Another week, another crop of great gigs including Moscow Music Week, which is back in the city for the second time Thursday through Sunday. It's a so-called "showcase festival," which means the bands performing at various venues will be grouped by genre or recording label. Alongside newcomers waiting to be discovered, there are also some famous faces you might recognize.
Moderat is an electronic trio from Berlin, which consists of members from two other projects — Modeselector and Apparat. This Wednesday they will present their new, third album “III” at renewed and renamed Arena Moscow, now known as Bud Arena. Expect both old hits and new material.
Bud Arena. 31/4 Leningradsky Prospekt. Metro Dinamo. Tickets from 2,000 rubles ($30). Wednesday,
at 7 p.m
Joss Stone became famous at the age of 16 when she released her critically acclaimed debut album. Joss became one of the first white British singers to sing soul music and her vocals are often compared to that of Aretha Franklin. Not even thirty, she’s got seven albums under her belt and is touring the world with her latest, “Water for Your Soul,” which mixes Joss’ signature soul music with reggae.
Crocus City Hall.
Crocus City, MKAD 65-66 km. Metro Myakinino. Tickets from 3,000 rubles ($45). Thursday,
at 8 p.m.
Legendary Zhanna Aguzarova is best known for being Bravo’s first lead singer and for her Perestroika-era hits Eti Zheltie Botinki (Those Yellow Boots) and Cherny Kot (Back Cat). In the late 1980s Zhanna left Bravo to pursue a solo career, moved to America, and experimented with different styles. Now she’s back with her old hits and some new songs.
Yotaspace. 11
Ulitsa Ordzhonikidze. Metro Leninsky Prospekt. Tickets from 1,800 rubles ($27).
Friday, at 8 p.m.
The Jagermeister Indie Awards — the only independent music awards in Russia — is getting ready for its third season. The launch party will take place this Saturday at Krugozor with some of the best Russian electronic musicians playing live, including Mujuice, who received the Electronic band of the year award last year, Angelic Milk from St. Petersburg and Kedr Livansky, an electronic singer-songwriter. The headliner of the party is UK producer T. Williams, known for his experimental electronic music.
Krugozor. 3
Bumazhny Proezd. Metro Belorusskaya. Entrance 500 rubles ($8). Friday, at 10
p.m.
Doug Hream Blunt is one of the long-forgotten artists rediscovered by David Byrne of the Talking Heads fame. Blunt’s only album “Gentle Persuasion,” recorded sometime in the 1980s, was reissued on Byrne’s label “Luaka Bop” to newly found critical acclaim and Blunt started touring around the world. Playing a mix of soul, R&B and funk, Blunt puts together a band in every city he tours to and in Moscow he will be accompanied by the musicians from On the Go and Glintshake.
Strelka. 14 Bersenevskaya Naberezhnaya, Bldg. 5, Metro Polyanka, Kropotkinskaya. Free entrance, register here. Saturday, at 11 p.m.***
As part of the Moscow Music Week, Moscow’s most prolific electronic music label Hyperboloid will present some of its artists, including Pixelord and Summer of Haze. The headliner will be UK musician Lapalux, who works with the label Ninja Tune and plays a mix of electronic music and hip-hop.
Dewar’s
Powerhouse. 7/4 Goncharnaya Ulitsa. Metro Taganskaya, Markistskaya. Tickets 500 rubles
($8). Saturday, at 11 p.m.
Back in the 1960s Silver Apples were the pioneers of what today we call electro-pop. Today the band consists of only one member, Simeon Cox, who released a brand new album in the beginning of 2016 and will present it as part of this year’s Moscow Music Week.
16 Tons. 6/1
Ulitsa Presnensky Val. Metro 1905 Goda. Tickets from 800 rubles ($12). Sunday,
at 8 p.m.
