A multimedia show from the Russian punk activists still being persecuted for anti-Putin protest is as funny as it is nerve-shreddingPussy Riot might put the punk rock in modern protest, but their musical chops have always been a little less clear. You will likely know that two of the Russian feminist disrupters were arrested and sentenced to nearly two years in a labour camp for performing their `punk prayer` performance in an orthodox cathedral in Moscow in 2012, drawing international outrage and attention on how Russia treats its dissident artists. But can you remember the serrated riot grrrl riffage of the song that soundtracked it, Mother of God, Drive Putin Away? Or, for that matter, any of their other classics, such as Putin Zassal (roughly, `Putin Has Pissed Himself`)?Also uncertain is what youīre going to get when you see Pussy Riot billed anywhere. Or, rather, who youīre going to get. Their cast is seemingly interchangeable, like a balaclava-ed Sugababes, with the two global faces of the group staging contrasting endeavours at separate times, of varying artistic quality. The first Pussy Riot tour in North America this spring featured one of those faces, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and band playing some of their new anti-Putin agit-electro. At the Edinburgh fringe, meanwhile, the collectiveīs other leading rioter, Maria `Masha` Alyokhina, is presenting Riot Days, a mix of music, documentary footage and scathing political commentary based on her memoir of the same name. Continue reading...
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