On April 12, 1961, the Russians were the first to put a man into space.
A few years later, on March 18, 1965, the Russian cosmonaut, for the first time in the history of human civilization, went into open space.
If we try to draw speculative parallels between space and electronic music, then the Rostov based group PPK have undoubtedly proved to be pioneers on the Russian electronic scene.
A few years later, on March 18, 1965, the Russian cosmonaut, for the first time in the history of human civilization, went into open space.
If we try to draw speculative parallels between space and electronic music, then the Rostov based group PPK have undoubtedly proved to be pioneers on the Russian electronic scene.
On April 12, 1961, the Russians were the first to put a man into space.
A few years later, on March 18, 1965, the Russian cosmonaut, for the first time in the history of human civilization, went into open space.
A few years later, on March 18, 1965, the Russian cosmonaut, for the first time in the history of human civilization, went into open space.
If we try to draw speculative parallels between space and electronic music, then the Rostov based group PPK have undoubtedly proved to be pioneers on the Russian electronic scene.
In electronic dance music, especially at the dawn of its formation, the themes of space and high technology have always played a primary role. The ravers tried to dress as futuristically as possible to match the avant-garde designs that the event designers came up with for raves, at which DJs and musicians played cutting-edge music. For the participants of this culture, rave and space were identical to each other. The PPK group emerged in Rostov-on-Don, a city that was not considered one of the epicenters of the global club revolution, have always thought in terms of space, on a large scale.
At the turn of the century, when the Internet was just making its cautious steps out of its academic cradle, many technology gurus made predictions of all sorts of magnitude and awesomeness. But many agreed on one thing: The Internet is a place where anyone can achieve popularity and fame. There will be no need for intermediaries in the form of managers and record labels. If you have a hit and talent, you will definitely be noticed. With these positive thoughts and in reaction to the people's love for the MP3 format, in 1997 a site with a simple name mp3.com was launched. This was the first attempt to combine a heap of various services at once, which were then embodied in social networks, MySpace, Beatport and streaming applications. The idea was simple: you upload your music to the site and, according to the idea of the site's authors, the whole Internet can hear you. Rostov musicians PPK were progressive guys, and they knew very well not only what an mp3 is, but also how the Internet worked. In addition, they already had several ready-made compositions on hand.
The first time PPK went into space was in the fall of 2000. Then their track "Hey DJ!" ended up at Number One on the global mp3.com chart and the popularity of the group became exactly as had been predicted by the technology gurus: if you have a hit and talent, you will be noticed. PPK was quickly noticed by the whole world and PPK became the first Russian project that thundered worldwide.
The second time PPK went into space, when "Resurection" was played by one of the heavyweights of the then global club scene, English super DJ Paul Oakenfold. Moreover, he played it immediately in heavy rotation, and the support of any track of this kind by artists invariably resulted in an increase in album sales and further popularity. No one was surprised that in the same year Oakenfold released Resurection (dubbed ResuRection) on his Perfecto label. As a result, this track was heard everywhere both in 2001 and in 2002. BBC Radio 1 includes "ResuRection" in the A-List and plays an INSTRUMENTAL trance track with voice samples of Russian cosmonauts' talking an amazing 6 times a day!
There are many opinions about the composition "Resurrection", but the origin of the composition can definitely be called an ideal example of the connection between generations. The original melody for the film "Sibiriada" directed by Andrei Konchalovsky was written by the Soviet composer Eduard Nikolayevich Artemiev in 1979. The title of the work is "Hike". In 1998, the composition "Resurection" (Robot's Outro), a melody played by Aleksandr Polyakov on a synthesizer in the Rostov studio of PPK, to the tune of Eduard Nikolaevich, appeared as an "addition" to the cassette in the first album of PPK. Alexander at that moment sincerely believed that he had heard the melody in the movie about space, and Sergey came up with the name in Russian and English and made a typo, which was later highlighted with a capital letter - ResuRection. On December 25, 2000, the parties registered the work "Resurrection" in the Russian Authors' Society, after which questions about the contribution of PPK to the authorship and the legality of borrowing Artemiev's melody remain a long-term topic for discussion.
For the third time, the first Russian musicians, PPK entered the global cultural space on December 7, 2001. On this day, British television showed one of its most popular programs - the music show "Top of the Pops", in which only those musicians whose tracks hit the national British charts took part. Top of the Pops was the longest-running weekly music program in the world, running for 42 years. The program aired from 1964 to 2006 and featured all the world's famous bands starting with The Beatles. By this time, PPK's composition "ResuRection" had reached a phenomenal third place in the UK Singles Chart, and PPK became the first Russian musicians who did it. The total number of copies sold in Britain in the first week of sales exceeded 200,000 and The British Association of Phonogram Producers recorded the result by presenting PPK and their management team with a certified award - "Silver Disc".
Before getting into the British hit parade, other colleagues from the club scene or professionals in the music business knew about the global success of Rostov musicians in Russia. On December 7, 2001, the multi-million circulation newspaper "Moskovsky Komsomolets" came out with a kicker headline on the front page: "Russian guys beat Madonna and U2." PPK received such a strong boost of acclaim that, upon returning to their homeland they knew the time was right to move forward with many new projects.
In March 2002, the British charity Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy launched a worldwide fundraising initiative for people with hearing impairments, calling the project World DJ Day. This event in Russia was for the first time organized by the PPK project and the "Gorod" club alongside the entire international music community.
In March 2002, the British charity Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy launched a worldwide fundraising initiative for people with hearing impairments, calling the project World DJ Day. This event in Russia was for the first time organized by the PPK project and the "Gorod" club alongside the entire international music community.
Later, Sergei Pimenov decided to open a music store and, along the way, a fully-fledged record label. Both were called Uplifto. The store sold vinyl, and the label was determined to find and promote new talent in the electronic music field. True, vinyl could not resist the onslaught of the technological revolution: DJs were actively switching to digital formats, and vinyl was losing its popularity. Despite the success of the Uplifto label, the old business model (find an artist, promote and sell media with his music) was also outdated, and the new business model and streaming platforms had not yet emerged.
But today Sergey Pimenov is pleased with the way the Uplifto label showed itself, revealing to the world talents like Bobina, Swanky Tunes, Hard Rock Sofa, Dmitriy Filatov and Alexey Karas, who a few years later entered the Top 100 of the best DJs on the planet according to the English magazine DJ mag and gained a multi-million audience of listeners from all over the world, becoming a truly international phenomenon.
The history of PPK seems to follow the name of its most popular track. After 2003, when the project was officially discontinued for the first time, the group met in 2010. In 2001, PPK performed in Moscow in its original form - as a trio of Polyakov, Pimenov, Korzhov.
However, the trinity did not last long, and in 2016 Roman Korzhov died. But the history of PPK, it seems, does not end there, because even today "Resurrection" is one of the most recognizable Russian tracks and a very popular piece of music, which was recorded by the Rostov guys many years ago, at the dawn of the new millennium, with faith in space, rockets and advanced technology.
However, the trinity did not last long, and in 2016 Roman Korzhov died. But the history of PPK, it seems, does not end there, because even today "Resurrection" is one of the most recognizable Russian tracks and a very popular piece of music, which was recorded by the Rostov guys many years ago, at the dawn of the new millennium, with faith in space, rockets and advanced technology.
On September 22, 2020, the State Corporation Roscosmos and Channel One announced that, for the first time in history, they would create a feature film in space. The working title is "CHALLENGE". The director of the film is Klim Shipenko (films "Salut-7", "Kholop"). Dmitry Rogozin, Konstantin Ernst, Sergey Titinkov, Eduard Iloyan, Denis Zhalinsky, Vitaly Shlyappo and Alexey Trotsyuk will act as general producers of the large-scale film project. The plot of the film provides for a flight to the International Space Station, which is scheduled for autumn 2021, on the Russian Soyuz MS manned transport spacecraft. At the moment, the parties are discussing the details of the future film - the script, the technical capabilities of filming and the cast. The main character of the film, who will fly to the ISS, and her understudy will be determined by the results of an open competition hosted by Channel One amongst actresses.
The composition "Resurrection" of the PPK project, by Eduard Artemiev and Alexander Polyakov, became the main theme of the preparation for the filming of the film "Challenge".
The flight will take place in the fall of 2021.
The flight will take place in the fall of 2021.
