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Artist description
Soviet is an electro-pop outfit, blending the sounds of yesterday with today. |
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Music Style
Electro-pop/rock |
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Musical Influences
Kraftwerk, Men Without Hats, China Crisis, Pulsars, Human League, OMD, slowdive, Eno, Talk Talk |
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Similar Artists
Kraftwerk, Men Without Hats, China Crisis, Pulsars, Human League, OMD, slowdive, Eno, Talk Talk, Japan, Gary Numan, Alpine stars, Depeche Mode, Yaz, Erasure, Suicide, Silver Apples. |
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Artist History
Somewhere between Budapest and the Bering Strait lies a land of contrasts. A place where red squares, black seas, and white tundra inspired a revolution in early filmaking. And while names like Eisenstein, Pudovkin, and Vertov enjoy little notoriety outside of college campuses and film schools, their spirit lives on in Soviet ---musical brainchild and alter ego of another hardly household name: Keith Ruggiero.Whereas the Russians innovated in terms of editing film, Soviet's focus is squarely on the idea creating meaning and weaving a story through the juxtapositioning and manipulation of sound. Substituting synthesizers for celluloid, Soviet piles one sonic building block on another, creating aural montages that evoke powerful emotions and images. Think OMD, Ultravox, or Kraftwerk. Even think Devo. But don't think "retro" or "techno." Because while Soviet borrows respectfully from the past, its sound and subject matter are distinctly modern.Ruggiero likens Soviet to a cross between "cold robotocism and real emotions and feelings." This apt description reflects the sharp contrast between the music's mechanical nature and the band's fragile lyrics. Indeed, the lyrics embody Soviet's private revolution against the mass inertia that seems to pervade the modern world. "As we trudge through life these days, everybody is becoming a robot or wants one," laments Ruggiero.Instead of using technology as a crutch, Soviet wields it as a tool to give the band complete control of its musical palette. And instead of using technology to seperate the human from the being, the band uses it to shine a cold light on the realities of modern existence and time-tested alienation.Although the name Soviet did not surface until early 1999 with the arrival of its first full length album, the band was officially born in 1995 when Ruggiero began to tinker with a four-track recorder. Fluctuating between just Ruggiero and as many as five members, the band has consistently championed a simple formula: Soviet=Equality. This apolitical philosophy is, like much of Soviet's existence, paradoxical ---the band's goal is to create an equal connection from the performer/audience seperation. Soviet's latest construction with collaborator and fellow band member Chris Otchy, 2001's "We Are Eyes, We Are Builders" takes the band's story one level higher. And all things being equal (as Soviet would have it), the band seems poised for a grander stage. |
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Group Members
Keith Ruggiero:vocals,synths, programmingChris Otchy:synths, programming Greg Kochan:Rythm n Bass synth, Kenan Gunduz:Guitars, Amanda Lynn: Rythm synth |
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Instruments
whatever sounds right. |
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Albums
We Are Eyes, We Are Builders |
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Press Reviews
Check out:
Spin Magazine with Weezer on the cover
Fader Magazine with The Roots on the Cover
Alternative Press, Bands you need to know in 02
Vice magazine, Electroclash
Paper Magazine, with Patricia Arquette on the cover |
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Location
NY, NY - USA |
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