The Russian Futurists are a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band based in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. Their music can be described as

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

fused with a

twee-pop Twee pop is a subgenre of indie pop that originates from the 1986 '' NME'' compilation ''C86''. Characterised by its simplicity and perceived innocence, some of its defining features are boy–girl harmonies, catchy melodies, and lyrics about lov ...

temperament. The band started as a solo project of Matthew Adam Hart (born 1978), and later expanded into a band for live performances.

History

Hart was born and raised in

Cornwall, Ontario Cornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, situated where the provinces of Central Canada, Ontario and Quebec and the state of New York (state), New York converge. It is the seat of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Unit ...

. Influenced by songwriters like

Stephin Merritt Stephin Raymond Merritt (born February 9, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the songwriter and principal singer of the bands the Magnetic Fields, the Gothic Archies, and Future Bible Heroes. He is ...

The Magnetic Fields The Magnetic Fields (named after the André Breton/Philippe Soupault novel ''Les Champs Magnétiques'') are an American Band (rock and pop), band founded and led by Stephin Merritt. Merritt is the group's primary songwriter, producer, and vocali ...

, he spent his early career creating indie hip hop music tracks, using improvised gear, in Cornwall and in

Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough ( ) is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough ...

. Hart's first album under the name The Russian Futurists was released by

Upper Class Recordings Upper Class Recordings is a Canadian independent record label founded in 2000 in Toronto, Ontario. The electronic music-based Upper Class roster includes The Russian Futurists, Cadence Weapon, DVAS, Christien Summers and The Cansecos. History ...

in 2000, and titled ''The Method of Modern Love''. The album was praised by

Graham Coxon Graham Leslie Coxon (born 12 March 1969) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter who came to prominence as a founding member of the rock band Blur. As the group's lead guitarist and secondary vocalist, Cox ...

of Blur and

Peter Buck Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. He also plays the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his car ...

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternative ...

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'' magazine called it "one of the most melodically seductive and exhilarating records of recent times". The band also received positive reviews in

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

, ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', and ''

XLR8R ''XLR8R'' (pronounced "accelerator") is a website that covers music, culture, style, and technology. It was originally also a print magazine. History and profile ''XLR8R'' was founded as a newsprint zine in 1993 by publisher Andrew Smith in Sea ...

''.Dunlevy, T'Cha.
The Russian Futurists Know 'Pop' Isn't a Four-Letter Word
, Dose, 2007-11-22. Retrieved on 2008-07-06. In 2004 the band toured in the U.S., Canada and Spain. They toured with

Peter Bjorn and John Peter Bjorn and John are a Swedish indie pop/rock band formed in Stockholm in 1999, named after the first names of the band's members: Peter Morén (vocals, guitar and harmonica), Björn Yttling (bass guitar, keyboards and vocals) and John Eriks ...

Caribou Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

and

Junior Boys Junior Boys are a Canadian electronic pop group, founded in 1999 in Hamilton, Ontario by Jeremy Greenspan and Johnny Dark. Dark left the project shortly after, and was replaced by engineer Matt Didemus. The duo initially gained critical praise ...

.The Russian Futurists
,

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-07-06. Hart recorded the first three lo-fi Futurists albums in his Toronto home, including 2005's ''Our Thickness''; in June 2005 the album appeared on the !earshot Top 200 chart. The band's track "Paul Simon" was chosen by Samsung to include on its phones as a featured song. Hart has remixed other artists' singles, including " Tonight I Have to Leave It" by

Shout Out Louds Shout Out Louds is a Swedish indie pop band from Stockholm. History Formed in Stockholm by childhood friends Adam Olenius (vocals), Ted Malmros (bass), and Carl von Arbin (guitars), Shout Out Louds found an international audience during the e ...

and " The First Five Times" by

Stars A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth ma ...

. For The Russian Futurists' fourth studio album, looking for more sophisticated production, Hart began recording in a New York studio. The band released the album, '' The Weight’s On The Wheels'', worldwide on November 16, 2010. It was produced by Hart with the aid of

Michael Musmanno Michael Angelo Musmanno (April 7, 1897 – October 12, 1968) was an American jurist, politician, and naval officer. Coming from an immigrant family, he started to work as a coal loader at the age of 14. After serving in the United States Army in ...

( Outkast,

Lilys Lilys are an United States, American indie rock band (music), band formed in Washington, D.C., Washington, District of Columbia, D.C in 1988. The only constant member is Kurt Heasley, with the line-up changing regularly. Several of the band's tra ...

Arrested Development The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...

). The lead single “Hoeing Weeds Sowing Seeds”, was mixed by Grammy Award winner

Michael Brauer Michael Brauer is a New York-based mix engineer. He received a Grammy for "Best Pop Vocal Album" for his work on John Mayer's ''Continuum'', "Best Alternative Album" for Coldplay's ''Parachutes'', and also "Best Rock Album" for Coldplay's ''Viva la ...

(

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...

The Bravery The Bravery is an American rock band formed in New York City in 2003. The band consists of lead vocalist Sam Endicott, guitarist Michael Zakarin, keyboardist John Conway, bassist Mike Hindert and drummer Anthony Burulcich. They are best known ...

). The album, ten tracks in total feature tracks “Horseshoe Fortune”, “Register My Firearms? No Way!”,“100 Shopping Days ‘Til Christmas” and “One Night, One Kiss”, a duet with Heavy Blinkers singer

Ruth Minnikin Ruth Minnikin is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was formerly a member of Booming Airplanes, The Heavy Blinkers, The Guthries and Reels, and now performs as Ruth Minnikin and her Bandwagon. She received nominations for Best Female Album and ...

. The Russian Futurists released a music video for “One Night, One Kiss” off their 2010 fourth studio album, ''The Weight’s on the Wheels''. The songs "Paul Simon", and "Precious Metals" are featured on the ''

NBA 2K11 ''NBA 2K11'' is a 2010 basketball simulation video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. It was released in October 2010 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, and Nintend ...

'' soundtrack. In September 2013, Hart began a 9-year stint as cohost of the morning show on Toronto's

CIND-FM CIND-FM, branded as ''Indie88'', is an FM radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, broadcasting at 88.1 MHz. The station, which broadcasts an adult album alternative format, had its "soft launch" on July 31, 2013, and had its official launch ...

. He left the station in February 2022. Hart shifted to producing several hip hop projects in 2022. He was credited with co-producing the track 'Ghost Photo' by Milano Constantine and Big Ghost Ltd. He also produced the EP 'From Russia With Love 2' by Allah Preme of The Umbrella Collective. The latest Russian Futurists release is a co-production between Hart and Toronto producer Jordache (aka Andrew Carr). The EP entitled 'Don't Die' was released on October 31, 2022.

Discography

Albums

* ''The Method of Modern Love'' (2000) * ''Let's Get Ready to Crumble'' (2002)"A Completely Biased Ranking of the 60 Best Canadian Indie Rock Songs of the 00s Part II"
''Vice'', Cam Lindsay Apr 10 2017 * ''

Our Thickness ''Our Thickness'' is the third album by The Russian Futurists The Russian Futurists are a Canadian indie pop band based in Toronto. Their music can be described as lo-fi, indie- electronica fused with a twee-pop temperament. The band started ...

'' (2005) * ''Me, Myself And Rye... An Introduction To The Russian Futurists'' (2006, Memphis Industries) * ''

The Weight's on the Wheels The Weight's on the Wheels is the fourth studio album by Canadian indie pop band The Russian Futurists, released on November 16, 2010 on Upper Class Recordings. Reception According to Metacritic, ''The Weight's on the Wheels'' has a score of 63 ou ...

'' (Nov 2010)

Singles

* ''Paul Simon'' (2006) * ''Hoeing Weeds Sowing Seeds + Remixes EP'' (2010) * ''One Night, One Kiss '' (2011)

Compilations

* '' Me Myself & Rye... An Introduction to the Russian Futurists'' (2006)

EPs

* '' Ecole de Neige'' (1998) * ''Reality Burger With A Side Of Life'' (2019) * Don't Die (2022)

References

External links

Russian Futurists
official site
The Russian Futurists
Twitter {{DEFAULTSORT:Russian Futurists, The Canadian indie pop groups Musical groups from Toronto Musical groups established in 2000 Lo-fi music groups 2000 establishments in Ontario Memphis Industries artists