Coming up for Air---Terrarium---Пятиугольный Грех (Pentagonal Sin)--Boris Grebenshikov's Ambitious Psychedelic Classic!

I've been listening to Terrarium, a Boris Grebenshikov project, whose only album is Пятиугольный Грех, seeming translated as Pentagonal Sin. Boris is from the legendary group Aquarium one of the first underground groups that appeared during the Soviet era.

Though I really am enjoying this album, I just realized now that this was recorded in 2000, and not 1976. In the back of my head I was wondering how an album of this quality and sophistication like this could have been recorded back then. I have my answer now, because it was not.



I would say it is inspired by 60's music however, and more than a little wacky. I've heard the album described as a Russian Sergeant Pepper, which I feel is a little cookie cutter. There are a lot of disparate things thrown into the mix here. Despite this, Пятиугольный Грех has the feel of a concept album--it may or may not be, but there appears to be a lot of coherence to the album as a whole.The fact that it was recorded in 2000 may explain why I was looking at this a little differently. If this had been recorded 20 or 30 years earlier, I would be hailing this as an eccentric masterpiece. Don't get me wrong, this is an excellent album that is consistently entertaining. The fact that all these disparate influences seem to fit together so seamlessly is a testament to the musician involved here.

The first song on the album Январский Романс (January Romance) sounds more like something from Gilberto Gil than Lennon-McCartney, like Russian Tropicalia. Электрическая Птица, or Electric Bird has a middle eastern with balalaika flavor to it plus a female choir and what almost sounds like an attempt at Tuvan throat singing with a passage of Jew's Harp. Excellent!



On the other hand Зоя И Соня (Zoe and Sonia) has a bit of a Tom Petty vibe to it. The album is filled with odd touches, birds chirping, alarms clocks going off, eccentric noises. There is an irreverent sort of fun that I associate with the proceedings. Even География, though it does contain the Penny Lane style horns you find in places on the album, has a patriotic martial feel to it. You can associate a lot of things here beyond the Beatles, though certainly Вести С Огорода (Lead from the Vegetable Garden) is pretty much Beatles/Syd Barrett fare. And Не Синхрон (Don't Bite) is full of George Harrison styled guitar leads. On the other hand, Китайцы Не Хотят (The Chinese Don't Want) has a Latin vibe to it, and Моллой Пришел is clearly a stab at spaghetti western music.



Пятиугольный Грех  is a terrific album overall. The kitchen sink is thrown against the wall, and most of it stuck, and in a cohesive manner. Grebenshikov is definitely an artist with an inquisitive ear, and it is very evident in the variety of song choices on this album. And it sounds like they had a lot of fun making this! I know that I thoroughly enjoyed this too!