Artist description Commissar Vanishing, an acoustic group founded by Tristra Newyear (vocals) and Ilya Temkin (guitar and bandura), plays original songs frequently based on East European and American vocal and instrumental traditions. In drawing on traditional material, CV tries to express the edge and the great emotional depth of this music, which has too often been served to North American audiences in a milquetoast fashion, and to make traditions alive and relevant to modern listeners.

Music Style acoustic

Musical Influences East European traditional music; Mediaeval music; hard rock; Yuri Naumov

Similar Artists Dead Can Dance; Joan Armatrading; Michael Hedges

Artist History Formed in 1998, Commissar Vanishing has performed widely across the U.S., in Moscow, Russia, and in Elista, Kalmykia. CV's debut CD, Hollow Stone, was released January 2000. CV has collaborated with a variety of different traditional musicians such as Buryat-Mongolian throat singers, Ukrainian bandurists, and Russian chansoniers.

Group Members Ilya Temkin (guitar, bandura, hurdy-gurdy)Tristra Newyear (vocals)Laura Biagi (percussion, vocals)

Instruments acoustic guitar, bandura, vocals

Albums Hollow Stone

Press Reviews "...wonderful live music."--Village Voice, April 1999"For acoustic music, this is as close to hard rock as it gets in terms of honesty and power." --Psoy Korolenko, Overground Music Newsletter, Moscow, 2000

Location New York, NY - USA

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