Album "Neznayka" (2022) by Peter Mamonov & Sounds of Moo
Содержание
Stranger (2022) - The last studio album by Sounds of Moo, released in 2022 after the death of the band's producer and lead singer Pyotr Nikolaevich Mamonov. It consists of 2 parts and contains 18 compositions in total. Genre: jazz, psychedelic rock.
On Fuzz Music channel we have already released a video dedicated to the anniversary of Pyotr Mamonov's death. Fans of his creative work wept, and newsfeeds began to quote his "last words" with excitement. His wife often lamented that none of the artist's friends had bothered to provide even the slightest material assistance: it came to the point that Olga Mamonova used her own money to install a monument on the grave of her husband who had left her - the widow admitted this in an interview dedicated to the anniversary of Pyotr's death.
15 July 2022 is released not just a collection of raw works, but a full album by Mamonov's band Sounds of Moo called "Stranger Things."! The musicians and Peter's only manager in the person of his wife Olga did not sit idly by and finished the last "creative outburst" of the epathetic hero from the 90s. The album really turned out to be complete, with its logical structure and Mamonov's crowning metaphorical messages.
About the meaning of the album
In fact, the record "Neznayka" combined all the genres that fascinated Pyotr Nikolaevich Mamonov: Russian acoustic jazz, new-fangled dark folk, and, of course, psychedelic rock! As it seems, Mamonov was particularly partial to musical psychedelics.I've never been able to fully open up in it, and that's a pity. But he never had time to fully open up in it, and it's a pity.....
As reported by the members of "Mu Group", "Neznayka" is not just a big collection of songs that Mamonov didn't finish or that he just didn't want to publish. On the contrary, all compositions are the result of his creative search for almost 10 years! The songs were recorded and put away in a secret drawer, especially dear to Pyotr Nikolayevich's heart. Call it what you want, but we believe that it was the publication of these songs that the author was so afraid of, and it was what he dreamed of... Whatever it was, the recording was finally completed by 2020and some of the compositions Mamonov even performed at his concerts - it was not only a pleasant bonus for visitors, but also a kind of "running-in" of the material before its release.
Interesting facts
Of course, all of the songs presented were recorded with a new line-up called Brand New Sounds of Moo. Why they chose the old band name for the album release is unclear. But there is no denying that the sound of the album has a very young and in many ways eccentric colouring, and the profound verses and bright choruses will appeal even to those who are completely unfamiliar with the work of Pyotr Mamonov.
Interestingly, from a formal point of view, "Neznayka" is not Mamonov's latest project. The release of compositions from his unfinished collection "How I read Isaac the Syrian." is dated much later, but it so happened that it was the album with the title of Nikolai Nosov's work that became Pyotr Nikolaevich's peculiar testament.
What is the main message of the album? It is difficult to determine unambiguously, because in all of Mamonov's work, avant-gardism and creative confusion can be traced. Each composition contains a metaphor, author's message and a kind of moralising. But attentive listeners immediately noticed a particularly acute theme raised by the musician since his early work - the theme of small people, the composition of the small and weak manor rather, a little man, in an evil and aggressive world. It is possible that he took this idea from Christian teachings and his personal religious speculations....
As Mamonov's relatives admit, all his life he had been flitting from one extreme to another. He would gather entire stadiums and concert venues, or he would even become a bit of a misfit. hermit. Peter Nikolaevich tried himself in the cinema, but he did it so peculiarly that even old fans were amazed at the boldness and epatasticity of the events taking place on the screen with the participation of Mamonov.
About some of the songs on the album
The album "Neznayka" consists of two parts. Some songs are author's quotation of Nikolai Nosov with musical accompaniment, and many songs are kind of detached from the thematic direction of the album. In general we can say that the album is quite heavy and even brings back sad memories: for example, the songs "Flying away" and "Bonobo" are able to plunge the listener into incredible nostalgia, taking his thoughts far beyond reality. So many feelings and memories of the author himself are invested in these compositions that you stop wondering why Peter was so reluctant to release them until the last moment.. After all, it is such memories that make up the soul depth of any person - the experience of the past is superimposed on the feeling of the world, and creates that unique image that we appreciate in the people around us. And even in short people like Neznayka there is such an image....
I would like to pay special attention to the song "Girls". Pyotr Mamonov in monotonous phrases "girls need..." does not just talk about basic female needs for male attention... He talks about the very essence of female nature, showing its underside to the male part of listeners. Cheerful jazz musical accompaniment sets the mood for seriousness and allows you to fully immerse yourself in the idea that the author is trying to convey: "girls need to let her forget her grief". If all young people acted according to the precepts of the inimitable Mamonov, then maybe there would be much more romance in our world. The song itself lasts more than eleven minutes, but it doesn't bore you at all, and gives you a full-fledged "drowning" in yourself - just in the best traditions of psychedelic music, which Mamonov respected so much during his lifetime.
The listeners also liked the composition called "Nikolai" very much. The guitar accompaniment in the style of Quentin Tarantino's films literally recreates the line of Mamonov's acute drama. The last song of the album tells about a fictional character Nikolai, and in the last minutes the author even admits that it's a fairy tale. We won't share spoilers about the relationship between the sheriff and his old outlaw friend, who met at the fateful moment. But we will definitely advise you to listen to the song several times in succession to understand what kind of friendship Mamonov really dreamed of. And this fabulous Nikolai was closer to him than all the so-called friends in his lifetime, who did not even support the artist's family after his death...
Peter Mamonov's will
The second ten tracks open with songs about the fairy-tale town of Neznayka with unchanging quotations. Why was "Neznayka" chosen in particular? Here is what Mamonov himself said about it even in the pre-release state of the album:
"I collect vinyl records. And I started collecting Soviet speech records on 10-inch records. I came across a radio version of The Adventures of Neznayka and realised - it's about our life!"
Pyotr Nikolayevich doesn't say it openly in any of the songs on the album, but the idea he is trying to convey is very complex and at the same time so ordinary. Neznayka tries to draw his friends, tries all night, but in the morning no one likes his extraordinary creativity. Neznayka tries to compose poems about other guys, but no one can understand that his "fiction for the sake of rhyme" is not only quite acceptable to creative people, but even sounds great. Nobody can understand... This is what happens with all "little people", whose creative potential and inner world turn out to be much wider than the consciousness of an ordinary person, much richer than everyday life, filled with anger and contempt for any deviation from the so-called "norm".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jowuu3oz1gE
This is the main tragedy of Pyotr Nikolayevich Mamonov's life. He finds hundreds and thousands of fans all over Russia, but he is still afraid of being misunderstood and unheard. He gathers concert halls and energetically "freaks" at every performance, but he is afraid of evil and cold contempt. But his mental strength and inner confidence tell one of the main musical avant-gardists of the post-Soviet era: he needs to keep working. To search for oneself day and night, to teach people a lot, to show them how limited the world around them is. Don't feel sorry for yourself, forget about commercialism and continuously express yourself. Otherwise, the little man inside will never find peace of mind.....