Posts Tagged ‘Former Yugoslavia’
It’s all happening
I’ve been forgetting to update. Things have happened.
Third year started and already there is so much work to do, but I love my subjects and it’s been really good seeing people again (especially Allie) and getting back into some sort of ‘normal’ routine. Although the early starts aren’t so good. My subjects this semester are Politics x3 and General Education x1: Propaganda & Satire; Australian Foreign Policy; The Art of Political Science; Introduction to the Australian Legal System. My politics lecturers are amazing. I have my favourite professor for one subject, Dr Levey, so I spend Tuesday mornings basking in his greatness.
Drawings by Allie (paying attention during Australian Foreign Policy, obviously).
I went to the Mardi Gras for the first time, except the crowd and trying to find friends in the complete insanity meant I basically didn’t see the parade at all. Still, the vodka + rum was nice, and seeing people I hadn’t seen in a while was good too.
My Wog friend Alex had a horrorpunk themed birthday party which was a lot of fun. Messy and fantastic. Kylar and Jack came as my replacements for Annie and Zig. A vey wasted girl in Kings Cross was nice enough to share her cigarettes with us. They were Vogues and actually quite nice. I made Alex a mix of music from the mother country (well, MY mother country). This was the track-list:
Van Gogh – Klatno (live) : Belgrade, 1997
Elektricni Orgazam – Nebo : Belgrade, 1981
EKV – Ja Znam : Belgrade, 1983
Azra – Krvava Meri : Zagreb, 1980
Prljavo Kazaliste – Noc : Zagreb, 1979
Riblja Corba – Necu da zivim u bloku 65 : Belgrade, 1982
Idoli – Moja si : Belgrade, 1982
Zabranjeno Pusenje – Guzonjin sin : Sarajevo, 1988
Partibrejkers – 1000 godina : Belgrade, 1984
Sarlo Akrobata – Mali covek : Belgrade, 1981
Elektricni Orgazam – Odelo : Belgrade, 1982
Bijelo Dugme – Pamtim evo deset dana : Sarajevo, 1974
Hung around Liverpool a couple of times and saw The Unborn with Jasmina which was actually quite scary. Also, Gary Oldman is brilliant!
Morgan and I helped Zig out with a COFA project which involved photobooths. I got to wear an eyepatch!
I fell in love with this poem:
Rhododendrons
It was the dream
I was allowed
to touch you in.
We were strangers.
You kept your eyes closed.
I cannot really say
if there were rhododendrons
or anything like music or
even if I asked you.
Only your blue skin and the pleasure it gave you –
the way you moved,
the way you caught your breath
whenever my hands moved
so I kept on moving them.
-Thomas Lynch
& ten more copies of Feels Like Friday #7 sold at Sticky in Melbourne!!!!!!!
More Bijelo Dugme love…what else
Oh Former Yugoslavia, I love you, I love you, I love you! More brilliance from the 80s…
Bijelo Dugme performing “Hajdemo u planine”, featuring Goran Bregovic in pink pants and chucks, and Alen Islamovic with shoulder pads and GLORIOUS hair.
(I promise to update with something other than this soon…..I’m just kind of, sort of obsessed with music from the mother country these days.)
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.
Things that are good….
Please pay close attention to how brilliant the bassist of EKV is.
The second video is my new favourite song.
More goodness from the Balkans
WHAT is the Slovenian guy on about? I haven’t got a clue. But I’m fairly sure I want Johnny Stulic’s babies. He sounds as good talking as he does singing….as he looks good.
I need to start speaking Serbian more…
This is a crappy video but it is the best song ever.
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.)
SFRY
I am currently in love with music video clips from the 80s in Former Yugoslavia. Some gems…
Oci boje meda by Ekatarina Velika
Niko kao ja by Sarlo Akrobata
Maljciki by Idoli
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…
