January albums – Weekend – Kommersant
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Maneskin Rush! (Sony)
Albums Maneskin “Teatro d’ira – Vol. 1” and “Rush!” separated by only two years, but for the most popular Italian group, it is two light years. “Teatro d’ira – Vol. 1” came out at a time when Maneskin were proving to the world that a national product could compete on equal terms with Anglo-American chart toppers and trendy reggaeton. Having won the Eurovision Song Contest with a song in Italian, the group moved on to conquer the rest of the world – and succeeded. The album was made with the participation of the ubiquitous Swedish hitmakers Max Martin and Mattman & Robin. Almost all songs are written in English, and each is tied tightly. Of the Italian material, it is worth highlighting the song “Mark Chapman” and the languid lyrical number “Il dono della vita”. Over the course of two years, the musicians changed their image many times, but managed not to lose their Mediterranean charm, not to dissolve in the commercial sound, although in such tracks as “Bla Bla Bla” or “Feel”, the current pop production works on a par with “garage” guitars. The second half of the album was made by Maneskin in the company of fellow countryman and old friend – producer Fabrizio Ferraguzzo. It sounds more traditional, and the final ballad “The Loneliest” naturally breaks the heart.
Iggy Pop “Every Loser” (Gold Tooth/Atlantic)
Among other things, he recorded a duet version of Maneskin’s 2021 hit “I Wanna Be Your Slave” with Iggy Pop. The name of the rock classic is still able to draw attention to any product. His own new recordings, fortunately, appear regularly. His previous full-length work was the album “Free” (2019) – a melodic reclamation against the backdrop of a jazz trumpet and beat. Every Loser is a rock ‘n’ roll album featuring Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and a host of other instrumental legends. The album was produced by Ozzy Osbourne’s favorite Andrew Watt. The opening song “Frenzy” is reminiscent of the formulaic hard rock that Watt and Ozzy are good at. But rock as a genre is represented on Pop’s album by far not only by him. From low-voiced ballad “Morning Show” to “The News For Andy”, a spoken word set to The Doors-style accompaniment to “The News For Andy”, to pure punk rock “Neo Punk”. After pop’s many experimental recordings over the decades, his traditional guitar-driven rock now feels like pure experimentation.
Anna Kova Home. Part 1″ (Faithful Five)
Soul singer Anna Kova is well known to the European public, and in France she is a real star. Judging by the singer’s social networks, in 2022 her main concern was the new album, which is now released under the name “Home. Part 1″. True, Anna Kova did not go on the air from February to June. One must think that she still could not stay completely away from what is happening in the territories where her parents live – conductor Vladimir Spivakov and TV presenter Sati Spivakova. But she did not speak publicly about this either. From mid-summer, singles and videos began to be released, from which it could be concluded that in the new album Anna Kova would turn to the modern urban style that fascinated her in the late 2010s. In Home. Part 1″ Anna Kova offers urban pop music with a heavy dose of rap reading, as they say, from the cutting edge of the genre. In the track “Found Myself”, recitative and soul verses are heard against the backdrop of an emotionally rich jazz arrangement with a trumpet, lyrical piano and explosive drums. This one thing is enough to get interested in the singer, even if you haven’t heard her before. And the whole album is a great reason to follow her in the future.
Manizha “Cradle for grown-ups” (Manizha Sanghin)
In 2022, Manizh was hit with all the guns. Her performances were canceled in concert halls and at big festivals, her posts on social networks were harshly criticized by scandalous telegram channels, and as a result, the singer, who represented Russia at Eurovision a year earlier, became one of the most hated in Russia. And she lived to the fullest – as usual, she helped everyone she could reach, after a long romance, she finally married director Lado Kvatania and continued to record new music. On the EP, Manizha talks a lot with the listener, but still sings more. There are two songs from the repertoire of Boris Grebenshchikov – “Guest” and “Golden City” (translated into Farsi). In addition to them – a quiet and touching reworking of “Nadezhda” by Alexandra Pakhmutova. The Soviet pop hit is an unexpected decision for a harassed singer, and this version is a good response to its organizers. Finally, “People have returned to people”, a song named after a phrase from an interview with Yuri Shevchuk. This author’s number of Manizha, written with explicit greetings from “Tikhoretskaya” Tariverdiev, turns out to be the most important on the album and ends with the words “Motherland is planet Earth.”
Viagra Boys “Cave World” (YEAR0001)
The character that attracts the most audience attention in the Stockholm group Viagra Boys is vocalist Sebastian Murphy, a guy with a chest heavily covered in prison-style tattoos and the voice of a young Nick Cave, then a mature Marilyn Manson. The new Viagra Boys album “Cave World” from the very first song “Baby Criminal” splashes with punk energy, and there is almost no depression of post-punk, in the ranks of which the group is often included by critics. The first thing you want to do when listening to the adrenaline-filled songs of the Viagra Boys is to find out their concert schedule in the hope of breaking into one of the performances. “Cave World” is a “cave world” in the anthropological sense. In their satirical fervor, the musicians call practically all their contemporaries “troglodytes”. They make fun of anti-vaxxers, flat earthers, conspiracy theorists and other inhabitants of the planet, as if still living in the Paleolithic. Not forgetting, of course, about themselves – punks out of their teens, obsessed with ambition, unhealthy attachments and obsessive phobias.
Wellboy “8 marabou” (Papa Music)
The starting impetus for the career of Ukrainian artist Anton Velboy was given in 2021 by producer Yuriy Bardash (Mushrooms, Quest Pistols, etc.). The first clip of the young artist “Gusi” has been watched 32 million times on YouTube to date. However, as part of an alliance with a successful producer, Wellboy did not even have time to release a full-length album. In 2022, Yuriy Bardash ended his relationship with the Ukrainian show business, moved to Russia and, judging by his interview, feels like he has returned to his native harbor. The album “8 marabou” Wellboy released in December 2022. It begins with the song “Gusi”, includes already well-known singles and new songs, including an attack on Bardash “Khto ti”. The album is full of life-affirming funk and pop-rock, the musician continues the work of his senior friend and countryman Dima Monatik. The charm of Velboy is in the little things like “Burn, cool, Bertolucci’s films.” There are also lines that make it clear where and in what period the songs were written, such as “curfew does not separate us.”
Kovacs “Child Of Sin” (Wolf Recordings)
Singer from the Netherlands Sharon Kovacs is one of the main discoveries of the European pop scene of the last five years. This statement is true, but adjusted for the audience. Despite his youth, Kovacs performs music for an adult audience, one that does not hang out on TikTok and is unlikely to kill time playing video games. The singer’s popularity grew primarily due to live performances and songs that ended up on film soundtracks, but her exotic appearance also played a role, which means YouTube clips. The audience learned about Kovax’s new album “Child Of Sin” when the singer released the title track, recorded in a duet with Till Lindemann (Rammstein). The single was not accompanied by a video, probably because if they appeared on screen together, the monitors would explode with two such artistic charismas. Kovax plays the role of Shirley Bessie here, Lindemann remains himself – and in total, a picture of a Hollywood scale is obtained. The album is generally recorded with a bias towards pathetic retro, there is even a song “Bang Bang” here – fortunately, this is not another rehash of Sonny Bono’s hit, but an author’s song by Kovaks, quite comparable in idea and implementation.
Billy Nomates “CACTI” (Invada Records)
The solo career of Bristol singer Thor Marys, performing under the pseudonym Billy Nomates, began after she got to the Sleaford Mods concert. The rap duet literally pulled a girl out of depression, who had previously sung in many groups, and not one of them “shot”. Along with Sleaford Mods, Portishead’s Jeff Barrow was an important person in her life. He produced her first album “Billy Nomates” (2020). Critics called the music released on it “post-punk”, the singer herself believed that it was no wave. The second record of Billy Nomates “CACTI” is pop music, and there is nothing to be ashamed of. Pop can be made from just about anything, including post-punk bass, teenage nihilism, and noise samples. Billy Nomates has the energy of Chrissie Hynde and Deborah Harry and beautiful, melodic songs that would suit pop divas like Kylie Minogue or Gwen Stefani. Judging by the fact that there is more and more attention to her, well-known pop artists may well eventually lure her into the ranks of their authors. Special attention – the cover of “CACTI”. The case when you want to buy an album just because of one image on the record sleeve.
Leonid Fedorov “Love” (Ulitka Records)
The leader of the Auction, Leonid Fedorov, has a habit of releasing new solo albums at the very end of the year. What is heard last is remembered more strongly, and critics often include these “December” Fedorov albums in the final lists of the best at the end of the year, but he is the least like an artist with a clear developed strategy. About “Love” it is only known that it uses the texts of a long-time partner in the “Auktyon” Dmitry Ozersky, as well as William Blake, whose legacy Fedorov devoted a whole album to whose legacy a couple of years ago. On the new disc, everything is expected – the creak of either tape or vinyl, extraneous microsounds invading the arrangement, fierce guitar battle and singsong Fedorov’s burriness. But even such melodically predictable things as “River” or “Squadron” evoke a feeling of indescribable delight, because no one in the world does anything like that. Even if you have not heard Fedorov’s reference solo works “Winter will not be” and “Thawed”, formally secondary to the previous discography “Love” will still blow your head.
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