The Kino group completed the anniversary year of Tsoi with a new album

Eighteen-track release sounds great but lacks intrigue

The members of Kino complete the anniversary year of Tsoi with the release of an album, which features eighteen songs in a new sound. Tsoi’s voice has not changed, and the music has undergone an impressive upgrade. And not everyone is happy about it.

The album was called “12_22”, and these numbers have a certain meaning. In 2012, in honor of Tsoi’s fiftieth birthday, a large documentary was filmed for Channel One, in which guitarist Yuri Kasparyan, bass guitarist Igor Tikhomirov and at that time still alive drummer Georgy Guryanov (musician and artist died in 2013) took part. The finale of the film was the recording of the archival track “Ataman”. Right in front of the cameras, the musicians of “Kino” played and overdubbed their instrumental parts on Tsoi’s voice, and thus a full-fledged track turned out from the old demo.

Perhaps without realizing it, the members of Kino then launched a new round in the history of the group. Since then, almost all recordings of Tsoi’s voice have been restored, the music has been re-recorded for the songs, and a large multimedia show has been created, gathering impressive venues. The album can probably be considered one of the results of this process, although the musicians say they are not going to stop.

The tracklist for “12_22” is not very similar to a dream compilation. There are no “Blood Type”, “A Star Called the Sun”, “Packs of Cigarettes” and other karaoke champions. The band members claim that they are not going to rewrite the music of all the Kino songs, and the disc contains tracks that needed technical support (previously they could exist in the form of sketches, sometimes made by random musicians), as well as unexpected collaborations.

The latter include “Close the Door for Me”, where the piano part appeared performed by academic pianist Alexander Dubovoy. In “When Your Girl Is Sick” there is a string trio led by Galina Naimova, and in “A Place to Step Forward” now, thanks to the efforts of Roman Parygin (Spitfire, “Leningrad”, “Radar”), there is a trumpet. As a bonus, “Cuckoo” and “Watch Yourself”, recorded during concerts, but sounding sterile in the studio.

You can argue endlessly about which “Cinema” sounds more interesting. The one that was recorded with minimal technological capabilities, but at a time when rock was something like a religion, or what is being done here and now. Both archival records and their modern interpretations certainly have advantages and disadvantages. But it is difficult to deny the main thing: Tsoi’s voice does not lose its charm either in the minimalism and naivety of the past, or in the gloss of modern studios and the skill of seasoned musicians.

And there can only be one explanation. These songs contain the voice of a man who has remained a rock hero for everyone. He did not have time to acquire dubious connections, suspicious contracts, rash statements, all that inevitably “sticks” to an artist as he grows up. Not all of Tsoi’s rock club associates want to believe when they sing the hits of their youth. Tsoi did not betray a single line of his, so the attitude towards his songs does not change over the years.

As for exclusively musical emotions, “12_22” is not exactly the album on which to look for them. All the activities of the Kino group at the present stage are more a way of working with a catalog than a desire for musical discoveries. Thanks to the Symphonic Cinema project, something new really appeared in the hits of the group, but such tasks are clearly not set in the rock format. The proposed eighteen tracks will load your stereo system well, technically everything is cool here, but the chances of being surprised and intrigued are close to zero.

However, at the level of nostalgia, everything works fine. The old is easier to sell than the new, and this rule is followed even behind the Iron Curtain. The duet with John Lennon became one of the most sentimental moments of the Paul McCartney tour, the avatars of the ABBA group bring the audience to tears, in addition to Kino, members of The King and the Jester and the Gaza Strip are experimenting with “revitalizing” technologies. It’s a very handy format these days. Especially here, where ideology and patriotism have suddenly become so important. In the case of departed stars, there is no one to present ideological claims to.