With the number of foreign musicians flooding Moscow's concert halls and clubs, the consideration of the national musical scene has shifted away from Russian rock groups. Compared to, say, three years ago, or to be frank, even one year ago, media coverage of local events has dwindled down to near zilch. Even some of the larger music festivals have received less attention from the press – LifeStyle included – if they haven't featured foreign stars.

In the capital, the quantity of Russian live-music gigs is overwhelming, as one can tell by simply glancing at a calendar of upcoming events. On any given day, there are a dozen or more Russian rock concerts at Moscow's ever-evolving 20-odd live-music clubs. Without a doubt, Moscow has a highly dynamic, at times even too-hard-to-follow music scene with lots of potential: new music talent, market-growth perspective, unexplored consumer territory, you name it.

So, it might seem about time to apologize for what some might have considered a snobbish approach to the selection of music to be reviewed. However, this has a sane and rational explanation. For those who have had time enough to explore and get accustomed to the novelty of Russia's interpretation, or rather absorption, of rock, alternative, punk, etc., it is soon evident that the quality pickings are actually quite slim.

Moscow's live music scene, although striving initially toward a Western vibe, naturally has had its own Russian take on performances. As a rule, though, new groups that receive public recognition are modeled after some Western star. And this phenomenon has become more obvious during the past few years, as the influence of Russian MTV on musical preferences has increased.

There are, on the other hand, many new bands in Moscow's club rotation that are striving to gain recognition. However, even experts have a hard time following their evolution, and too often those that deserve detection are left unnoticed; many groups have been playing around Moscow clubs for years now without any real press attention whatsoever.

Bands that are certainly worth seeing, for Moscow newcomers, are the old-timers that shaped the industry's initial feel without guidance 10-15 years ago. However, as the years have passed, interest in these "gurus" has faded, given that practically all of them have been staging gigs at least once a month for all these years. Their shows are repetitive, predictable and, on the whole, lack the grip of suspense and innovation. At most concerts you know exactly what is going to happen and how you'll feel afterwards. But again, this only goes for those who have been stewing in the scene for a considerable time.

To sum up, local happenings, for Moscow residents, cannot compare with the swarm of visiting foreign musicians who guarantee a form of satisfaction simply because they are from abroad. However, travelers and expats who haven't had time to become disappointed by the offerings, or who may be fed up with Depeche Modes, need to know what Moscow's music scene has to offer.

And for them, here it is, in a subjectively distorted way – the best of Moscow's live music. All of these groups regularly give concerts in Moscow clubs:

Dolphin. Initially part of Malchishnik, a bad-boy rap group at the start of the ‘90s, Dolphin then went through an avant-rock phase in the Dubovyi Gaiy group and at last established himself as an eclectically minded post-rock musician and suicide-concerned lyricist.

Tequilajazz. Widely considered to give one of the best live alternative-rock performances, the St. Petersburg-based group appeared seven years ago, boasting a distinct intellectual sound.

Leningrad. A chanson group (Russian guitar-harmonica melodies) that has caught the attention of a varied crowd in the past few years with its quirky use of curse words and multiple references to vodka, whores and sweaty men.

Naik Borzov. Ex-drummer for a ferocious punk group, Borzov has reinstated himself as a national star with his ironic acoustic rock.

IFK. The main idols of heavy alternative have a name that translates into Insect Flying Killer.

Tarakani and Naive. Both are 10-year-old mainstream punk groups who are big fans of the Ramones. Neither, unfortunately, has evolved much farther than those founding fathers of American punk: a three-cord melody with deeply voiced, quasi-rebellious lyrics.

Detsky Panadol. Americanized acoustic funk that sounds good live and rap that comes off well.

Dairy High. With a spice of Brit-pop in it, this Pavement-influenced group writes its lyrics in English and drones its vocals as only the British do.

Nozh dlya Frau Muller. The most popular local interpreter of modern lounge music, they also use oh-so-trendy spy themes and TV-based samples.

Spitfire. This English-Russian-German-singing ska-punk group actually records on a German label: a rare and meaningful phenomenon.

Unconform and 095. These two punk/hardcore groups represent the movement in fashion now of being straightedge and vegetarian, a la Moby.

Aukzyon. These pioneers of Russian rock were experimenting with avant-garde back when rock was an unofficial music genre. Unfortunately, this two-decade-old legend hasn't come out with anything new for years now, as members of the group have gone on to new projects. But still, once in a while, they stage a gig that still has the uniqueness reminiscent of times when their performances were still artsy and utterly indefinable.