Made in Russia

There is little Russian pop available on the iTunes UK music store. So I was quite surprised when I stumbled upon little known Russian act Gruppa FM. I'm not even sure if there album had a proper commercial release in Russia, but it is available to download from their official site for free, or to purchase from iTunes. The title track Made in Russia is a decent song with a catchy chorus, and the line "I am so made in Russia, like Masha, Pasha, Natasha, Sasha" is quite ace. (FYI Trisha was made in Australia, not Russia).

The origin of their name is a bit rubbish. Gruppa is Russian for '(music) group', which is straight forward enough, but the FM, according to their site, comes from Mal'chyk, which is a deliberate misspelling of the word Mal'chik (boy), and the F is for "Fefochka", which is a bizarre corruption of Devochka (girl). I don't know where the F has come from - perhaps it's supposed to be like Female. Misspelling is quite fashionable among the Russian youth, especially imitating the way children spell. Anyone familiar with the 'Preved' bear will know this. I can't be bothered to explain it because to have to know Russian to get it, but it baysiklee involvz spellin stuf fonetiklee.

Download Gruppa FM's Made in Russia