Pop-Mechanics (Popular Mechanics) (Russian: «Поп-механика», «Популярная механика», romanized: Pop-mekhanika, Populyarnaya mekhanika) was a musical collective founded by Sergey Kuryokhin in 1984. The line-up of Pop-Mechanics often changed; musicians from rock groups such as Aquarium, Kino, Strannye Igry, AVIA, and Auktyon took part in its performances. Pop-Mechanics ceased to exist with Kuryokhin's death in 1996.
History
Sergey Kuryokhin acted as the composer, conductor, and artistic director of Pop-Mechanics, as well as performing as a musician. The collective's performances were partly improvised and mixed genres, including elements of jazz, rock, avant-garde theater, and ancient mystery plays.[1] The stage performances sometimes included animals.[2][3]
The orchestra's director and composer, free jazz pianist Sergei Kuryokhin, collected around 30 people on stage. Among them were all the members of Strange Games, Boris Grebenschikov, Viktor Tsoy and all standing members of Leningrad's bohemian artistic community. The entire crew was divided into sections—jazz (brass instruments), rock (electric guitars), folk (some kind of elongated Caucasus horns), classical (a string quartet) and 'industrial' (sheets of metal, saws, etc.).
The first Pop-Mechanics concert took place on 14 April 1984 in Moscow on the stage of the Moskvorechye House of Culture. The group's first performance in Leningrad took place in the spring of 1985 at a festival of the Leningrad Rock Club.[5]
In 1988, Pop-Mechanics had their first international performances,[5] including shows in Finland, Sweden, and Germany.[6] From 1988 to 1991, the majority of Pop-Mechanics performances took place abroad. The group was less active after 1991.[5]
Kuryokhin's final Pop-Mechanics show took place in Saint Petersburg in September 1995. The performance was also a fundraiser and advertisement for Aleksandr Dugin's Duma electoral campaign.[1]
