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Mashina Vremeni

From Unearthing The Music

Mashina Vremeni in 2018. Picture by Wikipedia user Reactor691

Mashina Vremeni (Russian: Машина времени, lit. 'Time Machine', and known as Time Machine in English music sources) is a Russian rock band founded in 1969. Mashina Vremeni was a pioneer of Soviet rock music and remains one of the oldest still-active rock bands in Russia. The band's music incorporates elements of classic rock, blues, and Russian folk music. Mashina Vremeni's best known members are Andrei Makarevich (founder, principal singer-songwriter, public face of the band), Alexander Kutikov (bass player and producer/sound engineer), and Evgeny Margulis (guitarist/songwriter).[1]

History

Andrei Makarevich. Photo by Вадим Кондратьев

Andrei Makarevich's musical career can be traced to a school band called The Kids, which was made up of two male guitarists and two female vocalists. The group sang mostly English-language folk songs and performed primarily at talent shows put on in Moscow schools. According to Makarevich, the momentous event in his musical career came when the Soviet group VIA Atlanty (Russian: ВИА «Атланты») visited his school and allowed him to play a couple of songs on their equipment during a break in the performance. On the heels of this experience, Makarevich joined with other musically talented students from his school and another school to form Mashiny Vremeni (Russian: Машины времени, lit. 'Time Machines' - in plural form imitating The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, etc.). Eventually the name would be changed to the singular, Mashina Vremeni (Time Machine), in 1973. The most significant founding members included Sergey Kavagoe and Andrey Makarevich. The band's repertoire consisted of eleven songs in English, now lost.

Alexander Kutikov. Picture by Вадим Кондратьев

Mashina Vremeni started playing during the last years of the Brezhnev era, but could not get official bookings as a professional band.[2] In 1973 the band provided the musical accompaniment to one of Viktor Linnik's "Zodiac" vocal trio's records, released on Melodiya. Their listing in the record's credits legitimized them somewhat in the eyes of an authorities, with Makarevich later stating: "Even such a small thing helped us exist: In the eyes of a government idiot a band listed on a record is no longer just a bunch of hippies."

In 1979 Makarevich signed the band up with Rosconcert, becoming legitimate in the State music system.[3]

Musical style

Evgeny Margulis. Picture by Вадим Кондратьев

Mashina Vremeni's sound is eclectic and incorporates multiple different genres. Contributions to song composition have been made by almost every band member, and often reflect each member's particular stylistic preferences. Makarevich is a fan of The Beatles, and many of his songs reflect the Beatles' influence. He is also influenced by blues music and Soviet singers-songwriters, the so-called "bards". Kutikov is a quintessential rocker, he composes guitar-oriented hard rock. Margulis is one of the Russia's best known bluesmen, and his songs are usually blues rock ballads.

The majority of the band's lyrics are written by Makarevich. They were often metaphorical fables that made allegorical puns relating to life in the Soviet and Post-Soviet eras.

Albums

Year Russian Translit English Notes
1978 Это было так давно Eto bylo tak davno It was so long ago Self-released tape album. Released by an official label only in 1992
1979 Маленький принц Malenkiy printz The Little Prince live album with inter-song quotations from the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry book
1986 В добрый час V dobriy chas Good luck Compilation of songs written in 1980-1985
1987 Реки и мосты Reki i mosty Rivers and bridges
1989 В круге света V kruge sveta In a circle of light
1991 Медленная хорошая музыка Medlennaya khoroshaya muzyka Slow good music
1993 Внештатный командиръ Земли Vneshtatniy komandir Zemli Part-time commander of Earth
1994 Кого ты хотел удивить? Kogo ty khotel udivit Whom did you want to surprise? (Who did you expect to impress) Unpublished song compilation
1994 Unplugged Live acoustic album
1996 Megamix Electronic remixes of selected songs
1996 Картонные крылья любви Kartonniye kryliya lubvi Cardboard wings of love
1996 Неизданное Neizdannoe Unpublished Rare songs from the early 70s
1997 Отрываясь Otryvayas Breaking away
1999 ХХХ лет МВ 30 years of Mashina Vremeni XXX anniversary concert Live album
1999 Часы и Знаки Chasy i znaki Clocks and signs
2000 50 на двоих 50 na dvoikh 50 for two Joint concert of Mashina Vremeni and Voskreseniye
2001 Место где свет Mesto gde svet A lighted place
2004 Машинально Mashinalno Mechanically
2005 Kremlin Rocks! A concert of Mashina Vremeni with the Kremlin chamber orchestra
2007 Time machine
2009 Машины не парковать Mashiny ne parkovat Do not park the cars (Parking forbidden)
2016 Вы Vy You

Line-up

Current line-up

  • Andrey Makarevich — lead vocals, guitar (1969 — present)
  • Alexander Kutikov — bass-guitar, vocals (1971 — 1975, 1979 — present)
  • Valeriy Efremov — drums, percussion (1979 — present)

Touring musicians

  • Sergey Ostroumov — additional percussions (regular on live performances, 2004–2019) †
  • Alexandr Ditkovsky — trumpet (regular on live performances since 2004)
  • Igor Homich — guitar (regular on live performances since 2012)

Former members

  • Sergey Kavagoe — bass-guitar (1969–1971), keyboards (1971–1975), drums (1975–1979) †
  • Evgeny Margulis — guitar, bass-guitar, vocals (1975–1979, 1990–2012)
  • Pyotr Podgorodetsky — keyboards, vocals (1979–1982, 1990–1999)
  • Alexander Zaicev — keyboards (1982–1990) †
  • Sergey Rizenko — viola (1982–1983)
  • Yuri Borzov — drums (1969–1971)
  • Maxim Kapitanovsky — drums (1971–1973) †
  • Yuri Fokin — drums (1973–1975)
  • Andrei Derzhavin — keyboards, vocals (2000 — 2017)

References

  1. "Интервью с М. Макаревичем 18 мая 1984 г." Web.archive.org. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  2. Leslie Woodhead How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin 2013 - 1408840421 "But Time Machine were still totally unofficial, with no possibility of becoming a professional group. “Soviet officials understood that something was happening,” Andrei said, “but they didn't know what to do about it.” "
  3. Woodhead 2013 "... proceeds from their cassettes, Makarevich signed up with the state promotion agency, Rosconcert. After a decade of surviving on the edge, Time Machine became legitimate. It meant they could rely on national publicity and a steady income."
  4. [1][permanent dead link]
  5. [2][permanent dead link]
  6. Filimonov, Mikhail (2004). Искусство жить по Стефановичу. Express gazeta (in Russian). № 50. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
  7. "Александр Кутиков. Сентиментальное чудовище". Kutikov.com. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  8. "Публикации, группа «Машина времени», А.Макаревич, Е.Маргулис, А.Кутиков, А.Державин, В.Ефремов, С.Кавагое, А.Зайцев". Rock-book.ru. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  9. Машина времени гастроли (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2010-03-25. Retrieved 2010-01-19.

External links

Text adapted from Wikipedia.