группа "Люмены".
Кавер версия композиции Центра "Я все умею" с альбома "Тяга к технике" (1984).

Люмены: "Я все умею"

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Shimmer And Glow

Нас никогда не было

My first colaboration with ЛЮМЕНЫ project

ЛЮМЕНЫ и Lisandra – Здравствуй, это я!

The Moscow outfit known as Lumeny (i.e., "Люмены") is keen to evoke one period in Russian history. More specifically, these musicians "combine the finest traditions of Western Kraut- and indie-rock with the romance of the Soviet '60s. They've been doing so for more than ten years now..." The appeal of that unique melange is underlined with talk of prior success enjoyed by Lumeny around the Russian capital. And yet we see a ten-year gap between the band's two publications on Bandcamp (2003-2013). Professional aspirations and targets have perhaps been as elusive as those civic fantasies of the 1960s. Just as Khrushchev's social planning would fall victim by October 1964 to the grey suits of Brezhnev's supporters, so Lumeny arguably yearn for a wider recognition of their stargazing ideals.

Romance and reality go head to head. The theme of fleeting desire - and any related frustration - has always been uppermost in the band's lyrics, whether or not new compositions are being published in those fallow years.

Something light, even weightless...

An older, archived version of the Lumeny website still traces the group's activity back to January 2002 and a debut concert in Moscow. A review in Russia's NME at the time drew parallels with Cocteau Twins and Kid Loco. "This is slightly nervous music, in no apparent need of public attention. Sudden applause would even spoil the impression. It's all suggestive of a dandelion: something light, even weightless..." The same journalist then went on to suggest that these wistful sounds could be found in other local outfits. Worries about the future were widespread.

Evanescing ideals certainly emerge in Lumeny songs such as "Vremya, leti" (Time, Fly): "We sought, we called out. We forgot... and [only] then each moment came into being. We found our future in each and every second. The stars flickered and the towns shone, too." All manner of phenomena are subject to instability: they float in and out of view. Neither ostensible reality nor its professional opportunities are in evidence for long.

And yet, just like the Soviet 1960s, the enduring charm of "stars and distant towns" results from the fact they did not stay visible for long. The briefer the pleasure, the greater its resonance.

David MacFadyen www.farfrommoscow.com

13 hello, it's me [Zdravstvuy, Eto Ya]

01 Otschet Kupayuschikhsya / отсчет купающихся / bathers by numbers

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http://sleepybassrecordings.co.uk/index.php/slbr024-family-sleepy-bass-recordings

01 Otschet Kupayuschikhsya / отсчет купающихся / bathers by numbers

lumeny [moscow]

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