Mashina Vremeni
From Unearthing The Music
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'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.
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
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
- "Интервью с М. Макаревичем 18 мая 1984 г." Web.archive.org. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
- 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.” "
- 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."
- [1][permanent dead link]
- [2][permanent dead link]
- Filimonov, Mikhail (2004). Искусство жить по Стефановичу. Express gazeta (in Russian). № 50. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
- "Александр Кутиков. Сентиментальное чудовище". Kutikov.com. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
- "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.
- Машина времени гастроли (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2010-03-25. Retrieved 2010-01-19.
External links
Text adapted from Wikipedia.