Lev Gankine aka Levgan
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Geographical location: Moscow, Russia
Other contact information: levgan@gmail.com ICQ - 224557020
DOB: 19 Aug 1984
Enjoy these Styles and musical qualities: Canterbury, Difficult, Electronic, Folk, Kosmiche or Kraut Rock, Modern Classical, Noise/Industrial/Urban, RIO, Mainstream/Accessible/Pop, Symphonic, Traditional, Psychedelic, Zeuhl, Theatrical
Other styles/genres/qualities of music that I like not listed above: Proto-prog, quirky pop, acid folk, post-punk, experimental wave, DIY, minimal synth / coldwave, funk, post-rock, IDM, underground hip-hop and generally everything offbeat and thought-provoking.
Favorite or well-respected bands/artists In stream of consciousness order: Dr. Dopo Jam, L'Ensemble Raye, Blossom Toes, Opus Avantra, Mecano, Nanu Urwerk, Can, Caravan, Die Anarchistische Abendunterhaltung, Flat Earth Society, A-Austr, Gracious!, Debile Menthol, Rare Bird, Amon Tobin, St. Vincent, A Silver Mt. Zion & Tra-La-La Band, Supersister, Fille Qui Mousse, Recreation, Jean-Claude Vannier, Vezhlivyi Otkaz, ...and the Native Hipsters, Caravan, Burial, Guapo, Koenji Hyakkei, Cockney Rebel, Eskaton, Comus, Cardiacs, Culpeper's Orchard, Astronauts (of "Peter Pan Hits the Suburbs" fame), The Kinks, Flower Travellin' Band, Gentle Giant, Sergey Kuryokhin, Marsupilami, Principal Edwards Magic Theatre, Samla Mammas Manna, Von Zamla, Lars Hollmer, Frank Zappa, Arbete och Fritid, Current 93, Sparks, The Ex, Einsturzende Neubauten, Tea & Symphony, Gang of Four, La Grande Formation, Luna Park Ensemble, Kristen Nogues, Scrooge, Catherine Ribeiro & Alpes, The Beatles, Solar Plexus, Television, Animal Collective, These Trails, Lach'n Jonsson, Wolfgang Dauner, Jethro Tull, Frumpy, Rinnesya, Soft Machine, Shampoo, Univers Zero, Violent Femmes.
Dislike these Styles and musical qualities: New Age, Blues
Musical styles or qualities that I do not like: Overproduction, superfluous technicality, excessive lyrical pathos, "every-note-I-play-is-going-to-change-the-world" attitude, musicians who take themselves too seriously, total lack of irony, excessive prolificacy (a-la Acid Mothers Temple or John Zorn), complexity for its own sake (a lot of modern avant-prog bands suffer from this syndrome, particularly those on the verge of so-called math rock), excessive simplicity and one-dimensionality. In other words, I'm not a big fan of excess in music. Besides that, I hate thin digital keys (especially in the symphonic prog context) and Roger Dean's artwork.
Occupation(s): I run a daily show on Russian radio - mostly focused on *popular* music (i.e. straight pop, indie rock, hip-hop etc.), but I try to squeeze in some more adventurous stuff every now and then.
Other musical activities: I play piano and sing in Russian progressive rock band Uphill Work. Gotta get the first album out soon!
Hobbies / obsessions: Hunting for obscure prog LPs and swapping rare music with like-minded collectors from all over the world. Spending as much time as I can with my beautiful wife and our wonderful daughter who is 8 months old as of this writing.
Other comments: If you ever see a young guy on a record fair speaking English with a heavy Russian accent, clap him on the shoulder and say hi Lev.