Monument (Russian: Монумент) is the third studio album by Belarusian post-punk band Molchat Doma. It was released on 13 November 2020 through Sacred Bones Records, their first release with the label after signing with them in January 2020. It was recorded in their home town of Minsk in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused the cancelation of their previously planned 2020 tour. The singles "Не смешно" (Not Funny), "Дискотека" (Discotheque), and "Ответа нет" (No Answer) were released in promotion of the album. Monument received positive reviews from critics and entered some US Billboard charts, including Top Album Sales at number 97 and World Albums at number 12.
Molchat Doma's second studio album, Etazhi (Floors), was released in September 2018. Throughout the next year, the album slowly gained popularity on YouTube through an unofficially uploaded stream of the album, which gained roughly two million listens before being taken down due to a copyright notice, as well as recommandations and playlists on the platform.[1][2][3] While touring in 2019, the band performed the then-unrecorded songs "Не смешно" (Not Funny) and "Ответа нет" (No Answer), both of which would later appear on Monument.[4]
The band later signed with American independent record label Sacred Bones Records in January 2020.[5] Around the same time, one of the songs from Etazhi, "Судно (Борис Рыжий)" (Vessel (Boris Ryzhy)), began gaining popularity on the video sharing platform TikTok as a result of it being used frequently as background music in videos on the platform;[6] this would cause the song to eventually reach No. 2 on the Spotify worldwide Viral 50 chart[7] and No. 1 on the United States Viral 50 chart.[1] Molchat Doma were set to tour North America, alongside American singer-songwriter Chrysta Bell,[5] in 2020, but were forced to postpone their tour dates when the COVID-19 pandemic had severely impacted the continent.[6] While isolating in their home town of Minsk due to the severity of the pandemic, they began recording a new album.[4]
Promotion and releaseEdit
Monument was officially announced as Molchat Doma's third studio album on 15 September 2020. On the same day, they released the lead single from the album, "Не смешно".[8] A music video for the song was released on 29 September.[9] A second single from the album, "Дискотека" (Discotheque), was released on 14 October, with a music video also being released on the same day.[10] The third and final pre-release single for the album, "Ответа нет" was released on 29 October, with an accompanying lyric video also being released for it. The band also performed the song live on the Russian late night talk show Evening Urgant.[11]
Monument was released on 13 November 2020 through Sacred Bones Records, the band's first release through the label. It received releases on digital platforms for download and streaming as well as physical releases. It received standard releases as a CD, cassette, and black 12-inch vinyl.[4] The album also received multiple exclusive vinyl releases. Through Sacred Bones' website, a blue vinyl limited to 2,000 copies, "blue ice" vinyl limited to 1,000 copies, and blue vinyl with deluxe packaging limited to 400 copies were made available. Members of Sacred Bones' Record Society club were also able to exclusively order a "purple stardust" vinyl through the website.[4] Exclusive versions were also sold by Rough Trade in the United Kingdom as a "black and clear splatter" vinyl,[12]Newbury Comics in the United States as a silver vinyl,[13] and Seasick Records in the United States as a "blue stardust" vinyl.[14]
Monument received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 80, based on 5 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[15]AllMusic's Paul Simpson felt that Monument sounded "brighter and more polished" than Etazhi as well as "more overtly danceable than their earlier records". Simpson further stated that the album contained "some of their most hook-filled songs to date".[16] Nick Soulsby of PopMatters wrote that "the album's clearest virtue is its precision: nine songs, no filler, no visible weaknesses — Monument is as solid as the monoliths to which it harkens".[20]
Matt Cotsell of musicOMH complimented the album's title and overall imagery, adding that "Molchat Doma are having a blast reclaiming their heritage and proving themselves to be a more than an entertaining chip off the old Bloc".[18] Writing for The Quietus, Laviea Thomas wrote that "in so many ways, Monument encapsulates everything Molchat Doma has to offer", feeling that it was a proper finish to a successful year for the band that included a signing to Sacred Bones Records and an uptick in streams.[22]Pitchfork's Ashley Bardhan felt the album's performances sounded "more confident" with the music sounding "less muddy", also complimenting the band's decision not to "[pander] to the audience attracted by their improbable TikTok breakthrough".[19]
Commercial performanceEdit
In the United States, Monument failed to enter the Billboard 200, the primary album chart for the country, although it entered other Billboard charts. On the Top Album Sales chart, which counts only pure album sales, the album entered at No. 97.[23] On the World Albums chart, which ranks the best-selling world music albums, the album entered at No. 12.[24] Additionally, it peaked at No. 14 on the Top Tastemaker Albums chart[25] and number 21 on the Heatseekers Albums chart.[26]
Track listingEdit
All lyrics are written by Egor Shkutko; all music is composed by Roman Komogortsev
^ abZhang, Cat (25 June 2020). "How Belarusian Post-Punks Molchat Doma Became a TikTok Meme". Pitchfork. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
^Dumler, Jean (23 October 2019). "Eine der beliebtesten New-Wave-Bands aus Osteuropa kommt nach Berlin". Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 26 November 2020.
^Stefanini, Giacomo. "Se il punk è ancora vivo nel 2020, è anche grazie ai canali YouTube". Vice Italy (in Italian). Retrieved 26 November 2020.
^ abPearis, Bill (28 January 2020). "Belarusian darkwave band Molchat Doma sign to Sacred Bones, reissuing LPs, touring North America". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
^ abAmter, Charlie (18 May 2020). "Belarusian Group That Sounds Like Joy Division Scores Streaming Hit on Anniversary of Ian Curtis' Death". Variety. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
^Davidson, Emma Elizabeth (21 May 2020). "Three TikTok fashion challenges to shake up your wardrobe". Dazed. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
^Hussey, Allison (15 September 2020). "Molchat Doma Announce New Album, Share New Song "Ne Smeshno": Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
^Graver, David (29 September 2020). "Molchat Doma: Ne Smeshno". Cool Hunting. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
^Teeple, Alice (14 October 2020). "Belarusian Post-Punk trio Molchat Doma are a Dancefloor Smash Hit in their Video for "Discotheque"". Post-Punk.com. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
^"Molchat Doma share single "Otveta Net" & Russian TV performance ahead of album 'Monument' out Nov 13 on Sacred Bones". Bizzarre. 30 October 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
^"Molchat Doma - Monument". Rough Trade. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
^"Molchat Doma - Monument Exclusive LP". Newbury Comics. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
^"Molchat Doma - Monument [LP - Blue Starburst + Print]". Seasick Records. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
^ ab"Critic Reviews for Monument". Metacritic. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
monument, molchat, doma, album, monument, russian, Монумент, third, studio, album, belarusian, post, punk, band, molchat, doma, released, november, 2020, through, sacred, bones, records, their, first, release, with, label, after, signing, with, them, january, . Monument Russian Monument is the third studio album by Belarusian post punk band Molchat Doma It was released on 13 November 2020 through Sacred Bones Records their first release with the label after signing with them in January 2020 It was recorded in their home town of Minsk in the midst of the COVID 19 pandemic which caused the cancelation of their previously planned 2020 tour The singles Ne smeshno Not Funny Diskoteka Discotheque and Otveta net No Answer were released in promotion of the album Monument received positive reviews from critics and entered some US Billboard charts including Top Album Sales at number 97 and World Albums at number 12 MonumentMonumentStudio album by Molchat DomaReleased13 November 2020Recorded2020 in MinskGenrePost punk cold wave new wave synth popLength40 11LanguageRussianLabelSacred BonesProducerRoman Komogortsev a Molchat Doma chronologyEtazhi 2018 MonumentMonument 2020 Singles from Monument Ne smeshno Released 15 September 2020 Diskoteka Released 14 October 2020 Otveta net Released 29 October 2020 Contents 1 Background 2 Promotion and release 3 Critical reception 4 Commercial performance 5 Track listing 6 Personnel 7 Charts 8 References 9 External linksBackground EditMolchat Doma s second studio album Etazhi Floors was released in September 2018 Throughout the next year the album slowly gained popularity on YouTube through an unofficially uploaded stream of the album which gained roughly two million listens before being taken down due to a copyright notice as well as recommandations and playlists on the platform 1 2 3 While touring in 2019 the band performed the then unrecorded songs Ne smeshno Not Funny and Otveta net No Answer both of which would later appear on Monument 4 The band later signed with American independent record label Sacred Bones Records in January 2020 5 Around the same time one of the songs from Etazhi Sudno Boris Ryzhij Vessel Boris Ryzhy began gaining popularity on the video sharing platform TikTok as a result of it being used frequently as background music in videos on the platform 6 this would cause the song to eventually reach No 2 on the Spotify worldwide Viral 50 chart 7 and No 1 on the United States Viral 50 chart 1 Molchat Doma were set to tour North America alongside American singer songwriter Chrysta Bell 5 in 2020 but were forced to postpone their tour dates when the COVID 19 pandemic had severely impacted the continent 6 While isolating in their home town of Minsk due to the severity of the pandemic they began recording a new album 4 Promotion and release EditMonument was officially announced as Molchat Doma s third studio album on 15 September 2020 On the same day they released the lead single from the album Ne smeshno 8 A music video for the song was released on 29 September 9 A second single from the album Diskoteka Discotheque was released on 14 October with a music video also being released on the same day 10 The third and final pre release single for the album Otveta net was released on 29 October with an accompanying lyric video also being released for it The band also performed the song live on the Russian late night talk show Evening Urgant 11 Monument was released on 13 November 2020 through Sacred Bones Records the band s first release through the label It received releases on digital platforms for download and streaming as well as physical releases It received standard releases as a CD cassette and black 12 inch vinyl 4 The album also received multiple exclusive vinyl releases Through Sacred Bones website a blue vinyl limited to 2 000 copies blue ice vinyl limited to 1 000 copies and blue vinyl with deluxe packaging limited to 400 copies were made available Members of Sacred Bones Record Society club were also able to exclusively order a purple stardust vinyl through the website 4 Exclusive versions were also sold by Rough Trade in the United Kingdom as a black and clear splatter vinyl 12 Newbury Comics in the United States as a silver vinyl 13 and Seasick Records in the United States as a blue stardust vinyl 14 Critical reception EditProfessional ratingsAggregate scoresSourceRatingMetacritic80 100 15 Review scoresSourceRatingAllMusic nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 16 Loud and Quiet8 10 17 musicOMH nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 18 Pitchfork7 0 10 19 PopMatters nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 20 Spectrum Culture80 21 Monument received positive reviews from music critics At Metacritic which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications the album received an average score of 80 based on 5 reviews indicating generally favorable reviews 15 AllMusic s Paul Simpson felt that Monument sounded brighter and more polished than Etazhi as well as more overtly danceable than their earlier records Simpson further stated that the album contained some of their most hook filled songs to date 16 Nick Soulsby of PopMatters wrote that the album s clearest virtue is its precision nine songs no filler no visible weaknesses Monument is as solid as the monoliths to which it harkens 20 Matt Cotsell of musicOMH complimented the album s title and overall imagery adding that Molchat Doma are having a blast reclaiming their heritage and proving themselves to be a more than an entertaining chip off the old Bloc 18 Writing for The Quietus Laviea Thomas wrote that in so many ways Monument encapsulates everything Molchat Doma has to offer feeling that it was a proper finish to a successful year for the band that included a signing to Sacred Bones Records and an uptick in streams 22 Pitchfork s Ashley Bardhan felt the album s performances sounded more confident with the music sounding less muddy also complimenting the band s decision not to pander to the audience attracted by their improbable TikTok breakthrough 19 Commercial performance EditIn the United States Monument failed to enter the Billboard 200 the primary album chart for the country although it entered other Billboard charts On the Top Album Sales chart which counts only pure album sales the album entered at No 97 23 On the World Albums chart which ranks the best selling world music albums the album entered at No 12 24 Additionally it peaked at No 14 on the Top Tastemaker Albums chart 25 and number 21 on the Heatseekers Albums chart 26 Track listing EditAll lyrics are written by Egor Shkutko all music is composed by Roman KomogortsevMonument track listing 27 No TitleLength1 Utonut Utonut Drown 5 442 Obrechen Obrechen Doomed 4 083 Diskoteka Diskoteka Discotheque officially translated as Discoteque sic 4 044 Ne smeshno Ne smeshno Not Funny 3 525 Otveta net Otveta net No Answer 4 026 Zvezdy Zvezdy Stars 3 467 Udalil tvoj nomer Udalil tvoy nomer Deleted Your Number 5 108 Leningradskij blyuz Leningradskiy blyuz Leningradian Blues 4 009 Lyubit i vypolnyat Lyubit i vypolnyat To Love and Fulfill 5 26Total length 40 12Personnel EditPersonnel adapted from album liner notes 27 Molchat Doma Egor Shkutko vocals Roman Komogortsev guitar lead synthesizer drum machine programming mixing recording engineer mastering arrangements Pavel Kozlov bass guitar synthesizerOther personnel Kanaplev Leydik photography Molchat Doma cover art concept Andrey Yakovlev cover art design Equipment Korg Mono Poly Korg Polysix LEL 0041 Linn LM 1 samples only Minimoog Model D Roland Alpha Juno 2 Roland Juno 106 Roland JX 3P Yamaha DX7Charts EditChart performance for Monument Chart 2020 PeakpositionUS Heatseekers Albums Billboard 28 21US Top Album Sales Billboard 29 97US Top Tastemaker Albums Billboard 30 14US World Albums Billboard 31 12References EditNotes Credited for recording and mixing References a b Zhang Cat 25 June 2020 How Belarusian Post Punks Molchat Doma Became a TikTok Meme Pitchfork Retrieved 26 November 2020 Dumler Jean 23 October 2019 Eine der beliebtesten New Wave Bands aus Osteuropa kommt nach Berlin Tagesspiegel in German Retrieved 26 November 2020 Stefanini Giacomo Se il punk e ancora vivo nel 2020 e anche grazie ai canali YouTube Vice Italy in Italian Retrieved 26 November 2020 a b c d Molchat Doma Monument Sacred Bones Records Retrieved 26 November 2020 a b Pearis Bill 28 January 2020 Belarusian darkwave band Molchat Doma sign to Sacred Bones reissuing LPs touring North America BrooklynVegan Retrieved 26 November 2020 a b Amter Charlie 18 May 2020 Belarusian Group That Sounds Like Joy Division Scores Streaming Hit on Anniversary of Ian Curtis Death Variety Retrieved 26 November 2020 Davidson Emma Elizabeth 21 May 2020 Three TikTok fashion challenges to shake up your wardrobe Dazed Retrieved 26 November 2020 Hussey Allison 15 September 2020 Molchat Doma Announce New Album Share New Song Ne Smeshno Listen Pitchfork Retrieved 26 November 2020 Graver David 29 September 2020 Molchat Doma Ne Smeshno Cool Hunting Retrieved 26 November 2020 Teeple Alice 14 October 2020 Belarusian Post Punk trio Molchat Doma are a Dancefloor Smash Hit in their Video for Discotheque Post Punk com Retrieved 26 November 2020 Molchat Doma share single Otveta Net amp Russian TV performance ahead of album Monument out Nov 13 on Sacred Bones Bizzarre 30 October 2020 Retrieved 26 November 2020 Molchat Doma Monument Rough Trade Retrieved 26 November 2020 Molchat Doma Monument Exclusive LP Newbury Comics Retrieved 26 November 2020 Molchat Doma Monument LP Blue Starburst Print Seasick Records Retrieved 26 November 2020 a b Critic Reviews for Monument Metacritic Retrieved 24 November 2020 a b Simpson Paul Monument Molchat Doma AllMusic Retrieved 24 November 2020 Crabtree Isabel 9 November 2020 Molchat Doma Monument Loud and Quiet Retrieved 27 November 2020 a b Cotsell Matt 13 November 2020 Molchat Doma Monument musicOMH Retrieved 24 November 2020 a b Bardhan Ashley 17 November 2020 Molchat Doma Monument Album Review Pitchfork Retrieved 24 November 2020 a b Soulsby Nick 9 November 2020 Molchat Doma s Monument Echoes the Belarusian Protests PopMatters Retrieved 24 November 2020 Dempsey Colin 10 November 2020 Molchat Doma Monument Spectrum Culture Retrieved 27 November 2020 Thomas Laviea 18 November 2020 Molchat Doma Monument The Quietus Retrieved 26 November 2020 Top Album Sales Chart Week of November 28 2020 Billboard Retrieved 26 November 2020 World Albums Chart Week of November 28 2020 Billboard Retrieved 26 November 2020 Tastemaker Albums Chart Week of November 28 2020 Billboard Retrieved 26 November 2020 Heatseekers Album Chart Week of November 28 2020 Billboard Retrieved 26 November 2020 a b Monument vinyl sleeve Molchat Doma Sacred Bones Records 2020 SBR 262 a href Template Cite AV media notes html title Template Cite AV media notes cite AV media notes a CS1 maint others in cite AV media notes link Molchat Doma Chart History Heatseekers Albums Billboard Retrieved 24 November 2020 Molchat Doma Chart History Top Album Sales Billboard Retrieved 24 November 2020 Molchat Doma Chart History Top Tastemaker Albums Billboard Retrieved 24 November 2020 Molchat Doma Chart History World Albums Billboard Retrieved 24 November 2020 External links EditMonument at Discogs list of releases Monument Adobe Flash at Spotify streamed copy where licensed Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Monument Molchat Doma album amp oldid 1140800215, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
