GROOVE OF ESSR III

Description

The groove of ESSR III marks a new chapter in shedding light on the musical heritage confined behind the Iron Curtain during the Soviet occupation. The tracklist includes recordings made between 1971 and 1983 by Estonian artists, most of whom were born under a foreign regime after the war. Despite this, they had family in the West and their antennas picked up signals from Finnish radio. In a closed world, they had the courage to explore a groove without borders. Many performers and songwriters became the most sought-after artists throughout Soviet Russia, the brilliance of their compositions, their exceptional artistic talent, and their stage performances with Western accents captivated audiences, even if they did not understand the lyrics. Controlling, censoring, and preventing bands from making their music sometimes proved impossible. Despite multiple attempts to stop him, Gunnar "Iron Man" Graps sang only in Estonian and played the music he wanted. Make no mistake, our nostalgia is not for the USSR, but for the unique spirit of these peoples who, through music, resisted terror, deportations, and oppression. United by the Singing Revolution, they ultimately reclaimed what had been stolen from them: their freedom.