I had the chance to get a copy of the latest MRR this weekend, which features an interview with Igor Vidmar about the Yugoslav/Slovene punk scene, up until 1987. Unsurprisingly the focus is primarily around Radio Student, Pankrti and follow up punk groups, with no mention of the hardcore scene, but it's given me a few things to talk about and consider, so I'll be following this post up with some more extensive thoughts soon. I'm not sure if it is coincidental that two recent issues of MRR have had features on Slovenian punk, or whether they'll be more in the future, but either way it's good to have some contemporary material to work from that isn't just my own research.
In other news, I'm back in the UK, I have been able to move into my new house and as it's finally resembling somewhere I can do work and listen to records, I'll be aiming to update this blog a lot more frequently from now on. First up will probably be a few more uploads of records, but I'll also be adding some extracts from the long interviews I did with people from UBR, Tozibabe, III.Kategorija and Hardcore Collective whilst I was in Ljubljana. As far as my PhD is going, I'm aiming to have a chapter drafted by the beginning of September, so I might also use this blog to flesh out some of the thoughts I've been having concerning that.
Thursday, 29 May 2014
I'll be heading back to the UK in just over a week. I'm still hoping to do a few more interviews before I leave but will have to wait and see. My current plan is to return to Ljubljana in the Autumn for a few weeks, and use that time to meet up with as many people as possible. On returning to the UK I'll be putting together the transcripts of the interviews I have done, and I'll put some interesting parts up here and will be updating the blog more regularly, especially with some more posts about specific records. For now, here's a picture of Gigi from U.B.R. that I took a few weeks ago when I interviewed him.
I should hopefully be speaking to Gigi from U.B.R. this week. In order to remind me of some of the stuff I should ask him about I've been looking through what U.B.R. documents I have on my hard drive. The picture below is taken from Maximum RocknRoll in 1984.
I'm currently living in Ljubljana until the end of May. I'm studying Slovenian as part of my PhD course, and will also be hoping to meet and interview people over the next few months. Updates might be sporadic as I don't have any of my records with me to write about, but hopefully my time over here will provide me with a lot more to write about overall, especially when I get back to the UK.
Stres D.A./ Depresija/ III. Kategorija Compilation 12"
In the last few months or so Rest In Punk records have been putting out some 12”s featuring Slovenian hardcore bands. I've not yet got in contact with them and they don't have much of an internet presence but it seems Kuri from all three bands on this compilation is involved with the label, which is based in Spain. Apparently the original plan for this record was just that it would be a compilation of all the III. Kategorija recordings, made by two different lineups, but due to 'disagreements', the later, longer and more metal recordings don't feature here. They are replaced by Stres D.A. And Depresija, as all three bands featured guitarist/bassist Bucko and Kuri. In some ways this is good, because it means the record features previously unreleased songs by Depresija and gives a sort of chronological account, but on the other hand it makes hearing the later III. Kategorija stuff more difficult than I'd like.
III. Kategorija
The only later songs that I've heard so far feature either on the Hardcore Ljubljana compilation- which has one 'metal' song as well as 5 songs from the first demo- and two tracks that are on a compilation from about ten years ago released by a Croatian label, which I've also included for download here. I'm waiting for a physical copy of that record in the post and will be writing about it/uploading all the songs from all the bands on it separately as well. I'm not sure if the metal songs were ever actually released at the time and both records still (I think) leave some other songs unaccounted for. If anyone reading this knows more about this stuff, has the songs or knows a way of hearing them, let me know.
'Manijak', the 'metal' song on Hardcore Ljubljana, also sounds, both in terms of production but also style, like it's from a completely different session to the other later songs, as kind of a bridging point between the hardcore stuff and the all out Motorhead metal. It's the better for it and might be my favourite song of all, the vocals especially sound totally savage. If their earlier stuff is like Discharge- 'Why?', 'Manijak' is 'State Violence, State Control', i.e. where the more prominent metal influences actually still seem like a great idea rather than the worst thing ever.
Stres D.A.
Perhaps the coolest thing about listening to this record is it gives you an idea of some of the ways in which hardcore in Slovenia developed. The first band, Stres D.A. (or Stres Držvnega Aparata, which i think translates to Stress State Apparatus) were formed at the end of 1982 and pretty much just played hardcore as fast as possible, with little to no variation on this formula. One of the few times they break with this is on second to last song 'Propadanje' which is probably my highlight. The primitive drums, basically just perform the function of dragging everything else along with them and the bass tone is totally awful. It's great.
The recordings were all featured on the Kaj je Alternativa tape alongside songs by U.B.R. and Odpadki Civilizacije which was released in 1983. The songs were recorded in an 'improvised' studio in the basement of disco FV, the first alternative/punk club in Slovenia, and it kind of shows, but anything else wouldn't really feel right. Stres D.A. played three gigs in Ljubljana between August and November 1983, with the first one at the Faculty of Philosophy in Ljubljana. They played with UBR, Odpadki Civilizacije, KPJ, O'Pizda and Raf Punk from Italy (although I can't find anything online about Raf Punk so have no idea who they are). As with some other ex-Yugo bands, they had links with Italian punks, and they managed to play in Bologna. This link is something I'll definitely be looking into more as I hopefully meet some of the people involved. The band eventually split in early 1984, when their drummer Plešnar left to move to England.
Stres D.A.
Kuri and Bucko then formed Depresija (Depression) with a new drummer Rile, who later became better known as the guitarist for Quod Massacre and a new singer, Habič who also went onto more popular things when he left the band, as he joined Niet and recorded the bands first LP Srečna Mladina in 1984.
The Depresija songs sound even more rudimentary than Stres D.A. and were recorded in the same place, directly to a tape recorder. The pace has slowed slightly but the overall style is pretty similar, with simple, frantic riffs contributing to the overall unhinged recording. One song has a vocal pattern that sounds a little bit like 'If the Kids are United' which is about as slow as it all gets. Both Depresija and Stres D.A. remind me slightly of some of the UK bands from the mid to late 1980s, e.g. Heresy, Ripcord etc. where the aim was apparently just to play as fast as humanly possible, although with all three bands the influence of Discharge is also pretty much undeniable. I don't think Depresija ever actually played any gigs and the whole thing seems fairly short lived given that they had split up before the end of 1984, which has probably contributed to the fact that there are even less photos of the band available online than other bands from Slovenia.
III.Kategorija are by far the best known band of the three, largely thanks to the songs featured on the Hardcore Ljubljana compilation. The name translates as 'Third Category', which refers to the lowest quality of meat, a metaphor for 'the lowest scum of people' according to Kuri, with their original name, 'Meso Tretje Kategorije', even more explicit in this reference. They were formed in late 1984, this time with Ukmar on drums and Dare on vocals, and played a couple of gigs in Ljubljana, one with Pandemonium. The lineup and sound change came later in 1985, with the first demo recorded at the Borut Ćinć studio in Ljubljana and consisting of 9 songs, which are all included here. These are the best set of songs on the record, as not only do they benefit from the quality of the recording, they're some of the best structured efforts. There's obviously a noticeable continuity between each of the bands, but these songs in a way feel like the culmination of Bucko and Kuri's efforts and at the very least justify the reputation that the band has, although in reality, like a lot of the other ex-Yugoslav bands, they're stupidly underrated, as hardly anyone has actually even heard of them. Watch this video and try telling me they're not better than the third tier crap from elsewhere that people actually pretend to like.
Seriously, how good is it?! There's just so much to enjoy, like how you basically can't see what's going on half the time, the clothes, the hair (except for Kuri's effort which manages to give a sinister foreshadowing of nu-metal), the people moshing like wankers, the displays of affection, that neckerchief and how good Dare looks in general, the kid having such a great time at the front. I love it.
The LP comes with some information which helped in writing this entry and most of the pictures were just scanned from the record. It also has an inlay with lyrics to the songs, but they're all in Slovene. I'm actually going to be moving to Ljubljana for a few months at the end of February to try to learn the language, so hopefully I'll be able to talk in more detail about some of the lyrics soon, and hopefully I'll have some more stuff to say about these bands in general.
Download
Stres D.A./ Depresija/ III. Kategorija Compilation- Download
III. Kategorija Demo 2- Download
At the moment the majority of my study has been based around existing literature, including stuff on punk in Slovenia specifically. I've been looking at academic accounts of 'subcultures', whether such a label is even applicable to punk and some critiques of the ways in which punk is treated within academia itself. This includes commentary on the work of people who are identifiable in some way as 'punk academics' but also those merely looking in from the outside. There are also of course plenty of 'punk historians' acting outside the bounds of academia, usually deliberately so. All of these sources come with potential pitfalls, inaccuracies and inconsistencies, and part of my PhD will be attempting to piece together seemingly incompatible or conflicting accounts. My initial aim is to get together a basic literature review by early next year, as I'm then planning to spend three months in Ljubljana as part of a Slovene language course, which should make some of the research I undertake a lot easier because I'll actually be able to read most of the stuff I come across. I'll also obviously be using my time over there to travel and hopefully meet and interview some of the people involved in Yugoslav punk in the 1980s, but as it's a three year course I think the majority of that, especially as far as interviews etc. go, will take place in my second year.
Until I get my bearings with all of that and in order to get this blog going/ feel like i'm doing something, I'll be writing a little bit about some of the bands I'll end up talking about more extensively later on in my PhD. I've been trying to track down some original copies of the Slovenian records from the 1980s as well as some of the reissues that can be found floating about, so in a way this is me keeping note of what I've been listening to. I recently bought an original copy of the Hardcore Ljubljana compilation- which represents the most I've spent on a record in 5+ years of buying them and I also found a copy of a more recent bootleg. I'll be talking about both soon, as well as the bands on there individually, but for now I'm going to focus on a band more easily identifiable as a precursor to that scene- O! Kult.
O! Kult, 1983. Photo by Jane Stravs
O! Kult were by no means 'pioneers' of Yugoslav or Slovenian punk- that title is usually given to Pankrti, who had formed in 1977 and existed more or less as contemporaries of some more universally recognisable UK and US bands. O! Kult didn't form until 1982, in Medvode (near Ljubljana). Their online biography describes their formation as taking place at the symbolic time of 3.05pm on the 4th May, the second anniversary of the death of Tito. They played their first gig in Kočevje three days later, and in Ljubljana for the first time on the 13 May, at the Faculty of Arts. The name itself, as with the rest of their aesthetic, was deliberately and carefully selected. The bands website describes the meaning behind the name, - 'O! – as an interjection of approval and of unconditional praise, KULT – as a non-defined name of addressing and praising a cult of personality – unconditional and total leader and creator of the totalitarian system (of left or right orientation). With the choice of their name, the group wanted to call attention to the dialectical opposition and conflicts between the mass, which they represented and emphasized in their explicitly political, socially coloured texts, manifests and statements on the one hand, and the uniformity and ruthlessly in-consistent consideration of accepted political orientations and directives of proclaimed and in the name of higher interests conducted instructions, given either from the congresses of the CP (Communist Party) of Yugoslavia or any other eastern or western party. O! KULT never limited its own creative and reflective inspiration to one side of the so-called “democracy for the people.”
The band went through two distinct phases- the initial punk phase which officially ended in 1984/5, and an industrial phase which saw the group change their name to 'Institution O! Kult' (although this doesn't appear on the S/T 12” from 1986). The two distinct phases were primarily linked by an uncompromisingly critical political approach and aesthetic based upon libertarian working class politics- with this representing the defining and most compelling characteristic of the band. Each phase saw the band release one record, the first a live cassette in 1983 entitled 'Razredni Boj Je Edino Gibalo Zgodovine' which translates to 'Class Struggle is the Only Engine of History.' 330 copies (and a further 200) were made and came with a cut and paste fanzine. The band's lyrical approach reflected their wider attempts to promote an anarcho-communist identity within an increasingly redundant authoritarian communist system in clear economic decline. Their lyrics focused directly upon statism, state bureaucracy and technocracy, deception, corruption and elitist privilege, the cult of work and forced participation in a political system that they argued simply alienated the working classes, as well as dealing in more abstract terms with themes of this alienation specific to Yugoslav youths, the cult of Tito, and lack of autonomy available in Yugoslavian society. In interviews they stressed a desire to unmask and subvert the 'card-carrying party members' who continued to repeat the party jargon in spite of economic shortages, empty shelves and currency devaluation. Their artwork saw party pamphlets, daily newspaper articles and similar imagery repurposed- with the punk they furthered in Slovenia therefore representing a genuine internal response, method of challenging the system and conceptualising some of the dissent felt. Musically this era of the band was based around a primitive and variably successful take on mid-paced '77 style punk, early anarcho punk like Poison Girls, whilst definitely also seeming to owe something to the subversive tactics of bands like the Dead Kennedys.
O! Kult, like other Yugoslav punk bands, were unsurprisingly observed, censored and at times openly suppressed. The general attitude of authorities to punk in Yugoslavia is described by Gregor Tomc, formerly of Pankrti and now a punk scholar as a culture of 'repressive tolerance'. This meant that at times punk bands were afforded cultural 'opportunities' within Yugoslav society, such as the opportunity to play at the Novi Rock festivals, which O! Kult played in 1982, but simultaneously had limits placed upon the extent and nature of the criticism that was allowed. O! Kult's songs were censored from the Ljubljana radio concert recording and they were subject to more strenuous forms of repression throughout their life as a band.
Other recordings by the band during this guise were limited to various compilations, most notably the '84' comp alongside some other punk, EBM and experimental bands based in Slovenia. 1985 saw their aforementioned stylistic change, which was also reflected by a new lineup, including the departure of their original guitarist Andrej Petek, vocalist and other guitarist Brane Zorman switching to tapes and effects as well as vocals, the introduction of a second drummer, Robert Vidic and metal percusionist Renato Topolovec, who was later replaced by Rok Zavrtanik. Full details of members can be found on their official website (see end of article for link.)
O! Kult + a flag bearing their logo. Photo by Sinisa Lopojda.
Apparently claiming that the musical possibilities offered by punk were limiting, the band maintained the political nature of their lyrics and manifestos, but altered the visual and musical identity. Under this guise the band supported Einsturzende Neuebauten in Ljubljana, released a 12” record on West Berlin Label Dossier Records and toured across Europe, playing Germany, Holland, Italy and Switzerland. As far as comparisons go Einsturzende Neuebauten are probably the most immediate choice, particularly due to the metal percussion, but it's far from anything I'm really knowledgable about. I wasn't able to find the record online for download whatever reason, so the download link below is recorded directly from my copy. The highlight for the record for me comes about 4 minutes or so in when the band seem to collapse into a bass riff which reminds me a lot of 'Walls' by Crass. It's another interesting listen with varying degrees of success, but the Slovenian language for the vocals sounds particularly great.
S/T 12", 1986
The band officially broke up in 1987, exactly 5 years after they formed. In recent years however Ne! Records have put out a couple of records, the first released on the 30th anniversary of their formation, a 7” titled 'Mladi Imajo Moc', (The Young Have the Power) which features remastered versions of three of the songs from their 1983 tape and comes with English translations. In the last few weeks Ne! Records also put out a 12” entitled 'Mi Smo Država'(We are the State) which features several recordings from the 1983 tape alongside three from 1982, one a live recording from the Novi Rock festival in September and two recorded at a studio in June 1982. Again this features English lyrics translations, remastered versions of the songs, a reproduction of the 1983 fanzine and some words about the band from Igor Bašin-BIGor. The band were also subject to a documentary DVD in 2009, which I'm currently trying to buy.
Mladi Imajo Moc- Front Cover
Mi Smo Drzava- Front Cover
DVD Cover
Download
O! Kult- Razredni Boj Je Edino Gibalo (Class Struggle is the Only Engine of History)- 1983
If you enjoy these please try and purchase the records from Ne! Records to help fund future releases and reissues. If not for their sake, then for mine, as I want to buy them.
