(text from last.fm, photo afisha.ru)
Chikiss has formed in the Summer of 2005 in a quiet resort town of Primorsk. It’s near the Finnish border, on the coast of Gulf of Finland. Against the background of beautiful nature two Sashas - band’s guitarist and drummer - have for ten years been recording their sound waves. The band has taken a certain shape in St. Petersburg at the home studio of keyboard player and singer Galya Chikiss who had first appeared in Primorsk in January 2005 to meet some like-minded people. Thus a new period in the life of all three has started. First they jammed at a historical early 20th century Lutheran church right on the Gulf’s shore; the rehearsal studio was right under the spire. Then they moved to St. Petersburg. The joint creative process has led to the creation of Chikiss band and provided a lot of fresh ideas to the legendary Primorsk-based experimental band 188910 (named after the town’s postcode) with which it shares members.
Chikiss is a colourful, beautiful and lively phenomenon in the Russian music scene. Not quite standard yet rather minimal lineup (voice, keyboards, rhythm section, guitar, reverberators), electronically specific sound of live instruments; varied scope of sounds - noise and ambient sketches alternate with dance rhythms and soul-warming outer space love lyrics. If comparisons are to be drawn, then the likes of Scala, Lali Puna, or Broadcast could be mentioned.
Vesennyaya (Spring) 2009.zipAutumn gold 2009.zipMy opinion: the music is "interesting" art object much more than "music". Enjoy experiments.
