Monday 20 April 2020

Russian electric folk Otava Yo - Cossack's Lezginka


This is my latest craze - a perfect music video with a surreal folkloric visuals and narrative; and that supreme confidence about it which comes from the vitality of clever and witty young men. It splices the world of Gogol with modernity in a crazy fashion that makes poetic sense. The same romantic spirit - transmuted to Russia - as Steeleye Span and the Albion Bands of the 1970s. Enjoy.

3 comments:

Joel said...

They are tremendous fun. I've been a fan of them for a little while now. This one is probably my favorite:

Что за песни (Otava Yo - what songs)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqfrljOcUIo

Hrothgar said...

Strange... I had assumed there were probably very few English speakers in the world who had even vaguely heard of this group, besides myself and the wife. Either they are better known abroad than I realized, or there is some kind of mysterious synergy (or perhaps that should be synchronicity) between them, this blog and its readership.

I'm trying to remember how I first came across them now. I think it may have been when I was searching for hurdy-gurdy music that was actually any good - either that, or revivalist medieval-style Scandinavian folk music, perhaps.

a_probst said...

Beautifully photographed. I can see why it won an award. The posting is three years old so it must certainly have won more, though from years of watching the Tourneé of Animation I would say that this type of film faces tough competition in the Slavic and Balkan world.

I wonder who the older man playing the motorcycle mechanic is. I can't read Russian to find out from comments but I'm guessing he is eminent in that field of music, maybe even the father of one or more members of the group.