November 20, 2021

Birchpunk, an Internet Gift


Birchpunk, an Internet Gift
The weird world of birchpunk. Birchpunk website

Cyberpunk + Russia = Birchpunk. It is a brave new world on the internet.

Cyberpunk is a "combination of lowlife and high tech." Indeed. Just watch some of Russian musical group Little Big's videos to see lowlife and high tech – though Little Big is not considered cyberpunk.

The Birchpunk YouTube channel, in contrast, combines lowlife, high tech, and big ethical questions about exactly what all that high tech will bring us. In the video Russian Cyberfarm, the farmer shows us around the dystopian kiberderevnya in heavily-accented English. Life is lived online on the farm – even if all you have is dial-up internet.

"Heart" asks whether technological progress is good for us humans while using that very technology to get attention. The song has choruses in Russian and verses in English, which is fun. It considers the breakdown of infrastructure-poor village Retrozavodsk – where Grandma has to walk herself to the hospital on foot – while QR codes cover the landscape. The QR code is, by the end of the video, almost the only art left. How timely since every Russian city either has had, has, or will soon have a QR code regime to make this pandemic go away.

In "Heart," Birchpunk sings, in English, these provocative lines: "I know the progress will never end / I know bodies will turn to sand," "For robot, there is no good and bad," and "I know soldiers would need no head / But until we're dead, the best thing we have is what I call it: serdtse (heart)."

Birchpunk also has a news report parody of Russia Today called Russia Tomorrow.

The project combines hip hop and traditional village folk singing – but with groups of village women singing about themes like androids and robots.

As dystopian as Birchpunk is, it is not as downright bizarre as Little Big or as frightening as some other cyberpunk projections of what the future holds. Plus, it is somehow extremely pleasant to listen to a skilled blend of rap in purposely bad English and Russian. But it does show how disturbing it is to have high-speed internet in your village but no clean drinking water.

You Might Also Like

Pay with your Face
  • December 13, 2020

Pay with your Face

The Moscow Metro plans to allow passengers to pay with Face ID.
Ready the Space Force!
  • April 11, 2020

Ready the Space Force!

The US President's decree on lunar resource extraction has the Russian space community crying foul.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955