The Cyrillic language was created as an act of preservation. In order to save the history of their culture and Christianity, Cyril and Methodius translated the works into a more Greek-like alphabet. Teaching the language to their students began its spread over approximately twenty years in the 9th Century.
As the standard of the Russian language, it is perhaps this history that keeps much of the flowering of Russian Literature so focused on "recording" culture and history. Tolstoy documented war and its impact on a family over generations. Turgenev turned toward culture in danger of losing its way. Chekhov saw the reality of life needed to be better communicated to those fortunate enough to carry the alphabet from the nearly 3500 9th Century students of Cyril and Methodius who were expelled during the throes of political turmoil.
Alexander Pushkin is the voice of his life and history. Through his consistent narration, we not only better know him but the life of an expanding empire - most importantly - that cherishs its history.
Born into a nobel family, Pushkin brought with him 500 years of family history and deep love of Russian culture. Ironically, young Alexander was taught French at the direction of his parents (also writers) only to learn Russian from the help in his house especially his nanny, Arina Rodionovna. His talent became visible after he went to an imperial school. In addition, his rebellious political streak also became known and led him into trouble.
At first, Pushkin was renowned (and even exiled) for his poetry. They grew in length to epic proportions following his study of Lord Byron. His first major success was 1830's drama "Boris Godunov." Because of his involvement in the Decemberist uprising, Pushkin's works were unpublished by the emperor, so Pushkin traveled (as much as he was allowed) and worked on several historical novels.
His first work of prose originated in the search for information on his maternal great-grandfather, Abram Petrovich Gannibal. "The Moor of Peter The Great" sees Abram reconfigured as Ibrahim, an African-born child of Peter The Great. What is fascinating about the story is not the clash of cultures, but Pushkin infusing each with an overwhelming sense of duty. Around the characters, society sees the rise and fall of its players. Ibrahim has an affair with a French countess (and perhaps they have a baby - no spoilers.) Yet Ibrahim's life is completely changed in her eyes. So we are not necessarily sympathetic but understand the forces that are drawing them together. When the affair must end, it draws to a close almost like a costume drama where the Countess is allowed to visit Ibrahim - but only if the Count is present.
So there is a sense of attachment to the story from Pushkin. However as his command of detail winds us through the story, one is never lost to the predictable. You know tragedy is coming. You know that after he leaves France for Russia with his true father, this is not his world. Pushkin allows you to gaze upon its majesty and prepare for the stares of those scaling up and down the same ladder that Turgenev references.
At this point, your judgement of Ibrahim as a reader is primed for change. Is he a good character? Can he judge how much people combine his pedigree and race? Or does he see people around him who respect one and tolerate the other?
And then Pushkin apparently just stopped. In the beginning, he wrote some 30 or 40 pages and read it to friends with mixed results. Just as his exile was concluding, Pushkin (like Ibrahim) met a beautiful woman and fell in love. This time (for them both) he would not be so cavalier about it. Proverbial wild oats sown, Pushkin settled down with Natalia Goncharova. Significantly younger than him and Countess-like in her flirtatious ways, Pushkin was happy but growing suspicious. In 1836, with rumors of an affair mounting, Pushkin challenged the possible suitor Georges d'Anthes to a duel with pistols. d'Anthes not only refused the duel, but fell in love and married Natalia's sister, Ekaterina. Still Pushkin was dogged by rumors of Georges and his wife. In February 1837 on the shore of the Black River, d'Anthes walked their paces away from each other. d'Anthes drew first and fatally shot Pushkin. Two days later, Pushkin died.
Later that year, "The Moor" was finally published nearly 10 years after Pushkin started it. While it was as unfinished as the life of its author, it led to the discovery of four more unfinished novels that would establish him as the voice of Russian Romantic literature.
NEW MUSIC THIS WEEK
JULIEN BAKER AND TORRES - Send A Prayer My Way [BLUE LP/CD](Matador/Redeye)
Like Plains or even Baker's other project Boygenius, there is an innate power in women singing to each other and together. "Sugar In The Tank" is one of those songs that could be a country hit if given to the right duo. Baker and Torres know how to tease the humor out of it and still allow the emotion of wanting someone to breath in. "Dirt" is even more threadbare, but less obvious in its sweet melancholy about addiction. As the pair hit the long high notes, it is not showing off - it is showing their vulnerability to each other first and then the rest of us.
TUNDE ADEBIMPE - Thee Black Bolts [LP/CD](SubPop/AMPED)
Finding himself as an actor after a electrifying first chapter as the singer of TV On The Radio, Adebimpe returns to music with nervy ("Magnetic") new Pop ("Drop.") However, if he is really looking for the lightning strike here - it is how well he "acts" while elevating the hate-those-around-me criticisms of "God Knows" to true frustration and teeth-gritting evaluation during the verse only to use the chorus as the ultimate release of it all.
HAWKWIND - There Is No Space For Us [LP/CD](Cherry Red UK)
Dave Brock's Hawkwind saw (another) new beginning on the epic sweep of "Stories of Time and Space." "There Is No" seems to be willingly to explore inner space with long, winding instrumental passages, dreamy background vocals and more. There is a mesmeric edge to these whispery meditations. "A Long, Long, Way From Home" is quite the coda. It spins along on its axis of windy melodies and then a wizened Brock gives its single lyric as its ending.
YHWH NAILGUN - 45 Pounds (Many Hats UK)
One of 2025s most exciting new acts, YHWH Nailgun (pron. as "Yahweh") combine a distinct percussive thrust with a thunderous, but never too loud, sense of writing. Like classic aggro Post-Punk or a quieter AmRep band, their attack is definite from the first second. However, YHWH Nailgun is only out to overwhelm with the spread of their instrumental prowess and relentless drive. "Castrato Raw (Fullback)" has more in common with Battles and That Petrol Emotion than Black Midi. The hits are HUGE. The change is jarring. However, it never feels unnatural or added to the music for show. "Iron Feet" could be Metal in other hands. Instead, they play the space like This Heat and drill every one of its industrial-styled squelches in you like a hook. While, they lose a little edge later in the album (honestly, keeping up that pace would not show their depth,) their inventive sound demonstrates a ton of ideas and musical shifts are in the future.
MELVINS 1983 - Thunderball [BLUE SMOKE LP/CD] (Ipecac/The Orchard)
Slow, ponderosa and still their own undefinable brand of Metal (is it Doom? Is it Sludge?,) the other incarnation of the Melvins return with a bracing five-song opus that borders on Punk and Prog. With Dale Crover sitting this one out, drummer Mike Dillard joins Buzz Crover to bash away at various speeds. Where "Thunderball" differs is in the new additions of "noise merchants" Ni Maitres and Void Manes. Suddenly, there are electronic bursts and near-industrial jarring sounds. Over the nine minutes of the triumphant "Victory of the Pyramids," they twist the time signatures and add just enough chaos to make it a thrilling origin story/history.
SCRATCH ACID - The Greatest Gift [LP/CD](Touch and Go)
Before the kaBOOM AmerIndie/Post-Punk of The Jesus Lizard, Messrs David Yow and David Wm.Sims served up some Volcano Suns-meets-BH Surfers-in-a-dark-alley RAWK. Drummer Rey Washam (future Ministry, TAD and those aforementioned Surfers) gives these songs a big-tom backdrop and PiL-ish sideways swing. However, Sims and Yow know how to bring the noise into the empty space. "Owner's Lament" is haunting and adds beautiful strings. The title track recalls the danger of The Cramps. While "Lay Screaming" pours on the effects until it pummels you with both Sims' direct bass and Yow's slapback-echo laden screams. In the end, it is evident to latch on to their minimal Birthday Party-isms - but far better to harness just how this playing near the loss of control was about to usher in a key Nineties sound and thrust.
