Posted in Whathaveyou on September 15th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
You might not always know what Russian progressive heavy rockers The Grand Astoria are up to on any given day, but rest assured they’re always up to something. The restless and accordingly prolific outfit are looking to raise funds for an impending European tour — their umpteenth, to be specific — and have issued a new single, “Masterplan,” in order to help pay for stuff like having merch made, gas, food, lodging, etc. Their asking price for a download? A euro. I’ve seen crowdfunding efforts asking way more and delivering way less than the hook of the new track from the ever-expansive outfit.
The Grand Astoria released an acoustic EP earlier this summer called Soft Focus, and already have a 2015 full-length under their collective belt in the classically-vibing The Mighty Few, as well as a split with Samavayo that Setalight Records released as a 10″ (review here), but next up seems to be a split between all the bands associated with The Grand Astoria‘s members, whether it’s The Legendary Flower Punk or, presumably, Lucifer in the Sky with Diamonds.
Cool things in the works. Here’s the info and track stream:
Hello dear heavy psych lovers and friends of The Grand Astoria Here is the new electric song by yours truly. It will be a part of the very special The Grand Astoria Family split record which will also include new music from The Legendary Flower Punk, Organic Is Orgasmic and our other side-projects!
We decided to publish the first song from it to raise some funds for our forthcoming tour! We need to rent a van, print the merch, pay for the studio so every dime will be really appreciated!!! And the most important – THIS SONG IS REALLY WORTH IT Enjoy and share!
Posted in On Wax, Reviews on July 23rd, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Released to mark a month-long tour together earlier this year, the Setalight Records split 10″ between Berlin heavy rockers Samavayo and Russian genrenauts The Grand Astoria holds a few surprises along the way. Pressed to black vinyl, it’s a follow-up to Samavayo‘s 2014 joint release with One Possible Option, and for The Grand Astoria, who’ve worked with Setalight in the past on 2014’s La Belle Epoque (review here), as well as 2013’s Punkadelica Supreme (review here) and several other short releases along the way.
Though on paper it might seem like an awkward pairing — come to think of it, just about anybody paired with The Grand Astoria is kind of awkward on paper; their sound is expansive, and they’re more than capable songwriters, but you never quite know what they’re going to do next — they mesh pretty well, and with a side split between them, both bands give a quick glimpse at where they’re at stylistically without completely losing a thread going one into the other.
One might notice The Grand Astoria‘s skull-headed mascot on the cover art by Sophia Miroedova walking away from a temple — or maybe having his portrait painted in front of it? — over which Samavayo‘s sun-style logo resides in the sky. Both acts, then, are represented, one perhaps more subtly than the other. It’s much the same way with the music. On side A, Samavayo offer two tracks: “Intergalactic Hunt” (4:03) and “Soul out of Control” (8:06), while on side B, The Grand Astoria reaffirm their shift toward progressive rock with “Kobaïa Express” (11:30).
Each cut is distinct from those around it, one way or another, and “Intergalactic Hunt” stands out for its immediate sense of movement, the guitar of Behrang Alavi (also vocals) setting a tight rhythm that drummer/backing vocalist Stephan Voland and bassist/backing vocalist Andreas Voland match both in groove and nuance, building and releasing tension in the instrumental verses and chorus of the first half before shifting in the second to a bridge that gradually leads them back to where they started, the guitar line that started it all serving also as the leadout. Fitting somehow for Samavayo in terms of showing their range that they should go from an entirely instrumental track to one centered almost completely on its vocal hook.
Well, “almost completely” is a stretch. “Soul out of Control” still has its riff — a more laid back chug over which Alavi calls to mind any number of ’90s alt melodies — and at eight minutes, there’s plenty of room for Samavayo to give the song a sense of space. They do precisely that, even slowing down over the last two minutes to march the way out, but “Soul out of Control” remains a deceptively quick listen for topping eight minutes, and that too suits Samavayo well, their songwriting always at the core no matter how expansive a given track may or may not be.
And speaking of expansive, The Grand Astoria‘s “Kobaïa Express” takes its name from the fictional planet created by Magma drummer Christian Vander — or at least from the train that presumably gets you there with the minimum of stops en route — and is presented in the accompanying alien language, a morass of syllables sometimes closer to Italian, sometimes more Slavic depending on where the music is going in any particular movement. And it does go. Recorded as the six-piece of Kamille Sharapodinov (vocals, electric and acoustic guitar), Danila Danilov (vocals, keys, flute), Eugene Korolkov (bass), Vladimir Zinoviev (drums), and Igor Suvorov (lead guitar) with Ravil Azizov on clarinet, “Kobaïa Express” is nigh on visionary progressive metal, at times operatic and at times grinding, but always precise, heavy and intricately constructed.
The Grand Astoria have already followed this split up with a two-song full-length titled The Mighty Few on which each track tops 20 minutes, so we know it’s not as far as they’ll push into fleshing out arrangements and the like, but “Kobaïa Express” thrills nonetheless for its direct Magma-ism and the poise the band demonstrates throughout, and Samavayo‘s inclusions, both of which were recorded at the end of last year, bode well for what they might do on their own next outing. If nothing else, the moral of the story with their split would seem to be that that must have been one hell of a tour. Even though it’s long since over, the scope both bands show here does justice to the fact that they got together in the first place and unites in unexpected ways across a bridge of progressive stylization and heavy craftsmanship.
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 12th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
Released by the band in a hand-painted box in an edition of ONE copy, The Beginner’s Guide to The Grand Astoria includes nine CDs, two 7″s and a plethora of other pieces of memorabilia: backstage passes, stickers, and so on, plus some stuff from Kamille Sharapodinov‘s side-project. It’s really more than just a beginner’s guide, considering it’s everything, but an impressive assemblage all the same, and even more tempting since it’s put together personally by the band and they’re only doing one of them.
The Grand Astoria are a hard band to keep up with. The prolific Russian rockers have, by my count, six releases out this year. Two are singles, one is a 29-minute track on a split with Argentina’s Montenegro, one’s a live record, one is a front-to-back cover of Black Flag‘s The Process of Weeding Out EP, and most recent is the full-length La Belle Epoque, which was released in September. It can be an overwhelming amount of material, but if you were ever thinking of diving in headfirst, The Beginner’s Guide to The Grand Astoria would at very least mean you’re all caught up. For now.
Here’s the post from Sharapodinov on the auction for the box, which seems to be taking place on Thee Facebooks:
Okay folks! I promised something special for the real fans and supporters of THE GRAND ASTORIA and my other projects! Here is the box hand-painted by our lovely Sophia Miroedova which includes 9 CDs of The Grand Astoria, 2 seven inch singles of The Grand Astoria, 2 CDs of The Legendary Flower Punk with latest albums, 9 backstage passes from different festivals we played during these years, gently saved by me for this very moment, 1 ticket for our very FIRST SHOW EVER and also 1 sticker. I want only 130 euro (plus shipping costs) for this box.
Only one single copy in the whole world was made Because I am not sure how many of you may want to buy this – I decided to start an auction for this beauty which actually starts right now and will end on 22-00 (Russian time) on 18th of November 2014. If nobody is interested – I will put it to ebay later. All the money will support my recent music activities and I will really appreciate any sum! Put your bid under this post! Thank you and go ahead, first bid is 130 euro.
Posted in Reviews on August 16th, 2013 by JJ Koczan
Russian heavy rockers The Grand Astoria have traveled a long way in a relatively short amount of time. With a seemingly amorphous lineup surrounding multi-instrumentalist/vocalist/principle songwriter Kamille Sharapodinov and guitarist Igor Suvarov, the band has made a point of refusing to settle either in terms of their sound or their work ethic. Amidst a handful of European tours, The Grand Astoria have released three prior albums — 2009’s I (review here), 2010’s II (review here) and 2011’s Omnipresence (review here) — the 2013 live album Good Food – Good Show! (streamed here) and a host of other singles, including a split with U.S. Christmas that coincided with a tour together. In short, they keep busy, and that extends to their latest full-length studio outing as well, the ambitiously-titled Punkadelica Supreme. While marrying influences ranging from classic metal to heavy psych and even throwing in a touch of bluegrass in opening intro “Welcome to the Club” and some prog metal on the 13:40 penultimate “Score,” The Grand Astoria — Sharapodinov, Suvarov and drummer Alexander Chebotarev — incorporate no fewer than four keyboardists, three bassists, the aforementioned banjo, a sitar and a metallophone. Outside of the core trio and backing vocalist Danila Danilov, who is fairly easy to spot, sorting out who is contributing what to which of Punkadelica Supreme‘s 13 tracks can be a confusing affair, and as the album reaches to a full 77-plus minutes, the band are making no bones about pushing the limits both of their own creativity and of the CD format itself to which it’s pressed in a six-panel foldout digipak released through Setalight Records with well-drawn and stylized artwork by Sophia Miroedova, featuring The Grand Astoria‘s unnamed mascot who has graced all of their covers to date. With that kind of runtime, it is an expansive outing in more than just its sonic breadth. Each of The Grand Astoria‘s prior studio efforts was longer than its predecessor, but even Omnipresence was a full 20 minutes shorter than Punkadelica Supreme, and with the proliferation of extended solos and jams between bursts of metallic crunch and the other experimental elements, it is a challenge to sort out the purposes one song even as it leads into the next.
That’s not to say it’s not worth the effort of doing so — an attentive listen pays dividends — just that the likelihood of the average listener being able to dedicate 77 minutes solid of their attention span to Punkadelica Supreme‘s twists and turns seems slim, particularly as the jammy, sitar and metallophone-ized “Space Orchid vs. Massive Drumkit” arrives ultra-hypnotic prior to the halfway point in the tracklist. Standout moments like the Tool reference at the beginning of “Street Credit” and the locked-in, immediate groove of the later “To Cross the Rubicon” provide landmarks along the way, but by the time second cut “Slave of Two Masters” has reached its massive, lead-laden peak, the solos have stretched upwards of eight minutes and though the opener, on which Sharapodinov sets up a narrative of looking forward to and then finally being at a show and it being great, is lacking nothing for charm, that narrative is lost almost immediately and doesn’t seem to come up again until track 10, “King Has Left the Building,” on which the famous clip of Horace Lee Logan informing the screaming young girls in his audience that Elvis is gone is aired, and even that’s kind of a stretch bringing it back to the opener. You could argue that the 1:23 instrumental jam “Intermission” that closes after “Score” is part of it as well, and that everything between is the meat of the show that you as “the audience” are experiencing. With as far out as they go sonically, I’m not sure that’s enough to tie that together, so if it’s a setup, it’s one that goes more or less without an answer. What we get instead is a richly varied but ultimately consistent — surprisingly so considering the swath of personnel involved — collection of tracks that represent the boldest creative statement yet from The Grand Astoria. There may be a lot of it, but Punkadelica Supreme is rife with engaging stretches and fluid transitions. Sharapodinov has never sounded so confident as a frontman (the backing vocals of Danilov) also go a long way in complementing), and in the arrangements of extended cuts like “To Cross the Rubicon,” “Punkadelica Supreme,” “King Has Left the Building” and of course the monolithic “Score,” show payoff for the relentless creative growth he’s demonstrated as a songwriter over the course of The Grand Astoria‘s prior offerings.
The track “Then You Win” by prolific, always-busy Russian heavy rockers The Grand Astoria was released as a digital single earlier this year (streamed here), but as there’s a new 7″ version of the single out as a precursor to their latest full-length, Punkadelica Supreme, the St. Petersburg-based weirdo revelers decided they’d put together a video for it as well. Culled from footage from some recent shows in their native land, “Then You Win” gives those of us who may never get to see the band live some view of what we’re missing.
From the looks of it, plenty. The Grand Astoria never shy away from injecting their material with a healthy individualized sensibility, and “Then You Win” sets ’90s-style guitar crunch against some off-kilter melodies, resulting in a feel that — true to the upcoming album — isn’t quite punk, isn’t quite psych, somehow relatable to the Melvins but not seeming remotely interested in actually sounding like them. One of my favorite things about the band is that I have a hard time classifying them, and as they make ready to release Punkadelica Supreme, that doesn’t seem to have dissipated in the slightest.
Diagnosed with a terminal case of “the weird,” adventurous Russian heavy rockers The Grand Astoria are shortly to loose their latest full-length, Punkadelica Supreme. The St. Petersburg outfit have become stewards over the last couple years of the Russian riffy scene, touring around their native land and across Europe while keeping up a fairly prolific clip of singles, EPs and even a split with U.S. Christmas.
I’m not sure on the release date for Punkadelica Supreme, but The Grand Astoria posted a new video for the track “Feels Like Home,” directed by guitarist Igor Suvorov, and if you’re prone to seizures as a result of flashing lights, I can’t really advise checking it out, but for everyone else, it’s pretty rocking even if you put it on and just listen to the audio. Fuzz-toned and punk-shouting, given break in its stomp by organ, it sounds like The Grand Astoria are really shooting for the mark their title sets up.
Dig it:
The Grand Astoria, “Feels Like Home” Official Video
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 5th, 2013 by JJ Koczan
Something tells me that even if they didn’t live all the way in Russia, I’d probably have a hard time keeping up with The Grand Astoria. Maybe it’s the fact that every time I turn around, the St. Petersburg-based outfit have a new release coming, if not more than one. Their split with venerated North Carolinian psych merchants U.S. Christmas still fresh off the press, The Grand Astoria have announced three new works on the way — a single and a live album due in April and a new studio album due later in the year. As much music and info as I could get follow here, grabbed from The Grand Astoria Bandcamp and Thee Facebooks pages:
The Grand Astoria, Good Food – Good Show! (April 17)
A selection of live performances from different countries
1.Mania Grandiosa (Yellowstock,BE 2012) 2.Rat Race In Moscow (Yellowstock,BE 2012) 3.Evolution Of The Planet Groove (Yellowstock,BE 2012) 4.All The Same (St.Petersburg,RU 2013) 5.Omniabsence (Potsdam,DE 2011) 6.Something Wicked This Way Comes (Potsdam,DE 2011) 7.The Man.The Sun.The Desert (Seville,ES 2010) 8.Wikipedia Surfer (Preili,LV 2010) 9.Lenin Was A Mushroom (St.Petersburg,RU 2010) 10.Map Of The Starry Night (St.Petersburg,RU 2010) 11.Shoreline Melody (St.Petersburg,RU 2010)
The Grand Astoria, Punkadelica Supreme (Later 2013)
1.Welcome To The Club 2.Slave Of Two Masters 3.I Know 4.Punkadelia Supreme 5.Street Credit 6.Space Orchid vs Massive Drumkit 7.Dropping Aitches 8.Feels Like Home 9.To Cross The Rubicon 10.King Has Left The Building 11.Visualize 12.Score 13.Intermission
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 23rd, 2012 by JJ Koczan
Bit of a media blitz on this one, so bear with me. The Grand Astoria released the track “To Whom it May Concern” on a split with U.S. Christmas at the beginning of last month. The St. Petersburg, Russia, outfit went all out on it. The song is a 19-minute sprawl of psychedelic experimentation, rife with samples, winding riffs and ethereal flourishes and swirls. Don’t just take my word for it, though. They’ve put it up on their Bandcamp, so you can check it out here:
Pretty wild stuff. Over the course of their three albums — last year’s Omnipresence (review here), 2010’s II (review here) and 2009’s self-titled (On the Radar’ed here) — the band have quickly grown to cast a wide stylistic berth, but I think “To Whom it May Concern” is the farthest out The Grand Astoria have gone yet. Should be interesting to see what they do with it on tour, whether they strip it down or jam out on its space rocking elements. They hit the road on Friday, dates below (click to enlarge):
Ever ones for multi-media, they’ve also put together a video flyer for the run of shows, which they posted on the ol’ TubesofYou:
Now, they don’t really highlight it in there — presumably out of humility — but on this tour, The Grand Astoria will be taking part in Mudfest, which is happening Nov. 9-10 in Venlo, in the Netherlands, at Peron55. They’ll be playing with the likes of Sungrazer, Wheelfall, Kadavar, Black Bombaim, Glowsun and Belzebong on a stacked two-day bill. Here’s the poster for that one:
They’ve also announced they’ll play Roskilde Festival next year in Denmark. One would think this flurry of activity and the recently-issued split would be enough to keep The Grand Astoria busy, but according to a pic they recently posted on their Thee Facebooks, they’re also looking to have a new album out next spring. It may or may not be titled Punkadelica Supreme(though I certainly hope it is), and if you squint, you can check out the maybe-tracklisting below:
The really crazy part is, there’s probably more. I’m sure as we get closer to 2013 and the new album release, there’ll be further updates on The Grand Astoria and their manifold adventures, but that’s all my limited research skills could muster for the moment. In any case, plenty to look forward to, and if you want to check out more of their records, they’re all up on Bandcamp. Right on.
