General Info:
October, 7 1991 is the official birthday of both the band and Rada; it was on that day that they decided to create a project. The band played at a great number of various music fests, and always got best critics in the independent music-related press. In 1992 they recorded their first album, "Graphics", which, joined by some songs from other albums, was produced by Solyd Records in 1994. In 1994 Rada and the band recorded a new album "Sounds of Grief" and claims the style of the band psychedelic fatum. For a couple of years the band gave a lot of concerts at night clubs and in 1997 Triary Records produced its CD "Sounds of Grief". In 1997 and 1998 appeared two live albums, "Live 97" and "Once upon a Tale". In 1998 an independent french label Prikosnovenie, specialising in gothic and experimental nusic, produced CDEP "Rada & Ternovnik". In 1998 the musicians sat to studying advanced computer technologies and methods of sound recording, trying to use them in their creative work. The "Love my Sorrow" album, recorded in 1999, was produced by a new russian label UR-Realist. It amazed by the quality of the material and showed the band from a new, unexpected angle. Later in the year the Prikosnovenie label produced the "Belladonna" compilation, that contained one song of Rada. Thanks to such promotion the band became fairly famous is France. In the end of 1999 UR-Realist produced a new live CD of Rada & Ternovnik, "Russian Myth".
Discography:
"Graphics" - 1994 (CD - Solyd Records)
"Sounds of Grief" - 1997 (CD - Triary Records)
"Live 97" - 1997 (self released album)
"Once upon a Tale" - 1998 (self released tape)
"Rada & Ternovnik" - 1998 (CD-EP - Prikosnovenie Records)
"My love my sorrow" - 1999 (CD - UR-Realist Records)
"Russian Myth" - 1999 (CD - UR-Realist Records)
Compilations:
Belladonne - "Dream" - 1999 (CD - Prikosnovenie)
Music:
"Graphics" - 1994 (CD - Solyd Records)
Reviews:
RADA & TERNOVNIK "Graphics" - 1994
The music is avant-garde, irrational and crazy, with a particularly gloomy and sickly aura - please don't consider Rada to be one of those "extreme" bands or some noise performances. Though, "Graphics" seems to be the most extreme CD of my not too large russian collection, it's music is deeply traditional with rock and psychedelic (or maybe depressive post-punk?) For example, "Scotch Dance" with some blues-like themes, one of my favourites - "Aristocrats of the Suburbs" - with a noble spanish rhythm, "Ethnic" - simply shaman, even voodoo-like: "Your body'll rise and walk..." "Tango" - is clear from the name, but it's "a white tango of the mentally ill"... In fact, there are more than enough sanitarium-insane associations in the album. (Warning: after listening to "Graphics" your girlfriend may have dreams, in which you betray her with a mad poet at a sanitarium... Here it is - the magical power of art!) The music is "powered" by Rada's vocals. It's strong and emotional and it's what is called "charismatic" - I got under its paralysing power at once. The technique is great, the most impressive are the places where it is impossible to tell human voice from guitar in agony or jerking in convulsions saxophone (in fact there is no sax among the instruments!). Lyrics is usually the most vulnerable place - and on the album it is on a very high level. And there's no need to divide vocals, music, lyrics - everything is very strong and solid, "Graphics" is really infected with some mysterious energy and is genius, all of its 67'03''!
RADA & TERNOVNIK "Sounds of Grief" - 1997
To tell the truth, I'm overwhelmed, it's the best, the most gloomy and depressive album ever recorded in Russia! This one seems to me much more emphatic than the debut. I'm not very well educated about this kind of music to classify this CD, but the music is very psychedelic and possesses evident blues roots. Rada herself calls this style Psychedelic Fatum - well, she's free to do that, as I know no equivalents in Russia. The mood can be compared only to My Dying Bride "Turn Loose the Swans" - such CDs should be sold in a box with rope and soap for those who wouldn't stand the depression of Rada & Ternovnik.
RADA & TERNOVNIK "Rada & Ternovnik" - 1998
Rada's EP produced by Prikosnovenie thanks to Michael Verbitsky. The album itself doesn't coincide with the idea of the Miniature series of Prikosnovenie, which has a title "Unreleased Titles MaxiCD". Of course I understand that Rada didn't have anything released in France, but all the songs on that CD ("DReam", "Heart-ache", "Close Your Eyes", "Night" and "Vivid Gaming") had been on the "Sounds of Sorrow" CD, so there isn't much sense going into detail description of the music - those who are interested in Rada's creative work have already got acquainted with the mentioned above songs. Nevertheless, I'd like to mention the fact that only the best songs were selected for this compilation, and the very fact of this CD's release in France is fairly remarkable, after all, it even appeared in an on-line catalogue of a well-known goth-industrial-experimental music distributor, Middlepillar.
A lyrical break: to my mind, Rada's vocal would be better in ethereal style, instead of this depressive-rock, but it's not likely to happen - I came across Rada's new material which turned out to be trip-hop, so pretty soon we'll have our own local Portishead. I'd like to wish Rada good luck in her creative work and I really hope that this album will bring her glory abroad.
RADA & TERNOVNIK "My love my sorrow" - 1999
The new album of a cult Moscow band "Rada & Ternovnik" is, as Rada had promised in her interviews, devoted to trip-hop. But those who got used to its original sound and the classic-rock instruments, will not be disappointed because even before they had been playing something trip-hoppish, but live, so here we're not talking about a shift of the orientation; instead, about sound recording experiments. (The result of these experiments seems to me most interesting and it will be very bad if this album is the last.) The technology-ness of the new sound reflects in a certain computer-sample monotony of sub-bass rhythm and traditional for such music effects: "sand" of an old vinyl, scratches, acoustic and ethnical samples are made use of very carefully and suitably. Although it might seem strange, but it was this electronic-technical "it" that brought even more pagan, wild charm into the music. The album consists of nine new songs, listening to which is rather like wandering in damp catacombs of pale trip-hop rhythms and perplexed labyrinths of depressing melodies. The clue (but leading to the opposite from the wonder-working door) is a strong female vocal, in its magic there's each and every emotion from bitter sarcasm to cold indifference, it's still very attractive. As for the vocals without words on high tones, they are simply great and apt to impress even an experienced listener. The irreproachable lyrics is abstract and unpredictable, both philosophical, symbolical, mystical and mad - everyone is free to perceive it in one's own way. There are no absolute hits on the album (save the final "Vomit"), those who likes one song are sure to like the rest - and vice versa. As for me, I was delighted to find some feeble shadows of emotional storms of "Graphics"...
For some mysterious reason or other, Rada always speaks of her band as stadium band, but I don't think it's likely to happen - a stadium listening to such stuff, is something absolutely paranormal!
Links:
Line-up:
The musicians who participated in recording "Sounds of Grief":
Rada - lyrics, vocals
Vladimir Anchevsky - guitars
Vladimir Gochua - bass
Vasily Staburov - bass
Michael Plotnikov - drums
Gleb Guseinov - percussion
Musicians mentioned in the "My love my Sorrow":
Rada - lyrics, vocals
Vladimir Anchevsky - music
Contacts:
e-mail: [email protected]
