An individualist who used the cliches of the past to force his way into the future, Wine debuted in 1993, at the notorious TamTam club in St. Petersburg. Wine's aura is distinctively English. Winer sticks to melancholy, shoe-gazing pop which has always been more of a British phenomenon. Kinks were the first and, probably, the greatest Winer's influence. And His Nasal Majesty Ray Davies still remains some kind of a Godfather for Winer. Poetically Alex Winer continues traditions of so-called "Miserable Rock", established as a style by Steven Patrick Morrissey. Less pretentious and definitely uglier than his inspirer, Winer seems to be more adequate to the story of an ugly boy next door no girl or a boy would kiss. "Morrissey has taught me to avoid writing lyrics in a usual pop way" - says Winer. Despite his manic tendency to absorb the ideas of the past, Winer and his music could be hardly classified. Outward simplicity turns into a trap. Going deeper one reveals a number of internal disguised levels, a maze of ambiguities and turned-over quotations. A frightening journey through the jungle of a human being's inner world turns into self-irony, water turns into wine. Vice Versa. The seething whirl where britpop, Flower Power, Trip-Hop and Big Beat merge. A cool mix of emotions and styles where all feelings are equal, but the only one predominates. This is Love. And in love all contradictions dissolve and disappear. Links: Wine on MySpace MusicBrainz data Russian page Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.