A unique exhibition opened on March 28th in St.Petersburg, Russia.

Exhibition contains:

• vinyl records illustrating it’s existing period from the late 40-s till the end of 80-s: early jazz ’10, rock’n’roll classics, psychedelic lollipops, progressive gems, punk rarities…

• portraits of musicians who’s really influenced modern music and art: Albert Ayler, Kim Fowley, Syd Barrett, Scott Walker, Captain Beefheart, Leadbelly, Yoko Ono, Eric Dolphy, Moondog, Can, Reverend Gary Davis…

• subject paintings by five modern St.Petersburg painters: “Killing in Altamont”, “Ashbury-Heights”, “Wendy O’Williams is crushing Police car”, “Beautiful Record Labels”, “at the gates of CBGB’s in 1978”…

• artifacts and collector’s gems from the hidden fetishist’s assortment in Full Metal mats made in Renovationism technique: retort with Monterey’s fresh air, Lou Reed's button, found by some fetishist after press conference dedicated to Berlin's release in 1973, part of Madonna's bra during "Like A Virgin" recording session, collar of the Paul Cook’s legendary t-shirt with “I hate Pink Floyd” inscription…

• a series of sculptures made of metal junk in Renovationism technique: "Apple", "Vinyl: Life and Death", "Yellow Submarine"…
  

Exhibition’s schedule:

• March 28 – April 15: St.Petersburg, Museum of City Sculpture

• June – July: Yaroslavl – Centre of Modern Art «ARS Forum»

• July - August: Moscow: Centre of Modern Art «M'ARS»

• August: Kostroma – municipal City Gallery

• September: Volgograd

• September: Astrakhanj

• October: Krasnodar

• October: Sochi

• November: Moscow

participants:

Nikita Sazonov – artist (painting & graphic arts)

Marija Piir – artist (painting & graphic arts)

Valerij Podljassky – artist (painting & graphic arts)

Mikhail Gorodetsky – artist (painting & graphic arts)

Andrey Sazonov – artist (sculpture, objects)

Alexei Pliousnine – musician, vinyl collector (records, artifact, text and lecturing)

booking contact: if you want to bring this project to your venue please get in contact with us at: info@aposition.org

Ashbury - Heights (Nikita Sazonov, 2005)

Scott Walker (Nikita Sazonov, 2005)


Captain Beefheart (Maria Piir, 2005)



Can (Nikita Sazonov, 2005)

Reverend Gary Davis (linoleum block, Mishael Gorodetsky, 2006)

killing in Altamont (Valerij Podljassky, 2006)

Malcolm McLaren' SEX shop in London, '77

Kim Fowley (Maria Piir, 2006)


Lou Reed's button, found by some fetishist after press conference dedicated to "Berlin"'s release in 1973 (design by Andrey Sazonov, 2006)

part of Madonna's bra during "LIke A Virgin" recording session

Alexei Pliousnine with two Darkthrone Picture Discs

in Yaroslavl

at MARS', Moscow

in Kostroma

vinyl samples

“Album oriented music was born simultaneously with vinyl Long Play records in the late 40-s. Today, when CD is dying, it is coming to an end.

Most of the music belongs to the Internet now and will be part of Global Record Library very soon. Everybody will be able to connect, make a query and listen to any kind of music.

It will kill FM radio, as it happens now with developing of Internet radio broadcasting.
It will finish the killing of CD or any other digital format, since the best way for the digital data is pure stream going directly to your brain through eyes and ears yet.
It will kill major labels, since there’s no possibility to control the market anymore.
It will kill a lot of the musical projects (mostly pop bands), since there will be no labels able to create and support a fictitious popularity.
It is very health-giving for the music.

But some of the musicians will remain interesting in making conceptual works. It will be a Zombie life, as conceptual art belongs to XX century. And they will make their conceptual works in Album format and press it on Vinyl. You can see it now noting vinyl pseudo renaissance. Most of these musical projects are just shrinking waves or imitators, but they are giving a “second life” to vinyl.

Collector’s beloved progressive rock, psychedelic rock, heavy metal, conceptual jazz, intellectual music projects are in great danger. Barbarian gait of Technological Progress is trampling down serious, complex art making it classic in a few cases and burying others leaving for the local interest of experts.

Vinyl now is not a music format at all, it is antiques, piece of art and collecting object and we will see vinyl records in the Louvre or Guggenheim soon...” Alexei Pliousnine

The 33rpm Vinyl Long Player, or LP as we know it today, began its life in 1948 as a replacement for the more fragile 78rpm shellac discs. The main benefits of the vinyl LP were improved durability and the capacity to record up to 30 minutes of music on each side. However, it wasn’t until the mid-1950’s, and the birth of Rock N Roll, that sales of vinyl LPs began to escalate.

Pressings from the UK have always been highly regarded amongst collectors. This is especially true of LPs manufactured during the 60s and early 70s. The superior quality of the heavyweight vinyl, along with the technical skills of the cutting engineer, meant that sound reproduction was always of the highest standard. Genuine UK deep-grooved first pressings, direct from the master tapes, can now achieve huge prices and are much in demand in Mint condition.

The first stereo LPs became available in 1958, however these did not become really popular in the UK until the mid-to-late 1960s, making early UK stereo pressings, and late UK mono pressings, very scarce today. Many albums in the 60’s were issued in both mono and stereo versions. Opinion is divided about which is best, with both recordings offering a different listening experience.

Picture sleeves on UK LPs evolved throughout the decades. Imagery progressed from simple band photos towards more imaginative designs that were sometimes more memorable than the musical content. Psychedelic covers were often as weird as the sounds on the record inside! Many collectors regard the sleeve to be just as important as the vinyl and UK album sleeves from the 60s & 70s can be sought after as much for their high standards of manufacture as their imagery. Many UK sleeves were laminated, and the strong flip-back construction has helped many of them survive today. They are pure works of art that the compact disc era has not been able to match.

From the late-70’s and into the 1980’s the packaging became more elaborate, often including printed inner sleeves, lyric inserts, a bonus poster or some other novelty. Record companies kept finding new gimmicks to help sell their product and many of these extras were exclusive to UK issues.

By the early 90s demand for vinyl albums was in decline; CDs were becoming the dominant format, to the point where many artists no longer released their albums on vinyl. When they did there was just an initial first pressing, limited in number and quickly deleted from catalogue. However, recent years have seen an upsurge of interest in vinyl, both new and old. Classic albums are once again being remastered and reissued, sometimes as limited edition audiophile pressings, although many collectors still believe the original pressings sound best. Whatever your preference, vinyl is here to stay, and although the debate rages on over the superior sound characteristic of vinyl compared to CD, there is no doubt that UK vinyl LPs are among the most desirable pressings of this superb format.