Happy Monday, textual deviants!
This week on Texting, Tomek and I explore the music as well as the cultural and political impact of the 1980s Soviet rock band Кино (Kino). Our textual focus is the band’s most famous song «Хочу перемен!» (“We Want Changes!”), but during our freewheeling conversation we also touch upon the life and career of Kino’s songwriter and bandleader Виктор Цой (Viktor Tsoi) as depicted in the 2018 musical film «Лето» (“Summer”). Near the end of the pod, I was prompted, for some reason, to consider the etymological implications of the word “aesthetics.” I hope someone out there can explain to me what I was on about.
Next week, as promised, we will discuss Gore Vidal’s essay “Drugs.”
MW
P.S. Since this episode was recorded, I realized that my favorite Kino song is «Группа крови» (“Blood Type”). Do you, like me, hear echoes of Television’s “Marquee Moon”?
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