MoremoneyTrip hop
MoremoneyTrip hop
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On September 4, 2009, Bristol’s Tricky performed live at the famous Gorky Park in Moscow. Never one to shy away from self-promotion, the performer - aka Adrian Thaws - was happy to quote some of the more ecstatic assessments of his work from the Russian press. Loudest - and most ludicrous - of all was a phrase trumpeted by “Russia Today,” declaring that the “trip-hop god has returned.” Nonetheless, working on the assumption that there’s no such thing as bad press coverage, the artist’s management did nothing to tone down the air of eager, if not frantic anticipation. In order to lessen the cultural divide between central Moscow and the west of England, Tricky’s management arranged for a local warm-up act - the recently-formed duo Moremoney, whom we see above. Video snippets appeared online in the days leading up to September, doing everything possible to promote both the headliner and the support act.Slowly but surely, the week of the concert appeared on the calendar, but then - with no warning and only two days before the curtain call - Tricky’s representatives decided that anybody declared a “trip-hop god” need not share the stage with minor deities, and Moremoney were pushed rudely away from the event. Their services were no longer needed and no funds would be forthcoming. All that remained from months of preparatory work was “a super - but now pointless! - promotional video.” It can still be seen online, but in hindsight makes for slightly sad viewing. And so the band now starts again from scratch, relying on the ability of its two key members - Ivan Kalashnikov and Nadia Gritskevich - to put all their disappointment aside. Being dropped from the running order of a lofty venue such as Gorky Park is a bitter experience, to be sure, especially - as mentioned - because the band is so young. Kalashnikov and Gritskevich first met in 2006, decided to start composing in 2007, and didn’t get around to naming their joint activities as Moremoney until a year ago.They had begun to ponder the idea of writing music whilst studying in the journalism department of Moscow’s Druzhba Narodov University. That venue allowed them to tinker with recording techniques using free access to in-house radio equipment. Unable to afford any instruments, they turned to a cheap and virtually tech-free style of performance, which they now term “electro-acoustic acapella.”It’s hard to imagine a more modest creative arrangement being subjected to greater public disappointment; the smallest style had suffered the biggest blow. Perhaps as a result, an air of cynicism sometimes can be detected in the band’s PR materials. On their MySpace, for example, Moremoney announce they’ve started work on a debut album. “Wish us luck,” they say. “Let’s hope we don’t get hit by a truck! Hee-hee-hee-hee!” That giggling sounds like a defence mechanism, a means of emotional insurance when faced with the deep-seated conviction that - in all likelihood - we’ll soon need to dress in black and wipe away the tears of suffering colleagues. The Russian music industry runs according to a nasty Darwinian logic, and only the fittest (or most foolish) survive. There will indeed be difficult days.Keeping the misery at bay are several Moscow journalists, offering kind words of consolation. The capital’s entertainment magazine Afisha recently referred to the band as “really pretty good!” (Kind words indeed, though the air of surprise is a tad disconcerting, as if the reviewer expected something truly awful.) The authoritative online music encyclopedia Zvuki.ru went one step further and declared Ivan and Nadia to be “pretty much the Discovery of the Year!” That same information source produced an interesting categorization of the duo as “pop with a broken back,” giving voice to a distorted, rhythmic inconstancy that has since led to parallels with the DIY dystopias of Patrick Wolf. This is a “minimalist music - the kind of thing that anybody could make in their own apartment,” given a few basic tools.When we listen to the first track embedded above, we might notice that 48 seconds in, Nadia asks whether she should start anew, since the ability to clap in time with the music has proven to be complicated. Then, when the song is over and done with, we again hear her ask Ivan whether they should do another take. “No,” he replies. “It’s all finished.” The messy excess and dry runs all stay in the final mix, “breaking the back” of anything elegant and streamlined. The high levels of trebly tradition in our second track continue this scratchy sonic outlook.First-hand information about the band is skimpy, given - perhaps - the aforementioned standoffishness after being dropped from a great height. A couple of interviews exist; one with the press in Kiev and the other on a site that won’t open because it houses some malware… In short, the band say little - and they say it rarely. In the brief and pithy online materials designed to increase interest among Anglo-speakers, we can find a creeping melancholy after only a few sentences. “To be honest, there are some things we’d really like you to know… but who on Earth reads this kind of online profile-info anyway, huh? Probably no-one. We wouldn’t… Enjoy.”Ouch. Having worked with Mali-born beat-boxer Vano, now a morning presenter on MTV Russia, Kalashnikov and Gritskevich have developed what the Russian press call “a very demanding or fussy attitude towards their sound. The duo stand apart from a lot of other indie bands, thanks to the degree of thought that goes into their songs.” What kind of thought, though? Here it seems both logical and reasonable to mention that Moremoney’s two members are - in the middle of a musical career - simultaneously continuing their journalism studies. Their view of the world is colored by the subjects to which they dedicate their mental effort each and every day. Gritskevich is studying the renaissance of Fascism in Russia, while Kalashnikov researches the field of domestic human rights.Not surprisingly, a life spent in these domains does not produce the jolliest texts. It’s worth quoting a few examples, especially since the duo is so taciturn. The band’s best-known song is probably “Hate.”The text - left unedited - reads as follows: ”I don’t like when people call me insane/ i don’t like when people forget my name/ i don’t like when people eat from my plate/i feel hate.” (A sunny, life-affirming intro…) “The only feeling that i’ve got is hate/ the only feeling that i’ve got is hate/ it is my best friend/ it is my best mate/ the only feeling that i’ve got is hate./ I don’t like when you’re talking too fast (jerk)/ every time i want to cut off your tongue/ i want you dead though you do nothing bad…” This sense of anger directed against the outside world, especially with hatred as one’s “best friend,” can easily morph into self-loathing, giving us songs like “Fatty.” There’s a corporeal theme that runs through a lot of the band’s visual imagery, on CD covers, posters, and in promo shots. Many contain a focus upon body parts (above), tools of pain, or other “disembodied” elements. These emphases are audible in “Fatty.” “Hey it’s fun to be fat/ you always know where you sat/ fun to be fat/ people look at you on the streets/ people look at you when you eat… Hey it’s fun to be fat/ be not attractive for man/ i’d like to be fat/ no one ever wants you in any way/ everybody thinks you’re from u.s.a./ often people see you and begin to pray…”Cast as an outsider, the lyrical voice takes on its isolation as a (supposedly) willed state and tries desperately to turn public disdain into private uniqueness. The loathed and lowly (almost…) become the lofty, transforming rejection into a rare and dignified standing. This paradoxical estrangement starts to need the anger of others. It needs to be distanced and hurt, even, giving us the worldview of “Scar On.” “I will drive another car/ i will wear another dress/ i will stop someday feeling so depressed/ someday i will live again/ and forget about this mess/ i will stop someday feeling so obsessed.”The pain that comes from failure or rejection both allows and creates one’s exclusivity and is therefore aestheticized. Ugliness and discomfort become desirable. ”Oh, what a beautiful scar you’ve left on my heart/ what a beautiful scar i’ve got/ oh, what a beautiful scar you’ve left on my heart/ what a beauty, what a beauty, what a beauty on my heart…” The logic continues, all in anticipation of sweet revenge: “I will get high every day/ i will pull out like weeds/ all those crimes in my thoughts i could commit/ someday i will dye my hair / and as we get really drunk / i will let all these words get off my tongue…” The day of reckoning is at hand. Poorly behaved Englishmen, especially those from Bristol, would be advised to keep their distance.Scholars of Neo-Nazism surely know a thing or two about violence.
Members:
| Ivan - Electronics |
|---|
| Nadja - Vocal |
| Pitkin - Bass |
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