Doesn’t matter what you see
Or into it what you read
You can do it your own way
If it’s done just how I say

Independence limited
Freedom of Choice is made for you my friend
Freedom of Speech is words that they will bend
Freedom with their exception

— Metallica, “Eye of the Beholder”

I’ve been traveling lately so apologies for coming through a couple of days late on this but I couldn’t help noticing this story from the AFP on the return of Russia’s indy music scene:

Ironically, some of the leading figures in 1980s rock now perform at patriotic concerts organised by the Kremlin.

But in Saint Petersburg, a city long seen as Russia’s “window to the West”, a handful of bands have defied the trend and continue to speak out.