What are you listening to?

I don't think the music of this rising Russian superstar has made it on to this thread yet, but seeing as my daughter and I have become avid fans over the past few weeks since discovery and can't stop playing him, I thought I'd share the good news here...

After many years of gestation as a singer (with a 5 - yes 5 - octave vocal range), composer, instrumentalist (of which he can comfortably play 16), performer, etc, etc, prodigy Yaroslav Yuryevich Dronov (Russian: Ярослав Юрьевич Дронов; born November 22, 1991), performing now under the stage name SHAMAN (a name given him by his early fans), shot to notoriety over recent months with a series of social media driven recordings that have rapidly taken on iconic status in contemporary Russia.

And no wonder. His voice is literally out of this world - it almost defies belief both in terms of range, faultless pitch and tone of complete integrity and commitment. His music is an eclectic mix of 80s rock, traditional Russian folk/lament and something utterly unique to him in this time and place. He also happens to be an extraordinarily charismatic young man who oozes charm, sincerity, genuine empathy and enormous consideration for all, especially his huge and growing swathe of fans. Of late he has started mixing his highly romantic and distinctive dance numbers with a series of profound nationalistic compositions that define for many the challenges and determination of this time.

For those who don't know his work, here are links to three of his landmark songs, such as the totally infectious I'm Russian/Я РУССКИЙ, his daring statement of support for the forces fighting the SMO, My Fight/МОЙ БОЙ, and the breathtakingly moving Rise/ВСТАНЕМ which in particular catapulted him to national status in early 2022 via this immense anthem in memory of the dead from the Great Patriotic War.

We confess to loving near everything he records but below are 3 more that right now just happen to be top of our joint play list.




... and finally, just to show his other side - shear pop playfulness and tongue in check self irony - seeing him play this live and 1,000s of Russian women singing along with joy is something else (after a failed marriage to an unfortunately cheating first wife, he's now solidly married to a very powerful lady executive! Russian's get the joke of this song... but imagine if a western male singer came out with this today...)


I hope you enjoy. We do.

Я РУССКИЙ!
 
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RIP Bernie Marsden, guitarist for Whitesnake. He was a very gifted player. These tracks capture the band laying out their good heavy bluesy soul style. As a 20-something I got into the whole UK blues revival music, always appealed to me for some reason. When this album came out they were very popular in the UK, but rarely toured overseas. They went massive in the late 80's though.



 
More from Marsden and Whitesnake. This album is more great soul rock from the early 80's. I'd guess this music isn't known to people outside of the UK. My brother copied these albums onto tape for me as a kid, great memories and nostalgia in this music. I was only young but I loved this stuff. These tracks capture Marsden as a liquid smooth guitarist.



 
Earth Song is released in 1995, in this video we have scenes from War in Croatia combined with earth natural disaters. War is "filmed" at real war sites, that are still half restored, and it was during the war, but war was "ended" in that area by ethnic clinsing of Serbs in supoport not only by NATO but directly with USA Army. Scenes are not real, actors are "playing" for the video.

 
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