“Who knew that there’s more to Russian culture than vodka, mail-order brides, slutty tennis players, and faux-lesbian pop-duo T.A.T.U.?”
That’s the question raised by a press release we received from AeroCCCP Recordings, a new label that introduces you to Russian-based indie acts.
Our question is, what’s wrong with vodka, mail-order brides, slutty tennis players, and faux-lesbians?
The first release from AeroCCCP is Messer fur Frau Muller’s Triangle, Dot & Devil, out August 1st. Formed in St. Petersburg, Russia, Messer fur Frau Muller (translated as Knife for Mrs. Muller in German) creates a sound that is self-described as “post easy-listening.” The band draws on samples from 50’s and 60’s-era pop-culture and builds on it with bass, guitars, synths and additional programming to create an incredibly unusual and compelling sound. Messer fur Frau Muller’s Oleg Gitarkin is already known in the U.S. through his solo project Messer Chups, whose Crazy Price album was released last year on Ipecac.
Dissecting the music of Messer fur Frau Muller is a trip in and of itself. The influences on Triangle, Dot & Devil come from music styles as varied as surf, twist, and mondo, similar to works of lounge masters such as Martin Denny, Les Baxter, Jean Jacques-Perrey, Ennio Morricone (his weirder side) – covering all the elements their exotic and cinematic strangeness and combining them with the guitar drive of The Cramps. The album features talents of the world-renowned Theremin player, Lydia Kavina, the grand-niece of Leon Theremin, the inventor of the instrument. According to Messer fur Frau Muller’s Oleg Kostrow, “There is a big mystery behind every song that gets substantial airplay nowadays. The mystery is that it was borrowed from another catchy song from the past. However with Messer fur Frau Muller, you’ll find at least one hundred points of reference all over the musical map for each track we create.”
Triangle, Dot & Devil is a soundtrack to a psychedelic movie which could have been made during the times of Logan’s Run, Barbarella, and Faster Pussicat, Kill! Kill! There’s streaming versions of four of their tracks at MySpace.
