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Messer fur Frau Muller evolved out of the musical project Letter O in 1991, instantly becoming the epitome of the underground alternative movement of St. Petersburg, Russia . Originally the band consisted of Oleg Gitarkin (guitar), Tima Zamlyanikin (vocals), Aleksey Miksher (drums), and Ilya Kuzik (bass). In ‘91 they recorded their first punk album, “Happy End Dead,” with elements of psychobilly and hardcore. The recording of the album was funded by Oleg Gitarkin's first wife, and was not released at the time. Two months later, the band recorded its second album, “Little Joys,” and received wide recognition from this demo and the previously unreleased album. As a result, Messer fur Frau Muller started actively touring in Europe. In preparation for the German tour in ‘92, MFFM recorded a post-industrial vinyl LP, “Senors Crakovjaks.” After taking over the German club scene, MFFM returned home to St. Petersburg and experienced their peak of popularity. Messer fur Frau Muller had become a cult figure in the city's club circuit. In '93, Miksher and Zemlyanikin parted from MFFM, and Zemlyanikin later joined the monastery. At this time, Oleg Gitarkin met Oleg Kostrow who was a member of electro-pop band, Fantom, and together they recorded an album, “Hyper Utesov.” This became MFFM's first significant step towards electronica from its previous psychobilly-punk style. This new music made by Gitarkin and Kostrow became more melodic and less aggressive, and electronic experiments become more common. In '95 Kuzik left the MFFM, leaving Gitarkin as the only remaining original member. Kuzik soon dies after being tragically stabbed with a knife. The authorities claim that he was mistaken for someone else on the street. Therefore, MFFM stood as a two-man electronic infused band with the two Oleg's, Gitarkin and Kostrow. In '96 they record “Icicle-Murderers,” Gitarkin defines the album as cyberpunk with an entirely digital sound. Messer fur Frau Muller actively experiments with rhythm structures, Russian press compares them with Aphex Twin and The Prodigy. In '97 the band records “Nechelovek-Vidimka,” where it samples for the first time using the voices of Marlene Dietrich, Zarah Leander, Marilyn Monroe, and Klavdiya Shulzhenko. MFFM combines them with break-beat, drum n' bass, and house foundations. The band defines its new style as “post easy listening,” an element of parody on the musical genre, easy listening, popular in the 50-60's. According to Gitarkin, since they did not have any more members to play as a live punk band, it was a logical progression to start sampling musical leftovers of the 20 th century, and utilizing vocals of past iconic superstars. The re-born band reached its second wave of popularity with consecutive albums “Allo, Superman!” and “Secondhand Dreams” which were released in '2000 and 2001 in Russia, Germany, and Japan. After several years of silence, Messer fur Frau Muller got back into the studio and delivered arguably its best album to date, which is Triangle, Dot & Devil. |
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