Ole Lukkoye – Dream of the Wind (LSCD 003), 10 Tracks, 60 min
“Dream of The Wind” is the eighth release of the Russian band Ole Lukkoye. The recordings on
this album date back to the years 1989-91, and are the missing link between their former band
Rainy Season, and Ole Lukkoye's highly acclaimed debut album “Zapara” from 1993.
Rainy Season was a progressive art-rock ensemble and part of the then booming alternative music circuit in Saint Petersburg (then called Leningrad). Bardash and Lavrinenko were members of the group during the mid-80's and left Rainy Season to form Ole Lukkoye in 1989. Percussionist Alexei Petrov, who participated in some recordings of “The Dream Of The Wind” album, was also an important member of Rainy Seasons. As well as Bardash's deep, haunting singing on two tracks, the album also features a female voice on two tracks which is reminiscent of Inna Zhelannaya's early band “Alliance”. Lavrinenko's bass playing and Bardash's 80's analog keyboards are the main driving force on the 10 tracks, which also include electric guitar, percussion, an interesting use of wind instruments (sax, trumpet) and cello. Indeed, the instrumentation already suggests an art-rock album, however the stress lies more on the atmospheric and improvisational than on the academic.
Finally, the multimedia track featured on the CD – the 1990 video clip of Ikar's Flight – will for the first time outside of the live context, allow fans to gain an impression of the work of long-term band member and video and light artist Vadim Kouzenkovs, who produces spectacular light-shows for their live concerts. The idea for the album was conceived by the long term friend and supporter of the group, Yuri Elik, who also produced and selected the tracks for Ole Lukkoye's 2 live albums. Elik and Kouzenkov collected and carefully restored old analog recordings and transferred them to CDR, which they gave to band leader Boris Bardash as a birthday present 4 years ago. Besides Ole Lukkoye's second album “Toomze” (their first western release from 1996), “Dream of the Wind” is the bands' second release with the Berlin Lollipoppe Shoppe label.