"... Ole Lukoie don't give in to Western groups. More than that - they outdo them. Something like Dead Can Dance looks like a bungler beside them and Banco de Gaia is just a poor quack. They play psychodelic trance ethnic. Here the guitar and electronics go with the real ethnic instruments, and the pulse of Eurasia are combined the rhythmic structures of German kraut-rock (Can, Faust, Amon Dull)..." - Andrei Bukharin, OM magazine. The history of Ole Lukkoye goes back to the peak times of the soviet underground at the end of the 80ies. For the first time after the political changes, numerous bands were able to reach a broader public. Ole Lukkoye was founded by Boris Bardash and Andrei Lavrinenko in 1989, who knew each other from their collaboration with the successful art rock and improvisation group Rainy Season. Emerging from the notorious Pushkinskaya 10 Art center in the mid 80's with their brand of shamanistic trance rock, Ole Lukkoye were different when it was dangerous to be so. Deep Rivers of beautiful oriental songs pushed by the Russian spirit to embrace the infinite. Listen, Siberia is calling. In 1993 their debut album ‘Zapara’ was released, which was also appreciated by critics and insiders abroad. In response to the positive reception, the band was invited to Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Hungary. In 1996 the Band s second album ‘Toomze’ was released, that distinctively demonstrated the band's ambitious approach. It was that brew of British art rock, various musical influences from all parts of the former Soviet empire (for instance the musical heritage of Tuva - a region in Southern Siberia) and finally of the modern and rhythmic elements of Ambient and Trance, that also attracted a growing number of younger people. The result, a dark and shamanistic psychedelic trance rock with much percussion and many acoustic instruments, opens a door between east and west. 1997 saw the production of the album ‘Doo Doo Doo’, which helped them to establish their undeniable position as a major Eastern European act. In 1999, still being a newcomer to the broader public, the band performed at the widely recognized Festival Burg Herzberg. Their show was exceptionally well received by the audience, at that time about 20,000 people! Their fourth album to be released on June, 26th was produced by H.J.Irmler one of the founding members of the legendary avant-garde rock outfit Faust. The first encounter of the unlike artists took place at the said Herzberg Festival. Ole Lukoye knew Faust from the cult albums of the band, dating back to the 70ies, that seemed to have found their way to the relevant circles in the Soviet Union, like the records of Can and Ash Ra Tempel. The musicians agreed on the collaboration of the ‘Chrystal Crowbar’ album to be produced in the Faust studio in Southern Swabia in the spring of 2000. (after Henning Kupper) Ole Lukkoye merges droning space rock with ethnic music from the Middle East/Central Asia. The resulting sound comes across like a mix of Ozric Tentacles/Korai Orom and the "neo-ethnic" US band Azigza. The vocals are usually "with an Eastern vibe," a rather droning, reciting way of singing is used. All albums show a strong presence of percussion, airy synth lines and a rather darkish atmosphere. Most tracks have a great long-drawn groove.