WAR AND PEACE

So now there are three Russian artists that I really like and have in my collection - Modest Mussorgsky, The Gorishankar, and now Pandora Snail. While I know there are other decomposing composers out there and probably other artists that I would enjoy, I haven't really taken an interest in the former and remain ignorant of the latter.

When these folks invited me to try out and review their new album, I happened to be in a receptive mood for new music. I think it wouldn't have mattered if I wasn't in a receptive mood as when I started the first track I was immediately blown away. It isn't often music gives me goosebumps, but when it does, I become hooked for life.

I'd love to know who actually influenced them. I am detecting some heavy Jean-Luc Ponty, Darryl Way, Dixie Dregs without the bluegrass, even a touch of Stereolab (no violin there) thrown in.

If you haven't checked them out, there is a lot of concert material available on youtube. And after all, a good live video is worth at least a thousand words.

(Tip: use Chrome and allow it to translate the text when you pull up the videos, unless you can read Cyrillic.)