Leniniana (Russian: Лениниана) is the twelfth[6] studio album of the Soviet conceptual band Kommunizm. It is a sound collage based on the phonogram of the film Lenin in October, published on a gramophone record by the Melodiya company.[7][8] Yegor Letov and Konstantin Ryabinov glued inserts together, they played various musical compositions backwards and added third-party records from the field of concrete music, thereby creating a montage mystifying the personality of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin in a humorous manner.

Leniniana
Studio album by
Released1989 (formally)[1]
RecordedBase:
September 23, 1989 (editing made of 13 samples included in the track "Leniniana" and later became independent)
Bonus:
see dates § 2013 Wyrgorod edition (CD)
StudioGrOb (Omsk, USSR)
Genre
Length33:36 (HOR)
46:40 (Wyrgorod)
Language
  • Russian
  • Tajik[4]
LabelGrOb[5]
ProducerYegor Letov
Kommunizm chronology
Igra v samoletiki pod krovatyu
(1989)
Leniniana
(1989)
Trinadtsat
(1990)
2013 reissue cover

The album was officially released on Caravan Records and HOR in 2001,[9] and it was reissued on April 22, 2013 by Wyrgorod.[10][2]

About the album

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Original text in Russian
  • Этакий разнузданный, полуобезумевший получасовой коллаж из ленинского и пост-ленинского материала. Использована уникальная запись детской народной песни «Это было в городе Черкасске» в душевном исполнении моей малолетней племянницы.[11] В целом, это — гротескная, многокрасочная, болезненная и, как мне кажется, страшноватая в своей болезненности — работа.
English translation
  • A sort of unbridled, half-mad half-hour collage of Leninist and post-Leninist material. A unique recording of a children's folk song "It Was in the City of Cherkassk" was used, performed by my little niece.[11] In general, this is a grotesque, multicolored, painful and, as it seems to me, scary work in its pain.

Track listing

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2001 Caravan edition (MC)

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A-side

  1. Лениниана (part 1)*

B-side

  1. Лениниана (part 2)*

All tracks were recorded on September 23, 1989 at the GrOb-studio in Omsk.

* The names of the tracks are conditional – they are not printed either on the J-card or on the cassette itself, but a priori it's all one audio track, divided into two parts.[12] The B-side does not include the following three compositions from the HOR's CD/MC: "Slova i zhesty", "Lenin ne umer", and "Lenin umer".

2001 HOR edition (CD)

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No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Лениниана" (Leniniana)Abolqasem Lahouti (at 0:00–0:58), from Lenin in October: Fragments from the Film LP,[7] traditional (at 4:34–6:14 and 24:31–24:39 performed by Diana Letova), Sergey Alekseev[7] (at 6:15–6:29, 8:12–9:09, and 15:00–17:07 narrated by Vladimir Gertsik), Zinaida Aleksandrova (at 8:07–8:11 and 13:14–13:18), Margarita Fofanova[7] (at 10:02–10:20), Nikolay Nosov (at 21:47–23:25), V. I. Lenin (at 23:27–24:30), Leonid Derbenyov (at 24:39–28:12 performed by Edita Piekha)Suleiman Yudakov (at 0:00–0:58), Steamboat Stompers[7] (at 12:10–12:41), Arkasha Klimkin (at 23:26–24:30), Alexander Bronevitsky (at 24:39–28:12 performed by Edita Piekha)28:12
2."Слова и жесты" (Words and Gestures)Polina Vinogradsky[13]n/a0:25
3."Ленин не умер" (Lenin Is Not Dead)Suleyman StalskySteamboat Stompers (background music "See See Rider")[14]3:42
4."Ленин умер" (Lenin Is Dead)Suleyman StalskyKommunizm (phonogram of the funeral ceremony with the participation of the Omsk funeral orchestra)[15]1:17
Total length:33:36
  • GrOb-studio, Omsk:
    • Track 1 was recorded on September 23, 1989.
    • Tracks 2–4 were recorded on March 26–28, 1989.

2013 Wyrgorod edition (CD)

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No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Гимн" (Anthem)Abolqasem LahoutiSuleiman Yudakov1:01
2."Рассказы соратников — Любит делать так — Какой он из себя" (Companions' Stories—Loves Doing So—What Is He Like)from Lenin in October: Fragments from the Film LP[7]n/a3:36
3."Это было в городе ЧК" (It Was in the City of Cherkassk)Traditional (performed by Diana Letova)n/a1:44
4."Ленин видит девочку — Ждать — Спать" (Lenin Sees a Girl—Wait For—Sleep)Sergey Alekseev[7] ("Ленин видит девочку" narrated by Vladimir Gertsik), from Lenin in October: Fragments from the Film LP ("Ждать" and "Спать")n/a1:53
5."Маленькой ёлочке холодно зимой — Отдых Ленина — Записка" (Cute Little Fir Tree Is Freezing in the Woods—Lenin's Rest—Note)Zinaida Aleksandrova ("Маленькой ёлочке холодно зимой"), Sergey Alekseev[7] ("Отдых Ленина" narrated by Vladimir Gertsik), Margarita Fofanova[7] ("Записка")n/a2:18
6."И тогда уж мы — Вот так так — А если" (And Then Already We—By Gad—What If)from Lenin in October: Fragments from the Film LPn/a1:51
7."Я кончил" (I Finished)n/aSteamboat Stompers (background music "Waiting for Robert E. Lee")[7]0:33
8."Терентьевых спалили — Хоровоз — Дайте настоящего душителя — Ленин спит" (Set the Terentyevs on Fire—Round Danse—Give (Me) a Real Strangler—Lenin Is Sleeping)from Lenin in October: Fragments from the Film LP ("Терентьевых спалили", "Дайте настоящего душителя", and "Ленин спит"), Zinaida Aleksandrova ("Хоровоз")n/a2:21
9."Сон Ленина" (Lenin's Dream)Sergey Alekseev[7] (narrated by Vladimir Gertsik)n/a3:45
10."Случай с товарищем Сапуновым — Смерть большевика Григория — Громовое ура — Ленинское слово" (The Incident with Comrade Sapunov—Death of the Bolshevik Grigory—Thunderous Hurrah—Lenin's Speech)from Lenin in October: Fragments from the Film LPn/a3:09
11."Представьте себе" (Imagine)Nikolay Nosovn/a1:40
12."Ленинский хардкор" (Leninist Hardcore)V. I. LeninArkasha Klimkin1:06
13."Эпилог" (Epilogue)Traditional (at 0:00–0:08 performed by Diana Letova), Leonid Derbenyov (at 0:08–3:32 performed by Edita Piekha)Alexander Bronevitsky (at 0:08–3:32 performed by Edita Piekha)3:32
Bonus tracks
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
14."Высшее достижение" (Highest Achievement)n/an/a0:56
15."Ленин не умер" (Lenin Is Not Dead)Suleyman StalskySteamboat Stompers (background music "See See Rider")[14]3:41
16."Революция свершилась" (Revolution Has Occurred)from Lenin in October: Fragments from the Film LPA. Berchansky[16]0:29
17."Паричок" (Wig)from Lenin in October: Fragments from the Film LPn/a0:14
18."Поймаю маленького сам" (I'll Catch the Little One Myself)Red guard Korolev (narrated by Kuzya Uo)Kommunizm1:47
19."Слова и жесты" (Words and Gestures)Polina Vinogradsky[13]n/a0:24
20."Надо брать дворец" (Must Take the Palace!)from Lenin in October: Fragments from the Film LPn/a0:23
21."Кусок отрезал" (Piece of Bread)G. Lidzin[17] (narrated by Yegor Letov)Kommunizm3:13
22."Что такое Советская власть" (What Is Soviet Power)V. I. LeninMoisey Vaynberg[18]0:30
23."Развлечения Ильича в ссылке" (Ilyich's Amusements in Exile)Peasant Stroganov (narrated by Kuzya Uo)Kommunizm2:15
24."Ленин умер" (Lenin Is Dead)Suleyman StalskyKommunizm (phonogram of the funeral ceremony with the participation of the Omsk funeral orchestra)[15]1:16
25."И вновь продолжается бой" (And the Battle Is Going Again)Nikolai DobronravovAleksandra Pakhmutova (arranged by Grazhdanskaya Oborona)3:03
Total length:46:40

  • GrOb-studio, Omsk:
    • Tracks 1–13 were recorded on September 23, 1989.
    • Track 14 was recorded in early April, 1989.
    • Tracks 15, 17, 19–20, and 24 were recorded on March 26–28, 1989.
    • Tracks 16 and 22 were recorded on March 20–21, 1989.
    • Tracks 18, 21, and 23 were recorded on May 15–17, 1989.
  • SP Krylya Sovetov, Moscow:
    • Track 25 was recorded on July 4, 1997.

Personnel

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Credits are adapted from the album liner notes.[19]

Release history

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Official
Country Date Format Label Catalog
Russia 2001[20] MC Caravan CAR 104[21]
2001[22] (compact disc – August 22,[23] cassette – unknown[24])
  • CD (jewel box)
  • MC
HOR
April 22, 2013[27] CD (digipak) Wyrgorod ВЫРГОРОД 103[28]

Trivia

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Original text in Russian
  • В ноябре создали «Лениниану» — препарированный миф о вожде, гротескно-разнузданное полотно об абсурдности поклонения. Впечатление по мощи сравнимо с первыми альбомами: вдруг перекрутит, согнёт пополам и опрокинет на спину. Слушали много раз, восторгались и цитировали взахлёб.
English translation
  • In November, Leniniana was created—a prepared myth about the leader, a grotesquely unbridled canvas about the absurdity of worship. The impression is comparable to the power of the first albums: it will suddenly twist, bend in half and overturn on its back. We listened many times, admired and quoted with gusto.
  • Despite the declared month of creation in Manager's blog, the album information on the back cover indicates September—and so in all official releases of various labels.
  • Most of the bonus tracks are taken from the album Chudo-muzyka, these are: "Lenin ne umer", "Parichok", "Slova i zhesty", "Nado brat dvorets", "Lenin umer". The rest are taken from:
    • Rodina slyshit – "Chto takoe Sovetskaya vlast";[aka 1]
    • Narodovedenie – "Vysshee dostizhenie";[aka 2]
    • Igra v samoletiki pod krovatyu – "Poymayu malenkogo sam", "Kusok otrezal",[aka 3] "Razvlecheniya Ilicha v ssylke";[aka 4]
    • Kontsert – "I vnov prodolzhaetsya boy".
  • "Revolyutsiya svershilas"[aka 5] is the previously unpublished third version of the track (the original is in the album Rodina slyshit).[29]
  • The fragment/composition "Gimn", with which the whole Leniniana begins, is actually a reversed anthem of the Tajik SSR,[7] moreover, a post-Stalin version (in the album version, only the third verse sounds with sound distortion of the "beginning").
  • Words from "Lenin vidit devochku", "Otdykh Lenina", and "Son Lenina" are found in the children's book Stories about Lenin (Malysh publishing house, 1986) by the author Sergey Alekseev (in the tale "One, Two, Three").[30] One way or another, they have nothing to do with the film and/or the Lenin in October LP, except for the narrator Vladimir Gertsik.
  • While developing the computer game S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl by GSC Game World, the album was one of the sources of inspiration for creating the atmosphere of the abandoned Soviet legacy in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Some fragments from the track "Leniniana"[31]—as well as from other albums of Kommunizm—were present in the build version of the game, and, as planned by the developers, were supposed to sound in the in-game Bar 100 Rads. However, for a number of reasons, they were cut from the release version of the game.[32] Subsequently, the files saved in the archives of the game were restored with the help of fan modifications that returned the content cut from the game.

References

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General

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  1. ^ For other release dates, see § Release history.
  2. ^ a b c GrOb Records and Wyrgorod Publishing House present: Kommunizm Leniniana. 04.21.2013
  3. ^ "Leniniana, created based on the corresponding cinema, can with good reason be called sots art, and spoken word, and plunderphonics, and even more representatively, but, in fact, it is an amateur radio theater." – Article by Maxim Semelyak about the album in the booklet
  4. ^ See fact.
  5. ^ For additional labels, see § Release history.
  6. ^ According to the official GrOb-Records albumography of 1990 and judging by the inscription "Vol. 12" on the album cover of the HOR edition.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l GrOb-Hroniki | Leniniana
  8. ^ Ленин В Октябре (Фрагменты Из Кинофильма) at Discogs
  9. ^ See references in the Release history section.
  10. ^ Wyrgorod: "The record comes out on April 22, 2013" – which came out, by the way, and was announced by the publisher the day before release (see adjacent reference and reference of section 4).
  11. ^ a b "…that is, it is talking about Diana, daughter of Sergey Letov." – From the GrOb-Hroniki's notes on the lyrics of "Leniniana".
  12. ^ Feature of the edition of Caravan Records
  13. ^ a b GrOb-Hroniki | Polina Vinogradsky – Slova i zhesty
  14. ^ a b From the 1972 vinyl record The Steamboat Stompers, written by Ma Rainey.
  15. ^ a b GrOb-Hroniki | Kommunizm – Chudo-Muzyka
  16. ^ GrOb-Hroniki | Kommunizm – Rodina Slyshit
  17. ^ GrOb-Hroniki | G. Lidzin – Bespokojnoe vremya
  18. ^ Used a fragment of the "Pesenka Vinni-Pukha" from the Soviet cartoon Winnie-the-Pooh, performed by Yevgeny Leonov.
  19. ^ Лениниана (liner notes). Kommunizm. Wyrgorod. 2013. ВЫРГОРОД 103. Retrieved 2 December 2021.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  20. ^ See the Released line on Discogs.
  21. ^ GrOb-Hroniki – Caravan Records, MC
  22. ^ See the Released line on Discogs (link 1 & link 2).
  23. ^ "New CDs of Yegor Letov, Grazhdanskaya Oborona, and of Kommunizm have been released" – News from the publisher HOR (08.22.2001)
  24. ^ "The release of MCs of Yegor Letov, Grazhdanskaya Oborona, and of Kommunizm is expected" – News from the publisher HOR (09.09.2001)
  25. ^ GrOb-Hroniki – HOR, CD
  26. ^ GrOb-Hroniki – HOR, MC
  27. ^ See the Released line on Discogs.
  28. ^ GrOb-Hroniki – Wyrgorod, CD
  29. ^ Footnote to the bonus track on GrOb-Hroniki
  30. ^ S. Alekseev "One, Two, Three" - Chrestomathy for older preschool children | I.vlast
  31. ^
    • "Gimn"
    • "I togda uzh my — Vot tak tak — A yesli"
    • "Sluchay s tovarishchem Sapunovym — Smert bolshevika Grigoriya — Gromovoe ura — Leninskoe slovo"
  32. ^ Cut music of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

Track titles from other albums

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  1. ^ Album track title "Konkretnaya muzyka #3 Chto takoe Sovetskaya vlast?".
  2. ^ Album track title "Vladimir Ilich".
  3. ^ Album track title "Bespokojnoe vremya".
  4. ^ Full album title of the track "Razvlecheniya Ilicha v ssylke byli preimushchestvenno sportivnogo kharaktera".
  5. ^ Album track title "Konkretnaya muzyka #1 Revolyutsiya svershilas".
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