Splean

This article is about the Russian rock band. For the internal organ, see Spleen.

Splean
File:Splean-2010-07-30.jpg
Background information
Origin	Saint Petersburg, Russia
Genres	Alternative rock Acoustic rock Indie rock
Years active	May 27, 1994 – present
Associated acts	Сеtи, Oedipus Complex, Alexander Vasilyev (solo), Bi-2
Members	Alexander Vasilyev Vadim Sergeyev Dmitry Kunin Nikolay Rostovsky Alexey Mesherekov

Splean (Russian: Сплин) is a popular Russian rock band. They were formed and released their first album in 1994. Since then, they have remained one of the most popular rock bands in Russia and the former Soviet Union. The band's name is derived from "spleen" (in the sense of "depression"), and the "ea" spelling in English is a pun on the spelling of the Beatles. It was borrowed from a short poem by Sasha Cherny, which the band set to music.

The band was formed when lead singer Alexander Vasilyev, while working in a theatrical institute, was introduced to keyboardist Nikolay Rostovsky. The two formed a band, and risking Vasilyev's job, began recording their first album "Pylnaya Byl" in one of the institute's studios at night. After the release of Splean's second album, the band moved to Moscow. Their growing popularity was proved by Boris Grebenshchikov's support. Splean had a string of hit songs including "Sugar Free Orbit ", "New People", "Backwards Time", and "We Were Just Sitting and Smoking".

Despite rumours that the group is on the verge of breaking up, Splean continues performing throughout Russia and the world. The band frequently experiments and evolves, so that the current version of Splean is quite different from its original version.

In 2004, the band garnered international attention for the inclusion of their song "Be My Shadow" ("Будь моей тенью") in the movie based on Sergey Lukyanenko's bestselling novel Night Watch.

Splean was a headliner of the 2005 Krylya Rock festival. In that same year, the group started recording another album, which was released in February 2007 as Split Personality ("Раздвоение личности"). The single Tell Her topped song and video charts on the radio and MTV, and the video for this song was awarded the MTV Russian Music Award for Best Video.

Members

• Alexander Vasilyev - lead vocals, guitar
• Vadim Sergeyev - guitar
• Dmitriy Kunin - bass-guitar
• Nikolay Rostovsky - keyboards
• Alexey Mesherekov - drums

Discography

• "Пыльная Быль" (Dusty Fact), 1994
• "Коллекционер Оружия" (Arms Collector), 1996
• "Фонарь под Глазом" (Black Eye, lit. Lamp Under the Eye), 1997
• "Гранатовый Альбом" (Pomegranate Album), 1998
• "Альтависта" (Altavista), 1999
• "Зн@менатель (сборник песен для радио)" (Denomin@tor (collection of songs for the radio)), 1999
• "Альтависта live" (Altavista live), 2000
• "25 кадр" (25th Frame), 2001
• "Акустика" (Unplugged), 2002
• "Новые Люди" (New People), 2003
• "Реверсивная Хроника Событий" (Reversed Chronicle of Events), 2004
• "Раздвоение Личности" (Split Personality), 2007
• "Сигнал из Космоса" (Signal From Space), 2009
• "Обман Зрения" (Optical Illusion), 2012
• "Резонанс. Часть 1" (Resonance. Part 1), 2014
• "Резонанс. Часть 2" (Resonance. Part 2), 2014

Soundtracks

• 2000 - "Брат 2" (Brother 2) — "Линия жизни" (Life Line)
• 2001 - "Тайный знак" (Secret Sign) - "Моё сердце" (My Heart), "Пластмассовая жизнь" (Plastic Life)
• 2002 - "Война" (War) - "SOS", "Феллини" (Felini), "Пластмассовая жизнь" (Plastic Life)
• 2004 - "Егерь" - "Сломано всё" (Everything is Broken), "Время, назад!" (Time, Backwards!)
• 2006 - "Живой" (Alive) - "Сиануквиль" (Sihanoukville), "Романс" (Romance)
• 2008 - "Качели" (Swing) - "Мама миа" (Mama Mia), "Мобильный" (Mobile)
• 2012 - "Отпуск" (Vacation) - "Романс" (Romance)
• 2013 - "Посредник" (Mediator) - "Время, назад!" (Time, Backwards!)
• "GTA IV" - Линия жизни (Life Line) on radio station Vladivostok FM

External links

• Official site (Russian)
• Russmus info on Splean, including lyrics and translations
• Last.FM Сплин page
• Splin and Alexander Vasilev