Kolibri (band)

Kolibri
Kolibri on stage the Place Club in Saint Petersburg. 10 October 2010
Background information
Origin	Saint Petersburg
Genres	experimental rock avant-pop baroque pop
Years active	1988–present
Labels	FeeLee Records Real Records Gala Records Triary Records
Associated acts	Sous
Website	http://www.kolibri.spb.ru/
Members	Yelena Yudanova Irina Sharovatova Inna Volkova
Past members	Natasha Pivovarova Olga Feshchenko Oleg Emirov Andrey Gradovich

Kolibri is a Soviet and Russian experimental pop/rock group formed in 1988 in Saint-Petersburg playing an eclectic brand of baroque pop blended with elements of post-punk, cabaret, chanson and dominated by vocal harmony. In their heyday Kolibri, according to rock historian Andrey Burlaka, combined ironic high posturing with touchingly humane attitude, writing and performing songs that were described variously as exquisite, depressive, extravagant, romantic, naive, sophisticated and decadent. The band released six studio albums which were well received by critics both in Europe and in Russia but never had any commercial success.

Natasha Pivovarova, Kolibri's founding member, left in 1998 to form her own band Sous (The Sauce). She died in a car crash in Crimea, Ukraine, in September 2007.

Kolibri were formed in 1988, originally as a side project for (born 17 July 1963 in Novgorod), then a member of Sergey Kuryokhin's Populyarnaya Mekhanika. She invited to join in six other girls, who were associated with the Leningrad Rock Club in one way or another but haven't had any stage experience, and suggested they'd form a kind of musical theater and perform cover versions in a cabaret/avant-garde/post-rock fashion. On 8 March 1988 the septet premiered their Vacation of Love set (its title referring to the Japanese film) at the Leningrad Rock Club. According to critic Andrey Burlaka the concert caused furore and the girls became the overnight sensation of the city's cultural scene. By the time of their next gig, though, Kolibri were five: Pivovarova, Yelena Yudanova, Irina Sharovatova, Olga Feshchenko, and Inna Volkova. Soon the band members started writing their own material.

In November 1989, Kolibri went into Aquarium's portable studio to record their Американская жена (American Wife) demo and next month started working on their debut album in the Titanic Studio with producer Alexandr Titov (ex-Aquarium). Among those taking part in the recording were Oleg Sakmarov (flute, oboe), Piotr Akimov (cello), Alexey Ratzen (drums) and two Televizor's guitarists, Alexandr Beliaev and Maxim Kuznetzov. In 1990 the debut album Манера поведения (Manie′ra Povede′niya, Manner of Conduct) was released, first unofficially, then a year later on FeeLee Records in Russia. Two years later it was released in the USA.