The Beating Of The Russian Heart: Edinburgh Festival 2007

*****

See edfringe.com

Review by Frank Burkitt

I didn’t know what to expect when I turned up to this gig at the Edinburgh College of Art. I therefore was not surprised when a troop of leggy Russians came blinding on to the stage, all dressed in an array of colours and head scarves. A good start I thought, but what about the music?

Well, undoubtedly these ladies, of the ‘Koleso’ music group, could sing beautifully. Their songs gave an incite into the folk music of Russia, particularly when they sang the a cappella numbers. When the electronic backing tracks came on however (and the less said about the birdie song with the audience the better), despite thinking someone had pressed the demo button on a Casio Keyboard, I wondered why they were using this karaoke backing when they had a perfectly good fiddler and accordion player on the stage. Unfortunately, these musicians spent most of the hour hiding at the back. I would’ve liked to have seen their involvement more. But I did love the a cappella numbers

So, in conclusion, less backing tracks and synthesised bagpipes, and more fiddle, accordion and voice. At least half the songs were very enjoyable though, so much so that I would listen to them in my free time.

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