Mumiy Troll
AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists:
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Mumiy Troll
- Genres: Rock
Biography
Taking their name from a character in the famous children's books of Tovi Jansson, Mumiy Troll have become one of Russia's most popular and critically acclaimed contemporary pop/rock acts of the '90s and 2000s. Centered around the offbeat romantic lyrics and intelligent, charismatic presence of songwriter and frontman Ilya Lagutenko, the band has developed separately from the rest of the Russian music scene, opting to work with foreign producers and recording the majority of its work in England. Although experimenting with different musical genres over the years, Mumiy Troll have developed an idiosyncratic sound placed halfway between traditional Russian rock and Brit-pop.Lagutenko originally started writing and recording as a teenager in Vladivostok in 1981. The following year, he formed the band Shock with Vladimir Lutsenko (bass) and Alik Krasnov (all the remaining instruments), and they adopted the name Mumiy Troll in 1983 before recording their debut studio album, Novaya Luna Aprelya (New April Moon), throughout 1984 and 1985. The album was well received locally, and by 1986 was regularly played in Vladivostok discos. However, with the band officially unsanctioned in the Soviet Union, the new attention was not without its drawbacks, and at a meeting of students at the Far East State University, Mumiy Troll were bewilderingly pronounced to be among the period's most "socially dangerous" bands. For the next few years, the band went on hiatus while Lagutenko did national service in the Soviet Army, and it wasn't until 1990 that Mumiy Troll recorded another album, Delai U-U (Do U-U). The reunion was short-lived, however, as Lagutenko, a fluent English and Mandarin speaker, went to work with a business consultancy firm in London and China and the record disappeared without a trace.
In 1996, while living in London at the peak of the Brit-pop scene, Lagutenko decided to resurrect the band and started recording a new album with producer Chris Bandy, who had previously worked with the Cure, Duran Duran, the Rolling Stones, and Tears for Fears. The resulting album, Morskaya (Sea), was released later that year. The new commercial sound was an immediate success in Russia, and by the time of its follow-up, Ikra (Caviar), a more traditional Russian rock album, appeared six months later, the band was experiencing unprecedented popularity at home. Having settled into their current lineup of Lagutenko (vocals, guitar), Yuri Tsaler (guitars), Evgeni Zvidenniy (bass), and Oleg Pungin (drums), they started their first tour of Russia and neighboring countries in 1997. With a substantial presence in the media and videos regularly played on television, 1998 was a prolific year and saw the release of the two-volume set Shamora: Pravda o Mumiyakh i Trollakh (Shamora: The Truth About Mumiy and Troll) as well as the mini-album S Novym Godom, Kroshka! (Happy New Year, Baby!).
After a short break, Tochno Rtut' Aloe (Exactly Mercury Aloe) was released in 2001, and the same year Mumiy Troll were chosen to represented Russia in the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest, coming in 12th with the song "Lady Alpine Blue." A new album, Meamury (Memories), was recorded in 2002, this time with Grammy Award-winning producer John Hudson, and shortly after its release it was awarded a gold disc for sales in Latvia. The accolades continued, and the same year the group was awarded the Russian music industry's Zolotoy Grammophon (Golden Gramophone) prize and was named Best Group of 2002 at the Nashe Radio Awards, while the song "Eto Po Lubvi" (Because of Love) won the award for Best Song of 2002.
During the next few years Mumiy Troll concentrated their efforts on film and television soundtracks, recording music for the films Azazel (2002), Nochnoi Dozor (2003), Pohititeli Knig and Neznaika i Barrabass (2004), and Kosmichesky Reys (2006). They also collaborated with former Suede singer Brett Anderson for the sci-fi thriller Paragraph 78 in 2007. During the same period, the band lent its name to various social causes such AIDS awareness and environmental concerns, and played at several awareness-raising events around the world. In 2005 they released the album Sliyanie I Pogloschenie (Merger and Acquisition), an album containing oblique lyrics relating to themes of identity, big business, and global power, and subsequently toured in China. In 2006 they participated in the international gala concert Stop Contrafact in Moscow, an event timed to coincide with the G8 summit calling for the protection of intellectual property. On the symbolic date of July 7, 2007, Mumiy Troll's 11th studio album, AMBA, was released, and for the first time the bandmembers announced that they would be recording an English-language version. ~ Neil Davidson, Rovi
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Mumiy Troll
| Mumiy Troll | |
|---|---|
 Ilya Lagutenko, the lead singer of Mumiy Troll |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Vladivostok/Moscow, Russia |
| Genres | Rock, Alternative rock, Britpop |
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Website | Official site |
| Members | |
| Ilya Lagutenko Eugene "Sdwig" Zvidionny Oleg Pungin Yuri Tsaler |
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Mumiy Troll (Russian: Му́мий Тро́лль [ˈmumʲij ˈtrɔlʲ]) is a Russian rock group, founded in 1983 in Vladivostok by vocalist and songwriter Ilya Lagutenko (Илья Лагутенко). The literal name of the band, 'The mummies' troll', is a pun on Moomin Troll, the series of Finnish children's books by Tove Jansson.[1]
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Contents
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Career
Mumiy Troll broke up when Lagutenko, who graduated in Mandarin and Chinese Economy, went to serve in the Soviet army (Russian Air Navy). Then he came back and they gained immense popularity with the release of their first (official) album Morskaya (Морская, Marine) in May 1997, which showcased a combination of melodic hard rock and Lagutenko's offbeat lyrics and coy, androgynous performance style. The second CD Ikra (Икра, Caviar), followed seven months later, and was equally successful.
Mumiy Troll remains one of Russia's most popular musical acts. Ilya Lagutenko defined their music style as rockapops. Once again Mumiy Troll became the leader of an entire new musical trend copied now to greater or lesser degree by Russian wannabees and mainstream artists. Being an example of one of the successful long-standing independent artists in Russia band released 8 studio albums so far, wrote and produced soundtracks for a full length cartoon movie and gave a new sound to classic Russian silent sci-fi movie and donated tracks to feature films including Russian blockbuster Night Watch, where Ilya also plays the Vampire. His face is on the cover of the American release.
_at_concert_(2010).jpg)
Mumiy Troll is well known in Japan, China and Europe. The band cooperate with “Shoot The Artist” (Bjorn Tagemoose, video) and “Tne Agency” (North American tours-2009). The band's North American tour of 16 dates earlier this year was a huge success, so “The Agency” announced another two month North American tour.
Mumiy Troll is not a one-man band – the 4 people on stage have been together for the last 10 years. Yuri Tsaler, one of the most admirable guitarists in the country, is also the co-author of some of the songs. Oleg Pungin began his drumming career at the age of 7 and is still delivering the strongest pumping beats as he helps to record a good half of all records in Russia. Sdwig is the bass player who is in charge of introducing the band to modern-day technologies.
Mumiy Troll was the first to support the activities of PSI organization fighting AIDS in Russia and performed at the No Name Fever exhibition for AIDS in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2005. They are also well known for conservation activities on wild life in Far-East taiga and helping local minorities to survive. Ilya Lagutenko is a patron of the British-Russian Amur fund for the protection of Amur tigers and leopards.
Mumiy Troll – first in Russia and one of the first in the world – opened its own social network Ikra.tv.
Trivia
- The first Russian music video to be broadcast by MTV Russia in 1998 was Mumiy Troll's Vladivostok 2000.
- The very same day (31 December 1999) that Mumiy Troll scheduled the release of the single 'The Carnival Is Over' Vladimir Putin took over from Boris Yeltsin.
- Time Out (London) wrote that they 'stole the show' when they represented Russia in the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest, writing that they stood out as snakeskin heroes amongst all the taffeta and tuxedos.
- Their album Merger and Acquisitions (2005) was called back from the printers on the day of release when distributors realized that the bride and groom on the cover were wearing masks of Putin and Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The band changed them into symbols of hearts and United States dollars respectively.
Members
- Ilya Lagutenko: lead vocals, guitar
- Eugene "Sdwig" Zvidionny: bass guitar
- Oleg Pungin: drums
- Yuri Tsaler: guitars, keyboard, saxophone
Discography
- 1985 – Novaya luna aprelya (Новая луна апреля, New Moon In April)
- 1990 – Delay Yu-Yu (Делай Ю-Ю, Do The Yu-Yu)
- 1997 – Morskaya (Морская, Nautical)
- 1997 – Ikra (Икра, Caviar)
- 1998 – Shamora – pravda o Mumiyakh i Trollyakh (Шамора. Правда о Мумиях и Троллях, Shamora: The Truth About The Mummys and Trolls)
- 1998 – S novym godom, Kroshka! (С Новым Годом, Крошка!, Happy New Year, Baby!)
- 2000 – Tochno rtut' aloe (Точно Ртуть Алоэ, Just Mercury Of Aloe)
- 2002 – Meamury (Меамуры)
- 2004 – Pokhitityeli knig (Похитители Книг, The Book Thieves)
- 2005 – Sliyaniye i pogloshcheniye (Слияние и Поглощение, Merger and Acquisition)
- 2007 – Amba (Амба)
- 2008 – 8
- 2009 – Comrade Ambassador – US release (in Russian)
- 2010 – Paradise Ahead – US EP Release
- 2012 – Vladivostok
Awards
- 1997 The Best Still Image 1996 for Utekai (Run Away) The Best Still Image 1997 for Delfiny (Dolphins) – the award from the Pokolenie Video Festival.
- 1997 The Best Rock Group 1997 – Ovation prize from the Russian Music Academy.
- 1997 The Best Group 1997, The Best Album 1997 for Morskaya (Nautical), The Best Song 1997 for Utekai (Run Away), The Best Group 1998, The Best Video 1998 for Delfiny (Dolphins), The Best Video 1999 for Nevesta? (Bride?), The Best Musical Site 1999 – Russian music magazine Fuzz prize
- November 2002 Golden Disk according to the Meamories album sales in Latvia.[1]
- 2002 Zolotoy Grammofon (Golden Gramophone) premium (for the most popular song at Russkoe Radio in 2002) was awarded for the song Eto po lubvi (Because of Love).[1]
- 2002 The Best Group 2002, The Best Song 2002 for Eto po lubvi (Because of love) – the Poboroll prize from Nashe Radio.[1]
- May 2004 Golden Disk according to the Pohititeli Knig album sales in Latvia.
- 2005 The Best Album 2005 for Sliyanie i Pogloshenie (Merger and Acquisition) – Russian music magazine Fuzz prize.
- 2006 Animation category – video clip Strakhu Net – Russian Flash Awards prize.
- 2006 For the contribution to rock-art – Russian music magazine Fuzz prize.
- 2006 Legend of MTV – MTV Russia Music Awards.
- 2008 The Best Album 2008 – Mumiy Troll, «8» – Chartova Duzhina
- 2008 The Best Music 2008 – Mumiy Troll, Contrabands – Chartova Duzhina
- 2008 Internet 2008 – Mumiy Troll, www.mumiytroll.com – Steppe Wolf
- 2008 CD 2008 – Mumiy Troll, «8» – Steppe Wolf
- 2009 The Best Group 2009 – Mumiy Troll – Chartova Duzhina
References
- ^ a b c d Davidson, Neil. "Biography: Mumiy Troll". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p653084. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mumiy Troll |
| Awards and achievements | ||
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| Preceded by Alsou with "Solo" |
Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 |
Succeeded by Prime Minister (Band) with "Northern Girl" |
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