After the briefest Indian summer ever, fall has finally come into its own — with grey skies and perennial drizzle. People are starting to spend more time inside and what better way to sit out the bad weather than at one or more of the great gigs we've picked out for you this week.
Steve Reich is one of pioneers of minimal music, along with Terry Riley and Philip Glass. On October 3 he will turn 80 and more than 400 concerts are planned across the world to commemorate his contribution to music. In Moscow the concert in Steve Reich’s honor is part of Sound Up, a series of concerts that combine contemporary electronic and neoclassical music. Each concert is performed at a new venue and this time it will be at the “Nadezhda” workshop of the Trekhgornaya Manufaktura. Six Russian musicians will play Reich’s famous piece “Six Pianos” on six instruments simultaneously. All of the musicians are also composers and will present their own music as well: Pavel Karmanov, Petr Aydu, Kirill Richter, Anton Bukanov, Nikola Melnikov and Alexei Kurbatov.
Tsekh Nadezhda, Trekhgornaya Manufaktura. 15 Rochdelskaya Ulitsa, Bldg. 24. Metro Ulitsa1905 Goda. Tickets from 2,000 rubles ($32). Thursday, at 8 p.m.
Vasya Oblomov from Rostov-on-Don is a stand-alone Russian hip-hop artist. Each of his tracks is a statement — political or social — on the state of affairs in Russia. By simply listening to the lyrics you can tell whether a track was written several years ago or just recently. In September Vasya Oblomov released a new single “Nichego strashnogo” (Nothing scary) about post-election melancholia. He will be presenting some new material at his only Moscow concert this fall.
16 Tons. 6/1 Ulitsa Presnensky Val. Metro Ulitsa 1905 Goda. Tickets from 1,000 rubles ($16). Thursday, at 8 p.m.
Glintshake is a Moscow post-punk band led by the versatile frontwoman Katya Shilonosova and Zhenya Gorbunov. Glintshake used to sing in English, but last year they announced that they were switching to Russian. They finally recorded an album with their new songs and will present it this Friday for the first time in Moscow. The album has an unpronounceable name, “Oeshch Magziu,” and the band is now officially just an abbreviation “GSh,” but the sound and Katya’s voice are immediately recognizable.
Worker and Collective Farm Girl Center. 123B Prospekt Mira. Metro VDNHh. Tickets from 500 rubles ($8). Friday, at 8 p.m.
DJ Kutmah is a prominent British musician of Egyptian-Scottish descent, who made headlines when he was deported from the U.S after living in Los-Angeles for many years. He’s now based in London and collaborates with many musicians, including greats such as Flying Lotus. Come check him out at the Powerhouse this Friday. Kutmah will play alongside some of Moscow’s best DJs, including Lapti, Sil, and OL.
Dewar’s Powerhouse. 7/4 Goncharnaya Ulitsa. Metro Taganskaya, Markistskaya. Tickets 500 rubles ($8). Friday, at 11 p.m.
Masha & Medvedi is almost twenty years old. Led by Masha (Maria Makarova), the band became immensely popular in late 1990s, with their song Lubochka and its famous refrain “Liebe, liebe, amore, amore, lubov!” but fell apart in 2000. Several years later it was resurrected by Makarova. This Saturday night you can see its latest reincarnation, sing along to the old hits and hopefully hear some new material.
Mumy Troll Music Bar. 7 Tverskaya Ulitsa. Metro Okhotny Ryad, Teatralnaya. Tickets from 500 rubles ($8). Saturday, at 9 p.m.
A leading young composer of the ever more fashionable “new academic music,” Alexey Sysoev will perform his two new pieces at GROUND Khodynka gallery on Monday, one of the venues actively promoting this kind of music. Sysoev has written soundtracks for some of the Gogol Center and Electro Theater performances and his new pieces contain elements of improvisation. He will be playing along his fellow composers Vladimir Gorlinskiy and Darya Zvezdina.
GROUND Gallery Khodynka. 2 Ulitsa Iriny Levchenko. Metro Oktyabrskoye Pole. Tickets 100 rubles ($2). Monday, at 7 p.m.
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