Psst, want to know a secret? The awesomeness of this blog is mostly due to its readers, especially the ones who respond through comments either here or on the Learn Russian Facebook fanpage. But of course, that’s no secret. I’ve said so before. You also know that I love having guests over on this blog. So as soon as I see someone commenting often and adding interesting bits to the discussion, I get in touch with them and ask if they’d like to be my guest bloggers.

Well, I’m very excited today because today’s post comes from one of the readers who is also one of the most prolific and helpful commentators. So without further ado, here’s the post from Natalie.

First of all I’d like to say hello to all of the readers. My name is Natalie and you may know me as Minority from the comments. Today I’d like to tell you something about «русскийрок» [Russian rock] (by the way, the word «рок» also has another meaning in Russian – “fate”, “doom”, and usually it is used when we talk about bad luck).

The 80s and early 90s were «самыйзначительныйпериод» [the most significant period] of Russian rock’s evolution. It was the time when «бунтарисмоглиговоритьбезопаски» [rebels could talk without fears]. Maybe their music wasn’t ingenious at all, but «вданномслучаеслова – этоглавное» [lyrics are the most important thing in this case]. I bet most of their songs have already become classic. You can hear them «у костра влесу» [by a campfire in the forest] or from a guy with a guitar «наулице» [in the street].

It wouldn’tbe an exaggeration to say that «Кино» [Kino] was the most popular rock band of the 80s in the USSR. Why? Who knows… Maybe because they weren’t afraid to experiment with musical styles. May be they were just lucky. But I guess the main reason of their success was «харизматический лидер группы, Виктор Цой» [the charismatic leader of the band, Viktor Tsoi]. To me he wasn’t at all a good vocalist, but there was something in his voice which made you want to listen to him again and again. It was like «проникновенный шепот, заставляющиймурашкибегатьвверхивнизпоспине» [soulful whisper causing shivers to run up and down your spine]. I’m not a big fan of Tsoi, but he has many fans in Russia. Though he died 20 years ago, lots of people continue to say: «Цой – жив!» [Tsoi lives!]. And I guess everyone will be glad to see Tsoi’s wall on the Arbat in Moscow.

«ДДТ» [DDT] is the second band I’d like to tell about. First of all, thanks to this band every person in Russia knows «что такое осень» [what autumn is]. It’s hard to find out what really to write about its works. DDT was founded in 1980. And moreover, it «до сих пор существует» [still exists]! It is one of the most successful and prolific Russian musical groups of the 20^th century. It’s just worth to be listened to. «ЮрийШевчук» [Yuriy Shevchuk], the leader of this band, is a really interesting person. And when he sings his songs you can’t not trust him, he’s so sincere.

And «Машинавремени» [Mashina Vremeni] is a real time-travelling machine! It was founded in 1969 and still exists too. Its repertoire varies a lot. They played rock, rock-n-roll, blues and even country music. «Составгруппынеоднократноменялся» [the group has changed several times] but one of the founders, «Андрей Макаревич» [Andrey Makarevich] is still in the group. I remember a lot of their songs since childhood. I liked to sing «о марионетках исинейптице» [about marionettes and a blue bird] though I didn’t understand the real meaning of these songs. I guess that means these songs fit any age.

And as a bonus I will add one of my favorite songs (wow, second song about marionettes.. that’s strange) without telling about the band. Thanks for reading!