In 2017, you could see The Death of Stalin in theaters. More about it on IMDB, Filmkrant, VPRO Cinema and Wikipedia; trailer on YouTube. See also In Russia, nobody’s laughing at Iannucci’s The Death of Stalin (The Guardian, 2017).

Russians are not known as a people who are generous with smiles. Smiling at people you don’t or barely know is more for fools, suspicious, or simply unnecessary. Смех без причины – признак дурачины (laughter without reason is a sign of foolishness). You could also say: Russians save their smiles for when they are truly sincere.

A trio from Samara with a simple lineup: guitar, bass, drums. Music that goes straight ahead with force. Bassist Max Smirnov sings along. They used to sing in English (The Last Gang in Town, 2013), but since Человек человеку волк (2015), it’s been in Russian, and thank goodness for that.

Останови is the imperative form (informal) meaning stop. Addressed to Макс (= Max), who is behind the wheel of a машина (car). The trip isn’t going very well. Я уже близок к тому, чтобы сомкнуть руки на твоей шее: I’m close to putting my hands around your neck. Мне кажется, эта машина везёт нас ко дну – it seems this car is taking us to the bottom.

About an unreachable goal or an unattainable desire. Something beautiful that will never be yours, or worse. As in this case with Гречка (or Grechka), which means buckwheat. Maybe that’s why she can’t achieve it.

‘Pornofilms’ doesn’t exactly sound like a name that would easily conquer the world. But for the members of Порнофильмы (Pornofilmy), it seemed like a good idea—or perhaps the band name was just punk enough.

In Russian, you can say a lot with few words. The language is compact, and many sentences are simple. “He is an engineer” is already short, but Russians cut it in half: “He engineer” – that’s all you need to say. The language requires few words but the right ones.

From Russian with Max, here are the 34 самые популярные конструкции русского языка (the 34 most popular sentence structures of the Russian language). Useful words and conjunctions, each with two examples, read aloud (by Max) at two different speeds. With English translation; summary (with Dutch translation) below the video.

For beginners, there are plenty of sentences to see, listen to, and repeat so that you can quickly make your own beautiful sentences. Useful for this purpose is the video below from RussianPod101, featuring words like потом (then), но (but), тем временем (meanwhile), and seven more.

Every noun in Russian is masculine, feminine, or neuter. You always need to know which category it falls into, and usually, that’s not difficult. Words ending in a consonant are masculine, words ending in а or я are feminine, and words ending in о or е are neuter.

There are many reasons to (want to, start, or continue) learning Russian. It’s the language of the world’s largest country, the biggest language in Europe, and it’s useful in many countries outside of Russia too. And perhaps the best reason to learn Russian: simply the most beautiful language of all.

Song lyrics are compact, memorable, and accessible at all levels. They make studying fun and effective at the same time.

Anyone starting something wants to know when they’ll finish. How long does it take to understand, read, and speak Russian? How much time does it take to learn the language well? Как долго (how long), сколько (how much)?

Girl group with a changing lineup. In Russian, the name is Серебро, but the spelling in Latin letters is common. It means silver. From Wikipedia: “a Russian trio that placed third at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with the song Song #1.”

Константин Ступин (Konstantin Stupin) performed this Когда я умер (When I Died) in 2015. On YouTube, there are also performances from 2014 and 2015, but those are outdoors, as well as a live version from 2016. Ступин was born in 1972 and passed away in 2017.

Where people elsewhere talk about the heart (in the heart, from the heart, etc.), in Russia, you would more likely speak of the soul (душа). Русская душа is the famous Russian soul. One of the characteristics presented by Слот (or Slot): Сначала сделаем, а думать будем потом: first, act, then think. Живём один раз, а после нас хоть потоп: we live once, and after us, let the flood come.

Keep watching me from the side constantly (Постоянно косо смотришь на меня) and be careful not to break your neck (Постарайся себе шею не сломать). That’s how Мозг мне не еби by Смех (or Smex or Smeh) begins. It’s something like “don’t mess with my head.”

Азбука = abc, плохой = bad, and вкус = taste. It becomes плохого and вкуса due to the genitive case. Eyes closed, tongue bitten (глаза закрыты, язык прикусан), this is the ABC of bad taste.

You might not know much about Kizaru. Then read a Russian-language bio and also see punch-line.ru. The question Что ты знаешь обо мне (what do you know about me) is answered by Kizaru himself. Ты ничего не знаешь обо мне, you know nothing about me.

Heavy and dark. Начало (The Beginning), 2016. From the album of the same name, featuring Max Smirnov from WLVS.

A чёрная речка (chernaya rechka) is a black river. It is also a river in Saint Petersburg (see Wikipedia or Википедия). Aleksandr Pushkin was fatally wounded there in a duel (in 1837). The band took its name from the nearby metro station, as mentioned in a Russian interview.

These days, Karina Novotutova (1991) mostly posts pictures of her kids on VK, but in a previous life, she was a rapper. And not a bad one either. With a great flow and attitude. In 2015, Kerry Force (or Карина Форс) released a “Best of” album with 14 tracks (Spotify) and then disappeared from the scene.

13 мгновений весны = 13 Moments of Spring. Most likely a nod to Семнадцать мгновений весны (17 Moments of Spring), a Russian TV show from 1973 (see Wikipedia or Википедия).

There’s little color to be seen or needed in the work of photographer Aleksey Myakishev (Алексей Мякишев). Born (1971) in Kirov (or Киров), formerly called Vyatka until 1934 and still sometimes referred to as such. Vyatka is also the name of one of Myakishev’s most famous projects, the photo series (2014) in which he captured the people and life of his home region.

Grivina (also known as Dasha Grivina) comes from Abakan, located in Southeast Siberia. She is still young (born in 2000) but has come a long way. Her music (like her lyrics) isn’t highly sophisticated, but that’s not a requirement in this genre. 222K followers on Instagram; Grivina has come from afar and is going even further.

Besides the never-to-be-surpassed hardbass version, see Adidas), there is also a Три полоски (tri paloski) by Animal ДжаZ (Animal Jazz). From Saint Petersburg, check out the (English-language) Wikipedia and song lyrics. From 2009, and still holds up.

Russians love Adidas. This goes back to the 1980 Olympic Games (Moscow) – the reasons behind it can be read through the links below. Watch: Why Slavs wear Adidas, and two more about the brand with the три полоски (tri paloski) – three stripes.

Гуф (or Guf), formerly Rolexx and born as Aleksei Dolmatov (Алексей Долматов), was born in 1979 and, like Slim, comes from Centr. He has a reputation as a guy who occasionally runs into problems. For more information, you can visit Wikipedia or check out Гуф – о героине, разводе и новой жизни (Guf on heroin, divorce, and a new life, 2017).

The Modern Russian Design (or новый русский дизайн) is about graphic design in Russia. Cyrillic letters and symbols in creative forms, from the last 20 years. Beautiful works and entertaining stories, by colorful designers.

Guidelines, advice, and warnings: clips about what not to do in Russia. Many common-sense tips and things you could probably figure out yourself. Still, it’s useful to take note of, especially for those traveling eastward.