[My name is Serge Kozlovsky. I live in Belarus (a small state west
of Russia, which was created after the disintegration of the USSR).
I am writing articles and reviews of CDs for leading Belarussian
musical publications and collaborating with local FM radio stations.
My musical interests go off in many directions: jazz, folk, ambient,
but especially new age music.]
Once I was listening to my favourite music together with a company of friends and with a glass of good wine, and suddenly an inspiration had come to me: I understood that every style of music (and even every single artist!) can be associated with a certain kind of alcoholic drinks. It’s even possible to limit ourself to the drinks that are produced within the immence space of the powerful Commonwealth of Independent States. Sometimes one can be surprised how exact the correspondence is - they are similar by the power of impression, aroma, mood, associations... These notes reflect the subjective ideas of the author. So let’s get started, and long live patriotism!
We’ll begin with the aesthetical music publishing by the studios like the American Windham Hill Records or Real Music. Studios of that kind use to record calm and often acoustic music like classics or delicate new age music. It is not always strongly dramatic as the classical music usually is, but at the same time very deep and meditative. It can be associated with very old good wine. Such wine should be drinked slowly, enjoyng every sip. Such music cannot be caught at once, one should listen it attentively, similarly like one should accept without any hurry the fragrance of old wine, a simply looking bottle of which can cost a fortune.
Let’s go on with the unforgetable Russian pop. That bold music can be compared to a cheap fruit wine that makes one dull, merry and unconscious. The author have seen once a strenghtened wine with a beautiful name "Riddle". As for me, that exactly corresponds both level and popularity of some Russian artists.
There is no sense at all to consider in details modern Belarusian variety music. That’s like the by-products of the wine producing. Such a "wine" was sold here not long ago under the pretence of being Moldavian. There was no wine in fact, just an imitation in big bottles, with offensive taste, but it was even written at the labels that it is two years old.
Now blues, rhythm-and-blues. That is a strong drink, not for the feeble ones. It can be compared with the Belarussian vodka "Crystall" or "Belaya Rus" or at least with a strenghtened Belarussian infusion "Klukvennaya" or something self-made of the same kind. The strength is the same - very quickly one’s head is off. Then nothing remains but enjoying. You may also take a pickled cucumber (a fine guitar part). Now let’s look at the Western pop music. A good pop is close to a new wine; it turns one’s head and is quickly drived away. The music of a person like Chris de Burgh or Julio Iglesias seems to be champagne. But the essence is the same. The old rock’n’rollers of the kind of "Deep Purple", Eric Clapton and so on - are closer to the port like the well-known "Massandra". The art of Mark Knopfler is closer to the strong and flavored "Madera", of Phil Collins - to the wery sweet "Kagor", and so on and so forth. Rock’n’roll as a whole is associated with the strenghtened wine. Now folk and punk. That is like a fragrant bright beer. Irish punks like "Pogues" - a mixture of folk and punk rock - are the Belarussian dark beer "Starazhytnae", our "Palac" and other groups of that kind are the Belarussian light beer "Count Chapsky", "Lekkert", "Nemiga" etc.
The original bards - for example, Leonard Cohen - are like a good liqueur. One should sip accurately such a strong liquid.
Vangelis and other electronic instrumentalists are close to cognac.
That’s all in brief. In conclusion I would like to advise: drink qualitative beverages to a good music!
-Serge Kozlovsky
P.S. I would like to express my gratitude to Andrey Korotkevich
for help and support in translation of this article into English.
