BSPH: Аквариум - Тибетское Танго

"Tibetan Tango" is a song by seminal russian rock band Aquarium. It was released in 1983 on the album "Radio Africa". Curiously it segues from the band most famous song "Rock And Roll is Dead" but it can't be more different. As for me - it is the best track of entire album (because i'm a smart-ass *ding). It was written by the great late Sergey Kuryokhin AKA russian equivalent of Frank Zappa. That's why it is unlike anything else you can hear on an album. 

Stylistically it is a combination of three things. First of all - it is fine showcase of Kuryokhin' composing method - which is basically "just do it". He mashes together dissonant elements into one cohesive composition effortlessly - just because. Then it is a neat throwback to the bands wilderness years of the 70's when they experimented with primitive recording technology (stuff like "Music of Public Toilets" in particular). And finally it is a warped variation of jazzy funky doo-wop dada cabaret composition styled after Talking Heads. 

The arrangement is relatively straightforward. The drums are doing solid four by four backbeat accompanied by snappy bass-line. It is extremely ambiguous. It is a little bit marching and then a little bit swinging. You can never say what it is at the moment. But it can go on forever (and would not be out of place on some Can record). 

Vocal parts are derived from tibetan chants as seen by DADAists circa Cabaret Voltaire. But there is also slight nod towards doo-wop styled vocalizes. It repeats short sound poem several times. Here's how it goes:

Om, ho-hom'.
Om, ho-hom'.
Om, ho-hom'.
Om, ho-hom'.

Cuckoo-coom, hee-hee
Cuckoo-coom, hee-hee
Cuckoo-coom, hee-hee
Fee

Om, ho-hom'.
Om, ho-hom'.
Om, ho-hom'.
Om, ho-hom'.

Cuckoo-coo, hee-hee
Cuckoo-coo, hee-hee
Cuckoo-coo, hee-hee
Fee

(and so on)

Another notable thing is how disengaged and stoic is the vocal part from the rest of a composition. It goes on its own barely regarding anything that goes on in the music as if it was taped onto instrumentals after the fact. But nevertheless it feels as natural part of the song. That's a sign of a mastery of the craft. 

After the first round of chants - nonchalant piano joins in and adds some cool. It has this drunken sway freewheeling "huzzah!" attitude. Kuryokhin plays around the bass riff but turns it upside down, makes a poker face and thousand yard stare and adds tongue-in-cheek stilted "duh" side melody. It starts to feel rather warped from that point. Apparently the melody is based on old Odessa outlaw folk song "На Дерибасовской открылася пивная" (A pub had opened on the Derybasovska).

And then Igor Butman' sax comes in and things jump into overkill mode. At first Butman simply overplays the piano melody but gradually he starts to dance around it and adds some turns and twists. Finally he double tracks himselft and delivers discordant hysteric performance that starts to push out of composition everything else. But it fades out right before things go completely out of control. 

"Tibetan Tango" is a testament of adventurous nature of underground soviet rock music of the 1980s. Aquarium was never afraid to go boldy where no one thought to go because it seemed to be  way too ridiculous. And they always managed to deliver something really special. Too bad they ran out of steam shortly afterwards. Anyway. Listen to this song and this song only and feel its off-kilter magic bounce.