Music and Movies from Kazakhstan

When Vladimir drove us around Karaganda he always had the radio on, tuned to the news or to Russkom Radio. Since returning to the states I've been trying to track down some of what we heard.

YouTube has been pretty helpful. I haven't actually found many of the songs I've sought, except for chart-topping crap like Romantika. (Funny: when this played in the car I thought it was an advertisement.) But YouTube has uncovered some interesting Kazakh music videos.

Some of the videos celebrate the country and its past. A few of these are quite moving, especially for someone whose girlfriend is adopting a Kazakh girl.

Musicola
The search has also turned up a Kazakh group named Musicola. Hidden among the dance music on their site is a song called Arman Zholdar (road of dreams?) which is full of unusual textures. In it Karina Abdulina, the singer of the group, uses her voice more as a musical instrument than as a carrier of lyrics.

The Nomad
Thanks to YouTube and IMDB I even found out about a movie which was playing in Karaganda while we were there, a romanticized tale of how the country came to be: The Nomad. It was produced by the Weinstein brothers and stars Jason Scott Lee. Small world...