Gulag Tunes

An article over at the Moscow Times has a piece about a new album that has just been released in Russia that blends traditional prison songs with Hawaiian style surf music.

The cover deipcts Stalin wearing a necklace of skulls in place of a more traditional Hawaiian lei.

The album's creator, Mikhail Antipov, was surprised this had never been done before, stating the idea

"is lying on the surface. It's an obvious thing."

Antipov did face some difficulties in trying to get permission to use some of the songs.

"He recalled that one songwriter, Iosif Aleshkovsky, who now lives in the United States, said, "Go to hell," and hung up the phone when he heard the name of the record company, which means "Union." "It brought up some bad associations," Antipov said."

Brilliant. Next I'd like to see an album that blends nationalist Iraqi songs of protest against foreign oppression with some good old fashioned yodelling.