Flëur
Encyclopedia
Flëur is a musical collective from the Ukrainian
city of Odessa
, being unique for the Ukrainian musical scene. The collective is based around the two original members and frontwomen Olga Pulatova (Ольга Пулатова) and Olena Voinarovska (Олена Войнаровська) who write the lyrics, perform vocals and previously wrote all the music. Although currently the whole collective takes part in making music and arrangements, lyrics are still written solely by Olena and Olga.
Flëur's musical genre is hard to define as it combines many influences. Flëur originated as cooperation of the two singer-songwriters and the music still bears a tiny resemblance to the genre, yet from the very beginning it was in a way different from typical singer-songwriter music. First official releases also had a touch of neoclassic
/ethereal
music.
Because of the difficulties with picking the right term for Flëur's music, the collective itself created the term "cardiowave" (which later gave title to an independent recording label from Odessa which was releasing some of Flëur's sideprojects), but when it comes to more usual terms Flëur usually gets labeled as dream pop
.
The texts of the label Prikosnovénie
spoke of resemblance with Cocteau Twins
, All about Eve
and Bel Canto
.
in February 2000. In March 2000 flautist Yuliya Zemlyana joined them. According to an autobiographical story by Olga Pulatova, it was Yuliya who came up with "Flëur" as a title for their collective.
On 17-th of March they had their first live concert in Odessa.
During 2000 and 2001 they were joined by Kateryna Serbina (cello
), Oleksiy Tkachevsky (drums), Vitaliy Didyk (contrabass
) and Oleksiy Dovhaliev (keyboards
).
The first official release was the CD "Touch" (which is English translation of "Прикосновение") released on the independent French label Prikosnovénie
. Only the album's title was translated to English - all the lyrics and song titles in the CD's booklet are in Russian. One month later the Ukrainian edition of the album came out under the original title "Прикосновение". Two more releases followed on the Prikosnovénie
label, but these were also the last ones on this label.
After that Flëur was mostly released in CIS
countries.
Currently Flëur has 5 officially released albums plus reissues of two early releases. The song "Шелкопряд" ("Silkworm") had the first place in "Chart Dozen" hit-parade of Russian radio Nashe Radio
- Flëur was awarede the prize "Chart crack" as best new band of 2007.
From their Flëur's popularity has been slowly but steadily growing. Besides live performances in their hometown of Odessa
and Ukraine
's Kiev
, the collective has been touring extensively in Russia
in recent years (2007, 2008, 2009), including many live performances in Moscow
which presented them with a full house.
Flëur has also performed live on radio several times, had a TV slot for the song "Искупление" ("Redemption") on the Ukrainian music TV-channel M1 (video directed by Yevhen Tymokhin (Євген Тимохін), musical arrangement made by Pavlo Shevchuk (Павло Шевчук) - the producer of Mumiy Troll
band).
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
city of Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, being unique for the Ukrainian musical scene. The collective is based around the two original members and frontwomen Olga Pulatova (Ольга Пулатова) and Olena Voinarovska (Олена Войнаровська) who write the lyrics, perform vocals and previously wrote all the music. Although currently the whole collective takes part in making music and arrangements, lyrics are still written solely by Olena and Olga.
Flëur's musical genre is hard to define as it combines many influences. Flëur originated as cooperation of the two singer-songwriters and the music still bears a tiny resemblance to the genre, yet from the very beginning it was in a way different from typical singer-songwriter music. First official releases also had a touch of neoclassic
Neoclassical (Dark Wave)
Neoclassical Dark Wave refers to a music genre within the Dark Wave movement. It is characterized by the use of ethereal atmosphere and angelic female voices but also adds strong influences from classical music. Neoclassical Dark Wave is distinct from the academic art music form known as...
/ethereal
Ethereal Wave
Ethereal Wave, also called ethereal darkwave in Europe and ethereal goth or simply ethereal in the US, is a term that describes a subgenre of Dark Wave music...
music.
Because of the difficulties with picking the right term for Flëur's music, the collective itself created the term "cardiowave" (which later gave title to an independent recording label from Odessa which was releasing some of Flëur's sideprojects), but when it comes to more usual terms Flëur usually gets labeled as dream pop
Dream pop
Dream pop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s, when bands like The Passions, Dif Juz, Lowlife and A.R. Kane began fusing post-punk and ethereal experiments with bittersweet pop melodies into dreamy, sensual soundscapes. The term was almost...
.
The texts of the label Prikosnovénie
Prikosnovenie
Prikosnovénie is a French independent record label founded in Nantes in 1990 by Frédéric Chaplain and Sabine Adélaïde who moved to its current home in the medieval city of Clisson in 2001...
spoke of resemblance with Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals...
, All about Eve
All About Eve
All About Eve is a 1950 American drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve", by Mary Orr.The film stars Bette Davis as Margo Channing, a highly regarded but aging Broadway star...
and Bel Canto
Bel Canto (band)
Bel Canto is a Norwegian music duo, originally a trio, fronted by Anneli Drecker, and signed originally to Crammed Discs.-Biography:Their first two records were licensed to Nettwerk Records in Canada and its second album was licensed to IRS/MCA Records...
.
Band history
Flëur was formed by Olga Pulatova and Elena Voinarovska in OdessaOdessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
in February 2000. In March 2000 flautist Yuliya Zemlyana joined them. According to an autobiographical story by Olga Pulatova, it was Yuliya who came up with "Flëur" as a title for their collective.
On 17-th of March they had their first live concert in Odessa.
During 2000 and 2001 they were joined by Kateryna Serbina (cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
), Oleksiy Tkachevsky (drums), Vitaliy Didyk (contrabass
Contrabass
Contrabass refers to a musical instrument of very low pitch; generally those pitched one octave below instruments of the bass register...
) and Oleksiy Dovhaliev (keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
).
The first official release was the CD "Touch" (which is English translation of "Прикосновение") released on the independent French label Prikosnovénie
Prikosnovenie
Prikosnovénie is a French independent record label founded in Nantes in 1990 by Frédéric Chaplain and Sabine Adélaïde who moved to its current home in the medieval city of Clisson in 2001...
. Only the album's title was translated to English - all the lyrics and song titles in the CD's booklet are in Russian. One month later the Ukrainian edition of the album came out under the original title "Прикосновение". Two more releases followed on the Prikosnovénie
Prikosnovenie
Prikosnovénie is a French independent record label founded in Nantes in 1990 by Frédéric Chaplain and Sabine Adélaïde who moved to its current home in the medieval city of Clisson in 2001...
label, but these were also the last ones on this label.
After that Flëur was mostly released in CIS
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....
countries.
Currently Flëur has 5 officially released albums plus reissues of two early releases. The song "Шелкопряд" ("Silkworm") had the first place in "Chart Dozen" hit-parade of Russian radio Nashe Radio
Nashe Radio
Nashe Radio is a rock music station designed to promote Russian rock bands . It is broadcast in every major Russian city as well as having an internet stream...
- Flëur was awarede the prize "Chart crack" as best new band of 2007.
From their Flëur's popularity has been slowly but steadily growing. Besides live performances in their hometown of Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
and Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
's Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, the collective has been touring extensively in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
in recent years (2007, 2008, 2009), including many live performances in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
which presented them with a full house.
Flëur has also performed live on radio several times, had a TV slot for the song "Искупление" ("Redemption") on the Ukrainian music TV-channel M1 (video directed by Yevhen Tymokhin (Євген Тимохін), musical arrangement made by Pavlo Shevchuk (Павло Шевчук) - the producer of Mumiy Troll
Mumiy Troll
Mumiy Troll is a Russian rock group, founded in 1983 in Vladivostok by vocalist and songwriter Ilya Lagutenko . The literal name of the band, 'The mummies' troll', is a pun on Moomin Troll, the series of Finnish children's books by Tove Jansson.Mumiy Troll broke up when Lagutenko, who graduated in...
band).
Side Projects
Many current and former band members also participated in other musical projects.- Ольга Пулатова (Olga Pulatova) was a vocalist on the projects "Аэроплан" ("Airplane") and "Оля и Монстр" ("Olya and The Monster")(both defunct now), and cooperated closely with the project "Dust Heaven".
- Олена Войнаровська (Olena Voinarovska), Олексій Ткачевський (Oleksiy Tkachevsky), former Flëur member Олексій Довгалєв (Oleksiy Dovhaliev), Катерина Котельникова (Kateryna Kotelnykova) and Анастасія Кузьміна (Anastasiya Kuzmina) took part in the projects "М.Р.Ф" ("Мой розовый фашистик", "My Little Pink Faschist") and the English language project "Amurekimuri".
- Олексій Довгалєв (Oleksiy Dovhaliev) also has his own project "The Клюквінs" ("The Klukwins", klukwa means cranberry in Russian).
- Алла Лужецька (Alla Luzhetska) and Анастасія Кузьміна (Anastasiya Kuzmina) take part in the project "ТИМ" ("Тайный Институт Мозга", "Secret Brain Institute").
- Former Flёur member Юлія Земляна (Yulia Zemlyana) takes part in the projects "Аддарая" ("Addaraya") and "Inversus".
Members
- Ольга Пулатова (Olga Pulatova) - pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, vocals - Елена Войнаровская (Elena Voinarovska) - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocals - Олексій Ткачевський (Oleksiy Tkachevsky) - drums
- Катерина Котельникова (Kateryna Kotelnykova) - keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
- Анастасія Кузьміна (Anastasiya Kuzmina) - violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- Владислав Міцовський (Vladyslav Mitsovsky) - percussion
- Георгій Матвеєв (Georgiy Matveyev) — banduraBanduraBandura refers to a Ukrainian plucked string folk instrument. It combines elements of a box zither and lute, as well as its lute-like predecessor, the kobza...
- Євгеній Чеботаренко (Yevgeniy Chebotarenko) — bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
Former members
- Юлія Земляна (Yulia Zemlyana) — fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
- Катерина Сербіна (Kateryna Serbina) — celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Олексій Довгалєв (Oleksiy Dovhaliev) — keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound... - Віталій Дідик (Vitaliy Didyk) - contrabassContrabassContrabass refers to a musical instrument of very low pitch; generally those pitched one octave below instruments of the bass register...
, bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Олександра Дідик (Aleksandra Didyk) - celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Алла Лужецька (Alla Luzhetska) - fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
Session Members
- Володимир Нессі (Volodymyr Nessi) - bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Андрій Басов (Andriy Basov) - electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
- Олексій Козміді (Oleksiy Kozmidi) - bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Георгій Матвеєв (Georgiy Matveyev)
Albums, released in Russia and Ukraine
- 2002 — Прикосновение ("Soft Touch")
- 2003 — Волшебство ("Magic")
- 2004 — Сияние ("Shining")
- 2006 — Всё вышло из-под контроля ("Everything is out of control")
- 2008 — Эйфория ("Euphoria")
- 2008 — Почти живой ("Almost alive") and Сердце ("Heart") - reissue of unofficial releases from the years 2000–2001
- 2010 — Тысяча светлых ангелов ("Thousands of bright angels")
Albums released in France
- 2002 — Prikosnovenie ("Soft Touch")
- 2003 — Volshebstvo ("Magic")
- 2004 — Siyanie ("Shine")
Collections
- 2007 — Флёрография ("Fleurography")
- 2007 — Трилогия ("Trilogy"): "Прикосновение"/"Soft Touch", "Волшебство"/"Magic" and "Сияние"/"Shining".
- 2008 — Discography (all albums in MP3)
Unofficial releases
- 2000 (July) — Почти живой ("Almost alive")
- 2001 (January) — Сердце ("Heart")
- 2001 (November) — Special Edition
Official
- Official site (EN, RUS)
- Fleur info at PrikosnovéniePrikosnoveniePrikosnovénie is a French independent record label founded in Nantes in 1990 by Frédéric Chaplain and Sabine Adélaïde who moved to its current home in the medieval city of Clisson in 2001...
label website (EN) - Fleur info at Nikitin recording company (RUS)
Fan resources
- Most complete unofficial Fleur resource (EN, RUS)
- Fleur fansite (RUS)
- Fleur fansite (RUS)
- Fleur fansite (RUS)
- Fleur fan forum (RUS)
Interviews
- Interview with Olga Pulatova for Live174.ru (RUS)
- Excluse interview with Fleur for ThyDoom.com music portal (RUS)
- Electronic version of Fleur interview for НАШ magazine
Other
- Fleur live news at KyivPost informational portal (EN)
- Fleur live in Moscow report at Unian informational agency website (UKR)
- Fleur Moscow tour sum-up at VedomostiVedomostiVedomosti is a Russian language business daily. It is a joint venture between Dow Jones, the Financial Times and Sanoma, publishers of The Moscow Times....
informational agency website (RUS) - Fleur live stenogram and recording at Echo of Moscow radioEcho of MoscowEcho of Moscow is a Russian radio station based in Moscow, broadcasting in many Russian cities, in some of the former-Soviet republics , and via the Internet, which some observers describe as "the last bastion of free media in Russia"...
(RUS) - Fleur news at Nashe radioNashe RadioNashe Radio is a rock music station designed to promote Russian rock bands . It is broadcast in every major Russian city as well as having an internet stream...
(RUS) - Fleur info at Music.com.ua (RUS)
- Fleur info and album review at StarLife.ua (RUS)
- Fleur information at informational portal Today.od.ua (RUS)
- Fleur info at muslib.ru (RUS)
- Fleur live report at OfMusic.ru (RUS)
- Fleur info at Israeli rock club site (RUS)
- Electronic version of article about Fleur from Russian magazine "Пассаж" (Passage) (RUS)
- Fleur info and album review at Sumno.com (UKR)
- Fleur info at Rock.Kiev.ua (RUS)
- Fleur info at MoiKompas.ru (RUS)
- Fleur live reports at informational portal Pravda.mk.ua (RUS)
- Fleur info at Reakcia.ru (RUS)
- Fleur "Everything is out of control" review at Ozon.ru (RUS)
- Fleur album reviews and live reports at HeavyMusic.ru (RUS)
- Fleur @ Last.fm