Omigod! I never thought i’d get a reply! Thank You 😄
So here’s the deal…
This is just so odd, the album is just so incredibly fishy. Some of the songs seem to be from other sources. The cover art is also very slapped together. I’ll give you an example with the track of the song Katyusha (or Katjuscha as the album calls it) is the messiest of them all. The singer isn’t even a Russian, as he mumbles the lyrics and the entire track is literally just them repeating the first line of the song I (the line that starts with ‘Расцветали яблони и груши…’) The whistles also seem very copied and pasted. A lot of the songs on the album are like this. You’ll know they come from this source as not only does it have the same man, but they also have distinctive high pitched buzzes at the start and end of each track (along with occasional crackling). The most dubious thing of all that makes it less likely to just be some amateur effort, is that there are songs likely recorded by someone else. For example, the ‘I’ll Go Out’ track. The recording sounds completely different, the man in the track sounds AUTHENTICALLY Russian, and there is no buzz at the beginning or end.
There are ten tracks with the buzzing and ten other tracks without the buzzing.
There are also two variations of the album. The one on Spotify has an incredibly out of place poppy tune (Ziganochka) and the other one has another song with that authentic Russian (Along Peterskaya Street). They also have slightly different record labels.
On Spotify at least, the ‘Golden Ring Ensemble’'s next album is actually from a separate band called Zolotoye Koltso, which sounds NOTHING like the album I’m talking about.
If you look up the ‘Golden Ring Ensemble’ apart from Zolotoye Koltso, which is very a public band of course, you will get ‘Golden Ring (Iranian Band)’. This likely means that the tracks that are actually theirs are the ones with the buzzing and the weird man singing, and the others were pinched. So likely this guy is from IRAN. Makes it even more fishy, doesn’t it?
For better understanding, please give the album a listen, either on YouTube, Amazon or Spotify. Thanks. This is a true internet mystery. After that we can discuss it in better detail. Thanks a million! 👍
Here’s a helpful review I found from the American Amazon page (the one I listed) from a bloke from the U.S.A. who I don’t think I should name for privacy reasons.
These aren’t Russians. They can’t even pronounce the words correctly. There are only three authentic songs on the whole album and they were recorded by someone else. I’ve been an American born Russian my whole life and I know Russians when I hear them.
Another hilarious comment on the Katjuscha video in YT:
lol! what the hell is this? 😃 Zimbabwian Ring Ensemble?