Zvuki Mu

  • Zvuki Mu
  • Zvuki Mu (Opal/Warner Bros.) 1989 
  • Zima (Winter) (Opal/Warner Bros.) 1991 

This Russian band, produced in Moscow by Brian Eno, sparked Western comparisons to Talking Heads and Captain Beefheart. Maybe. But perhaps they were overwhelmed by Eno’s enthusiasm for ambient music; Zvuki Mu is awfully enervating. Translations of the lyrics on the inner don’t improve things, either: “300 minutes of pleasure with oneself” is admittedly an odd way of referring to masturbation (besides, this album is only 40 minutes, ho ho ho), but there’s nothing compelling, nothing that cuts here.

[Jim Green]