Kino

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oviet rock band Kino formed in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) in 1981 from the ashes of two former groups, Palata No. 6 and Piligrimy, and become considered to be one of, if not the greatest, rock band in the history of Russian music. Although listed as punk rock for purposes of Diskery, their style has changed over the years to encompass post-punk, new wave, punk rock, gothic rock, alternative rock, folk rock, and psychedelic rock.

The band was co-founded and headed by Viktor Tsoi (lead vocals/rhythm guitar/acoustic guitar), who wrote the music and lyrics for almost all of the band's songs. Originally named Garin and the Hyperboloids after Aleksei Tolstoi's novel The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin. Kino was later chosen as the name since it was easier to pronounce and short. Over the course of eight years, Kino released over 90 songs spanning over seven studio albums in the form of 45 (1982), 46 (1983), Nachalnik Kamchatki (1984), Eto ne lyubov... (1985), Noch (1986), Gruppa krovi (1988), Zvezda po imeni Solntse (1989) and Untitled album (Chyorny albom) (1990), as well as releasing a few compilations and live albums. The band's music was also widely circulated in the form of bootleg recordings through the underground magnitizdat distribution scene. Tsoi died in a car accident in 1990. Shortly after his passing, the band broke up after releasing their final album, consisting of songs that Tsoi and the group were working on in the months before his death.

Named in reference to the record's length, their debut 45 featured members of Grebenshchikov's band Aquarium assist in recording the album, including cellist Vsevolod Gakkel, flautist Andrei Romanov and bassist Mikhail Faynshteyn-Vasilyev. Since they had no drummer at the time, they used a drum machine. Lyrically, it resembled earlier Soviet bard music for its romanticism of city life and the use of poetic language.

In late 1982, Kino attempted to record a second album at the studio of the Maly Drama Theater, along with drummer Valery Kirilov (who later joined Zoopark) and sound designer Andrey Kuskov. However, Tsoi lost interest in the project and they ceased recording. The resulting recording was released as a bootleg by fans and carries on much in the style of the first.

The official sophomore record, Nachalnik Kamchatki's title was inspired by Tsoi's job as a boiler plant operator ("nachalnik" meaning 'chief' or 'boss,' and "Kamchatka" is slang for 'a very faraway place'; also a folk name for the boiler plant where Tsoi formerly worked).

In early 1985, Kino attempted to record another album, but Tsoi did not like producer Andrei Tropillo's interference in his work, and dropped the project. But Tropillo defied this order and released the completed components of the recording anyway the next year.

From 1986 to 1988, Tsoi was acting in movies and continued to write songs for Kino, which most likely aided in the band's most successful period that saw them invited to perform around the former Eastern Bloc of Europe and the success of the Gruppa krovi in 1988. The follow-up, 1989 release, Zvezda po imeni Solntse ('A Star Called Sun'), was lonely, introspective, and sad, despite the fame the band was enjoying.

In June 1990, after finishing a lengthy touring season, the band decided to take a short break before recording an album in France. However, on 15 August, Tsoi died in a car crash near Tukums while returning from a fishing trip. Before he died, however, the band had recorded several songs in Latvia, and the remaining members of Kino finished the album as a tribute to him. While it had no official title, it is often called "the Black Album" (Chyorny albom).

In 2019, the band announced a reunion with concerts planned in the fall of 2020 for the first time in 30 years, however they were later postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over their tenure, the band would feature the membership of Viktor Tsoi (lead vocals/rhythm guitar/acoustic guitar; 1981-1990; R.I.P. 1990), Aleksei Rybin (lead guitar; 1981-1983), Oleg Valinsky (drums; 1981), Yuri Kasparyan (lead guitar/backing vocals; 1983--1991), Aleksandr Titov (bass/backing vocals; 1984--1985), Georgy Guryanov (drums/percussion/backing vocals; 1984-1991; R.I.P. 2013) and Igor Tikhomirov (bass; 1985--1991).