«Mumiy Troll: Comrade Ambassador» — Luxury Wafers

Mumiy Troll: Comrade Ambassador — Review

We had the great pleasure of hosting Russian megastars, Mumiy Troll, in the studio for a live Luxury Wafers Session yesterday. These guys are the real deal. A foursome from Vladivostok led by Ilya Lagutenko — THE definitive force in currently trending music in his country — Mumiy Troll modestly appreciates iconic status as the cultural equivalent of The Beatles in Russia. Absolutely charming, warm and sincere, Ilya and the band were fun and easy to work with. How I wish I`d had the forethought to find an incandescent teenage girl from Siberia to come and glean every last drop of appreciation for the spectacular immensity of the occasion.

Born to be subversive, Ilya, who drips of magnetic, ambiguous sexuality like Bowie, has been rocking since even before he entered puberty. His band carries a reputation for energetic debauchery, considered both `one of the most socially dangerous bands in the world` and `Best Band of the Millennium` in Russia.

It`s significant that Mumiy Troll is the only band to be produced in modern Russia since the fall of the Soviet regime.

**Go see them tonight at The Roxy in LA (Friday at The Independent in San Francisco) before they take off for the other side of the world. Their songs are fantastic, rich Rockapops. Ilya`s voice is velvet. Yuri tears it up on his Jazzmaster. Sdwig is engaging and fun on bass and backup vocals. And Oleg, the drummer, is just truly sick.