I
Biplan

About:

The basis of Biplan was formed in October 1995 in Vilnius bij schoolfriends Maksas Melmanas (vocals and guitar), Artiomas Miškinas (bass), Olegas Aleksejevas (guitar) and Aleksandras Kazakevičius (Drums). For months the band is confided to playing in small venues or rehearsal shags. But in 1996 they join the Lithuanian ‘Roko marš’ which takes them around the country with acts like Bix and Antis. In 1997 they release their debut album ‘Banzai’ on the local Bomba label. The  album which was still sung in English. Whilst the album delivered them a Bravo award for ‘Newcomer of the year’ the band switched to Lithuanian with the single ‘Londone’ which preceded their 1998 album ‘Braškės’. A year later the album gets a Russian version under the title ‘Blondinkam’.  The same routine was done for there album ‘Jazz’e tik merginos’ which took them for a tour around Russia.  After a long silence the band returned in 2005 with a beneficial  single  together with singer Tigra called ‘Sex’odromai’ for AIDS awareness. This was followed by their fourth album ‘Chuligans’. The album sees a change of style with the band incorporating old folk melodies and rhythms. ‘Aš nusikirpsiu trumpai plaukus‘, 'Anzelmutė‘ and 'Mažam kambarėlį‘ become hits. The song ‚ 1005-B‘ (made together with Hiphop crew G&G sindikato) is used in the documentary about the Baltic holocaust called 'Pabėgimas iš pragaro‘ (Escape from hell). In 2009 they release their fifth album called ‘Nuodai – P.S. Lyg paskutinį kartą’ (‘Poision – P.S. Like last time’). According to the band members, the album title refers to the impact of good poison aka their music.

On the web:

- Biplan's Myspacepage: http://www.myspace.com/biplan

If you like this, you probably like... / european counterparts:

-M- (France)

Mör ve otesi (Turkey)

What do we think:

DB: Very sympa band from Lithuania. We found their 'Chuligans' album first in the sales bin of a warehouse in Klaipeda. Guessing it would probably be some kind of US skaterband soundalike we were totally surprised by the way Biplan originally mixed, hiphop, folklore, rock and pop in one album. And the follow up album was even better. One of our favourite hip bands from the Baltics.

Recommendations:

- Banzai - 1997

♪♪♪ - Braškės - 1998

- Jazz'e tik merginos - 2000

♪♪♪ - Chuligans - 2005

♪♪♪♪ - Nuodai. P. S. Lyg paskutinį kartą - 2009

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♪♪♪♪♪ = outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided