Today for the the Global Music Project we’re going to be taking a look at a great four piece rock group from Novosibirsk, Russia called Yago-E-Aboo. (Although they claim to be from Moscow on their Myspace page.) They are currently signed to an independent label called Mimonot and have just released their debut album through said label for free. For a band that’s still in the somewhat formative stages, they’ve managed to make a stellar record on par with most anything being churned out the major labels. Sonically, Yago-E-Aboo is equal parts futuristic vocals and forward thinking song structure.
According to an earlier interview done with the group’s vocalist, Vasily Bogdanov, “It’s as if the words have melted into the sound,” and I couldn’t agree more. In fact, the vocals are what really drew me to listen to more of their music after finding them on Myspace, and apparently I’m not the only one. After laying in the depths of Myspace’s nether regions for quite some time, they have been been picking up some steam lately on the site and are close to 20,000 page views, up from only about 200 views a few months prior.
As is par for the course when doing most of the Global Music Project articles, I can’t understand the lyrics as they are in Russian. However, where I previously had to glean emotional meaning from the tone of the vocals, with Yago-E-Aboo there is another level all together to be found. It’s almost as if the vocals are another instrument unto themselves, not unlike Sigur Ros singing in a made up language. Furthermore, whether through natural or effected means, there is an ethereal and otherworldly quality to Bogdanov’s voice that really completes the music.
Yago-E-Aboo’s sound does not stop at the vocals however. Instrumentally speaking, everything I’ve heard from the group is a very honest and well thought out blend of spacey and atmospheric guitar tones mixed with subtle pop-rock songwriting structure. Drummer Egor Lemanovski also keeps things moving with a skilled mix of hyper dance influenced beats and minimalist snare or kick drum only sections as needed. The result is something very contemporary yet not the least bit plagiarized.
Here are some links:
Myspace
YouTube
Download Yago-E-Aboo’s Album
Much thanks go out to a blog called Far From Moscow for clearing up some of the details about the group I couldn’t get from their Myspace page.
Although it’s set to some weird anime, here is Yago-E-Aboo’s song entitled “Maximum.”
Fine Filter 