Posts Tagged ‘Eastern Europe’
Ne spavaj mala moja muzika dok svira
The other day I was lazing around on campus with Zig. We were supposed to get our new IDs but the queue was too long. Instead we drank amazing Coffee Cart coffee, smoked Marlboro Golds, took photos, ate sushi, bought books and migrated from one sunny patch of grass to another four times. I keep forgetting that being a student isn’t just about that….that there is work to do as well. Still, I’m really looking forward to starting the semester. People to see/meet and things to do and things to learn. I’ve been reading from “Munitions of the Mind”, the text for one of my subjects – Propaganda and Satire, and it’s really interesting. The subject I’m most looking forward to though is The Art of Political Science…not just because it interests me as a subject but because it’ll be taught by my favourite professor, Dr. Levey, the one who told us this joke: “what do you get when you mix a member of the Mafia with a post-modernist? …….an offer you can’t understand.”
ALSO: check out Andrew’s new blog, where music nerd meets real life nerd who likes to talk about science…..and stuff; Kylar is back from overseas and has posted new music on his blog so go have a listen.
& finally (I can’t post an entry without something Eastern European in it, can I?), since I’ve posted Zeljko Bebek and Alen Islamovic here, I thought it was a bit unfair to not post any Tifa. I didn’t know much about Tifa when I was starting to like Bijelo Dugme. Maybe because he had the shortest time as their singer or because I was so distracted by my crush on Islamovic…? When I saw them live in concert, all of them had gone well past their use by date but Tifa was the worst, acting really inappropriately on stage and being so fucked up by the end of it that he couldn’t even come up on stage for the final songs which they all sing together. It’s really hard to find footage of Tifa but what I did find on YouTube is AMAZING. Tifa was this beautiful drug-fucked incredibly talented singer and I have fallen a little in love with him. I was going to post one of those big Bijelo Dugme power ballads but the video was really poor quality so here is what is apparently Tifa’s first concert with them.
FILTH!
Of the many, many wonderful Eastern European things I have discovered on YouTube, this has got to be my favourite. There are some bands that I truly love (EKV, Elektricni Orgazam, Van Gogh, Riblja Corba, etc) then there are bands such as this one that I go through phases of liking. Sometimes when I’m feeling melodramatic I put on the songs Alen “I Wish I Was Jon Bon Jovi” Islamovic sings (but always on my headphones, so no one knows what I’m listening to) and sometimes they are just good to drunkenly sing and dance along to.
But this video has completely and totally won me over.
It proves the sheer brilliance that you get when you mix that typical 70s rock’n’roll sound with filthy Eastern European vibes. IT. IS. GENIUS! “Wog’n’roll”
….aaaah who am I kidding, I can’t resist the sleazy charms of Islamovic. I have to add a video of him here.
UPDATE!
Some things I’ve been up to since I last remembered to update…and with my memory, I bet I’ll forget about a bunch of things:
- Hung out with my friend Anni from Albury-Wodonga. I’ve known Anni longer than I’ve known most people, yet we’ve only actually seen each other in person twice. We (plus her boyfriend Dan) hung around Hyde Park a bit before they had to head back to the airport.
- Went to Drazen’s Slava which was…uncomfortable. I really dislike his parents and the people they know. Jasmina, Nikola and I left soon after, hung around Black Rose for a while before Nikola had to go to work, then Jasmina and I went to her place and watched Family Guy for a while.
- Hung around a park near my house in the early hours of the day a few times.
- Hung out with Morgan in Hyde Park & went to Big Day Out with Morgan, Mark and Nina (and some of their friends), which was a lot of fun, minus the intense heat. We saw bits and pieces of Tzu, The Grates, Lupe Fiasco, The Ting Tings and some band inside Lilyworld, but the bands we actually saw were Pendulum, Simian Mobile Disco, Hot Chip and The Prodigy. Pendulum and Hot Chip were both really good but Simian Mobile Disco and The Prodigy were fucking amazing!!! During The Prodigy someone broke a giant glow-stick in half and started pouring it all over everyone…for like a minute it was the most fun thing ever but then it started to burn our skin and we had to frantically look around for water to wash it off. I sustained many little injuries on the day…some of which I’m still recovering from, a week later! But it was a really good day and I don’t even mind that we missed Neil Young, because The Prodigy were so insanely good and perfect for how I was feeling.
- Saw The Prodigy at the Hordern Pavilion with Jasmina, Nikola and Nenad which was once again, totally fucking amazing. I could actually focus on the music this time which was great. They are just….so, so, so good! I got a sweet Prodigy bag! At the end, as the crowd was leaving one of the songs playing was that Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You song and everyone was singing along. It was pretty great! Also, The Prodigy ended with Out of Space and cut off the sound right at the end to leave just the crowd singing! Was awesome.
- Spent three consecutive days in The Ghetto. Day 1 was spent hanging around Liverpool with Jasmina and Nikola, then playing pool in Bonnyrigg (and being patriotic because it was the Bonnyrigg Serbian Club!), then after Nikola went to work, going to my place to eat, then back to Liverpool where we hung out with Nenad, Drazen and Milan (Nenad’s brother) in Memorial Avenue…then Drazen went home and we went up to Nenad’s to watch Resident Evil & How I Met Your Mother. Day 2 was Nenad’s Slava which was mostly just a lot of hanging around Nenad’s room looking up hilarious, horrible ‘music’ video clips from Former Yugoslavia. So bad yet so fucking funny! And completely, completely inappropriate. Day 3 was Nenad’s 20th birthday. We spent the night drinking at his place (well…I wasn’t drinking but I was so sober, I felt completely out of it!) which was a lot of fun until someone who shall not be named got too drunk and too loud and we got kicked out of the apartment by Nenad’s scary mother. But before that happened, lots of all-male nudity and bonding managed to happen… (More photos here.)
Music from the mother country…
In anticipation of my entry about last night’s Galija concert, and in conjunction with me working on a mixtape of music from Former Yugoslavia for Leesy, here are some songs I think you should all hear…
In year twelve, during periods of Extension 2 English when we were supposed to be researching and writing, I’d sit listening to Prljavo Kazaliste. This song inspired the name of my main character, and the lyrics inspired the name of my major work – Eyes Like Veins. (This is ‘Marina’, live in 1989).
I’ve been listening to this band for years and until today had no idea what they looked like…and now that I do, I’m more in love than ever! I’m pretty sure the singer is my soulmate. The clothes! The hair! The dance moves! This is ‘Kesten’ by Alisa.
It’s a surprise to many that this man is still alive and kicking but I’m fucking glad because it means I’ve been able to see this band play twice now. There really isn’t any way to explain how important and special Riblja Corba are. I still don’t comprehend it completely. Once Nikola gave me their entire back catalog to listen to and I was overwhelmed by it. They are just pure genius. The first song is ‘Dva Dinara Druze’ and the second ‘Kad Sam Bio Mlad’, two of my favourite Corba songs.
To Be Continued…
