Soviet Synthpop
March 5, 2019 4:28 AM   Subscribe

Alliance - Na Zare (At Dawn) Let this video bewitch you. (slyt)
posted by snofoam (16 comments total) 17 users marked this as a favorite
 
Disappointed that they didn't seem to be using a Polivoks, but rather what looked like imported Casio/Yamaha keyboards.
posted by acb at 4:55 AM on March 5, 2019


Very great, thank you SO much. I've got all the chills and feels. Immediately added to favorites playlist, and digging into the rest of this band!
posted by joecacti at 6:22 AM on March 5, 2019


And I have to add.. I started to get suspicious that this was actually a modern act and modern video staged to look dated, such was the quality of the sound (and so similar to some great modern electronica) so I researched... it's legit.
posted by joecacti at 6:46 AM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]


Hey hey hey, I haven’t listened to the song yet, but if it’s the genre of Soviet electronic music, I have something to offer. There’s a YouTube channel I follow called Funked Up East that has a lot of Soviet Republic era electronic music, psych, jazz, etc. There’s some great stuff on there. A friend of mine from St. Petersburg has also been trawling Russian LiveJournal communities for old forgotten records, either ones published on Melodiya or released bootleg.
posted by gucci mane at 7:14 AM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]


Ha! A Soviet Xymox! Not bad...
posted by njohnson23 at 8:41 AM on March 5, 2019


I'm kind of surprised at how many comments are about the music (which is great) rather than the fact that the video is an endless series of surprises and treasures.
posted by snofoam at 11:26 AM on March 5, 2019 [2 favorites]


If you like this you may also find this YouTube channel interesting Are Sounds Electrik?
posted by allium cepa at 1:11 PM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]


I love that video and the song. They're one of my favorite examples of a band who seem to have been put on this Earth to release one perfect song. And what a song.

On a more melancholic note, here's a video of them, well two of them, performing on Russian TV in 2003. A lot happened in these intervening years to Russia, and clearly a lot happened to these guys too.
posted by Kattullus at 2:23 PM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]


Like joecacti I was initially 100% sure this was a well-done spoof by a modern act but the instant they cut to the crowd for the first time I knew it had to be real.

Oh and the song is pretty good too. A bit like someone was given a vague description what the album Violator by Depeche Mode sounds like and they just ran with it.
posted by Soi-hah at 2:26 PM on March 5, 2019 [2 favorites]


Listen to the whole album here.
posted by o0dano0o at 2:30 PM on March 5, 2019


This is all the more remarkable because, in the most of 'the Soviet', getting hands on decent electronic music gear was very difficult in those days. Most knowledge of 'outside music' had to be smuggled in.

E.G. This this story is out of East Germany, but from what I've seen it fairly typical.
Getting hold of equipment was quite an ordeal. For a start, you had to earn loads of money to be able to afford stuff from the West. Then this money had to be “planed,” exchanged into West German marks. That was prohibited, and if you got caught you ended up in prison....
(BTW, Red Bull Music is a treasure-trove of worldwide 20th-century music history. Well worth mining.)

@ gucci mane: Thanks for the tip on Funked Up East !
posted by Twang at 2:39 PM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]


One of the keyboard players is clearly an undercover CIA agent.
posted by snofoam at 2:53 PM on March 5, 2019


On a more melancholic note, here's a video of them, well two of them, performing on Russian TV in 2003. A lot happened in these intervening years to Russia, and clearly a lot happened to these guys too.


And 2016, apparently:

Alliance – At Dawn (2016)
posted by bootlegpop at 3:23 PM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]


Mustache guy was the only one in the neighborhood with a van so they asked him to join the band. At least that's what I assume.
posted by ShakeyJake at 3:25 PM on March 5, 2019


As others have noted, I initially thought I was in for six minutes of “OMG, wasn’t the Iron Curtain hilarious? In Soviet Russia, synthesizer plays you!”, which is at this stage some Joe Piscopo-level hackery. But no, it’s totally real, that’s a legitimately pretty melody, and I love that there’s a bass player complementing the electronic bass lines, much like Peter Hook did in New Order.
posted by tantrumthecat at 9:43 PM on March 5, 2019 [1 favorite]


Mustache guy was the only one in the neighborhood with a van...

That video includes one of the great YouTube comments of all time: "hey Dad can you cover for us, our other keyboard guy got sick." Then another commenter says that he's the leader of the band, and also composer of the song.
posted by LeLiLo at 4:19 PM on March 7, 2019 [1 favorite]


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