.
Stadium Live. 80 Leningradsky Prospekt, Bldg. 17. Metro Sokol. +7 (495) 540 5540, stadium-live.ru. Fri. at 8 p.m.
Noize MC, one of the most prolific artists on Russian rap/hip-hop scene, will perform their last show for the foreseeable future at Ray Just Arena on Friday. After that the band will stay away from the stage and concentrate on working on a new album. Most famous for his song "From the Window" laced with profanities and political subtext, Noize MC emerged in the recent years as the mouthpiece of the young and disenchanted, often performing at opposition rallies. The Friday concert will feature horn and string sections and many other surprises.
Ray Just Arena. 31/4 Leningradsky Prospekt. Metro Dinamo. +7 (495) 940 6755. Fri. at 8 p.m.
Oxxxymiron is the stage name of Miron Fyodorov, an Oxford graduate, who started rapping while still living in England. He shot from obscurity to stardom in a flash. Five years ago no one knew him. Today people get tattoos of his name. Miron's life in England supposedly became the basis for the popular CTC show "Londongrad" about a London agency helping out Russians in the UK. In any case, Oxxxymiron composed the soundtrack for the series' trailer. At his Saturday performance Oxxxymiron will present what's been labeled as "the most awaited rap album" of the year, his second album after his debut in 2011. Expect harsh R-rated lyrics and fancy electronic beats.
Yotaspace. 11 Ulitsa Ordzhonikidze. Metro Leninsky Prospekt. +7 (495) 230 1030. Sat. at 8 p.m.
Garden City Movement is a rare indie electronic export from Israel that you can catch at Sixteen Tons late on Saturday night. Hailing from Tel Aviv, the garden city in question, the band plays mellow electronic tracks with elements of neo-R'n'B. Only two years old, the band already had the distinction of performing at the Boiler Room live show in their hometown. Following the trendy preference of EPs over LPs, they've already released three of them.
Sixteen Tons. 6 Presnensky Val. Metro Ulitsa 1905 Goda. +7 (499) 253 5300/0530. Sat. at 11 p.m.
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