Musical Lecture: “Silence and Magic. Where Modern Pop Music Came From.” | Nikolay Ovchinnikov

Silence and Magic. Where Modern Pop Music Came From. The State of the Scene

Who’s behind today’s biggest pop hits? What’s wrong (and what’s good) with the post-Soviet music scene? Where did rock music go — or did it really disappear? Why do we still love Valery Meladze and Taylor Swift? Why has hip-hop stopped surprising us? Why do we increasingly treat music as a form of escapism rather than a way to come together in the face of shared troubles?

Journalist, editor, and music critic Kolya Ovchinnikov will explore these questions in his lecture.

This talk is an attempt to capture the state of the pop scene today and to explain where it comes from and why we keep listening to these songs, dancing to them, and sharing them with friends. It’s designed both for those who know little about music theory and rarely read about it, and for those with a deeper understanding of the subject.

Nikolai Ovchinnikov is a journalist known to many as an editor of Volna Latvii and a prolific writer on music. His work has appeared in Delfi, Republic, Novaya Gazeta Europe, and other outlets. From 2019 to 2022, he headed the Music section of the influential Russian-language publication Afisha Daily. He also runs his own Telegram channel Voice (t.me/voicemedia). His upcoming book We Will Never Die explores the history of alternative rock in Russia in the 2000s.

You may also like the following events from Laska V21:

• This Friday, 26th September, 10:00 pm, Bar Night | MoZ & Hazy Andrew in Riga
• This Saturday, 27th September, 10:00 pm, Bar Night | Klim in Riga
• Next Friday, 3rd October, 11:00 pm, SBP4 Afterparty with SBP4 DJs in Riga

Also check out other Entertainment events in RIGA.