Ex-Yu/Balkan/Croatian/Serbian/Bosnian music

[djerdap]

To do a silly internet celebration, for the 4000th post (yay me), here are some of my favourite songs from a region whose music might not be well-known in the world, but has produced some of the most riveting music to these ears. The ex-Yugoslav music scene has been going on for decades - a huge rock music scene in countries like Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Slovenia that never unfortunately managed to gain even a tenth of popularity (and for some bands I'm talking gigs that sometimes featured 50,000 to 100,000 people) that was in the region, due to language barriers, volatile political situations in the 90s, commercial reasons and so on.

So, try out some of the music I grew up with! I'd be sceptical if I were you as well, but some of you might be pleasantly surprised. There are four bands I'll start with (Majke, Let 3, EKV, Električni orgazam), 2 songs from each of those - keep in mind each of them has a different, very specific sound, so don't give up if you don't like the first band, heh. Enjoy! This could be fun. Or not.

Oh, and if you're only used to English vocals/lyrics and have a dislike for Croatian and Serbian language being used in the songs, I'd give up right away. But I think this forum (mostly) keeps an open mind!

BUDI PONOSAN - MAJKE (1993) - YouTube

MAJKE a ti još plačeš - YouTube

Let 3 - Vjeran Pas - YouTube

LET 3 sam u vodi - YouTube

Ekatarina Velika - Ti Si Sav Moj Bol (with lyrics) - HD - YouTube

EKV par godina za nas - YouTube

NEBO - ELEKTRIČNI ORGAZAM - YouTube

Električni Orgazam - Igra rokenrol cela Jugoslavija (HQ) - YouTube

 

[cobl04]

Does this count as vlad music?

 

[djerdap]

Does this count as vlad music?

I think a map of Europe would help.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Does this count as vlad music?

My 'vlad music' is mainly from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland etc. I don't have anything from the Ex-YU, but I like the look of this thread.

 

[LemonMelon]

@Vlad, Polish music is awesome. I'm really digging Maanam at the moment:

Maanam - Oddech Szczura - YouTube

I also dig Siekiera pretty well and I have a Republika album on queue.


Anyway, Dj, I'll look into some of these bands.

 

[djerdap]

That Polish band sounds really interesting. Maybe a Russian/Ukranian/Belarussian/Polish music thread would also come in handy.

I deliberately am not trying to describe the music, since it'd be for the best for you to make up your minds about it. As an exception that proves the rule - I will say the following first two clips from the band Azra are some of the biggest ex-Yu rock anthems, part of a Yugoslav New Wave movement from the early 80s. Very catchy stuff. Other bands are: Haustor, Film (these ones also being the pivotals of the New Wave scene), Laufer and Pips,Chips&Videoclips.

Azra - Balkan [high quality] - YouTube

AZRA-Uzas je moja furka - YouTube

ENA - HAUSTOR (1985) - YouTube

NEPRILAGOĐEN - FILM (1981) - YouTube

Laufer - Svijet za nas - YouTube

Laufer - Mjesecev Rog - YouTube

Pips, Chips & Videoclips - Rosita Pedringo - YouTube

Pips, Chips & Videoclips - Narko - YouTube

 

[Vlad n U 2]

That Polish band sounds really interesting. Maybe a Russian/Ukranian/Belarussian/Polish music thread would also come in handy.

If we can extend the thread title to include those or just change the title to 'Music from Eastern Europe', that would be good.

 

[djerdap]

If we can extend the thread title to include those or just change the title to 'Music from Eastern Europe', that would be good.

I'd suggest two separate threads, since I think there is simply way too much music to be covered in one thread. Plus the music scenes are vastly different from each other, in terms of language, sound, influences etc.

On a trivial note, I don't think the regional term Eastern Europe is applicable to most of the ex-Yu states, for a variety of historical, cultural, political and economic reasons.

I hope that's cool for you! I'd be very interested in hearing more of the music from that side of the world.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

I'd suggest two separate threads, since I think there is simply way too much music to be covered in one thread. Plus the music scenes are vastly different from each other, in terms of language, sound, influences etc.

On a trivial note, I don't think the regional term Eastern Europe is applicable to most of the ex-Yu states, for a variety of historical, cultural, political and economic reasons.

I hope that's cool for you! I'd be very interested in hearing more of the music from that side of the world.

That's absolutely fine, I'll get around to one soon.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Listened to a whole bunch of these just then, liked both Majke and Azra tracks. The Haustor song was pretty darn funky. The standout for me, however, was Laufer's Mjesecev Rog, excellent song.

 

[Axver]

I see you're now taking your ex-Yu propaganda to the whole forum, djerdap.

I really, really need to get around to more of these. EKV's Ljubav in particular is a good album.

Also, I see an ex-Yu band somebody on RYM's forums once recommended to me (and I haven't got around to hearing yet), Leb i Sol, is touring Australia later this year.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Forgot to mention EKV's Par godina za nas. Great stuff.

 

[djerdap]

I see you're now taking your ex-Yu propaganda to the whole forum, djerdap.

I really, really need to get around to more of these. EKV's Ljubav in particular is a good album.

Also, I see an ex-Yu band somebody on RYM's forums once recommended to me (and I haven't got around to hearing yet), Leb i Sol, is touring Australia later this year.

Hey Ax, I hope you'll be a proper accomplice in this shameless propaganda!

EKV is, along with Majke, my favourite of these bands that I've posted so far. Ljubav is an amazing album. The two tracks I've posted here are from other two albums that I find terrific - S vetrom uz lice and Samo par godina za nas

Leb i Sol is touring Australia? Well I'll be damned! Nicknamed the "Yugoslav Pink Floyd", originally from Macedonia, featuring Vlatko Stefanovski, who is probably the most famous guitarist of the ex-Yu areas. We'll get to them later as well!

Listened to a whole bunch of these just then, liked both Majke and Azra tracks. The Haustor song was pretty darn funky. The standout for me, however, was Laufer's Mjesecev Rog, excellent song.

Mjesečev rog (Croatian: Moon's Horn) would likely get into my top 5 of Croatian songs. That chorus is immense.

 

[Axver]

Yeah, this thread'll be a good way for you to hassle me into listening to all those albums I've meant to play.

And Leb i Sol hit the Hi-Fi (ugh) in late October. Bit pricey though. But I've got their second album sitting around on my hard drive, so I'll have to see what it's like.

 

[djerdap]

Yeah, this thread'll be a good way for you to hassle me into listening to all those albums I've meant to play.

Hey, I did the diligence on the Dunedin bands, Aussie shoegaze/post-rock groups and many others, found myself loving lots of those, now it's time to switch roles!

 

[djerdap]

Alright, for legions of new fans , round three:

First two songs are from Damir Urban, who made a successful solo career after the band Laufer called it quits. Sound is more electronic and atmosphere-laden than the mostly straight-forward rock sound of Laufer:

Damir Urban Nebo .wmv - YouTube

Damir Urban - Odlučio Sam Da Te Volim - YouTube

Next band are Partibrejkers, who play traditional rock and roll with some bluesy undertones:

MESEČEVA KĆI - PARTIBREJKERS - YouTube

Partibrejkers - Hoću da znam [HQ] [lyrics] - YouTube

Disciplina Kičme is a pretty unique sounding band, combining some crazy, heavily distorted bass playing with ska and funk influences:

TATA I MAMA - DISCIPLINA KIČME (1989) - YouTube

ZELENI ZUB - DISCIPLINA KIČME (1989) - YouTube

And finally, Leb i Sol, as discussed before, a Macedonian progressive rock band, heavily influenced by King Crimson, Yes and Pink Floyd, mixing that sound with Macedonian folk music:

Leb i Sol -Nisam tvoj - YouTube

Leb i Sol - Marija - YouTube

 

[djerdap]

Here we go again!

A unique-sounding Croatian trip-hop/hip-hop/rock/funk/reggae fusion of The Beat Fleet:

The Beat Fleet - Ne Znan Šta Bi Reka - YouTube

TBF-Smak Svita. - YouTube

A Serbian trip-hop band called Goribor:

Goribor - Vožnjica (Evo je banja 2012.) - YouTube

Goribor 'Uzalud se budiš' - YouTube

Some old fashioned silly punk-rock/Ramones ripoff called Psihomodo Pop - the second one even played on MTV:

PSIHOMODO POP-FRIDA (UNPLUGGED) - YouTube

Psihomodo pop - Ja volim samo sebe - YouTube

Finally, a really catchy song by Darko Rundek, formerly of Haustor (which you can find on the first page), called Apokalipso:

Darko Rundek - Apokalipso - YouTube