Rock music from the socialist European countries and their successors. Comments are welcome. Please tell me when you find an expired link! :)
UPDATE October 2, 2021: I decided to revive Soviet Sam after a long hiatus. I also fixed most of the links, but maybe there are still some inactive ones.
In 1968 Niemen released "Sukces", a rhythm & blues album with some good songs, but maybe a bit too canonical. It was the following album, "Czy mnie jeszcze pamiętasz?" (transl. "Do you still remember me?"), which proved his genius once and for all. On this record he tried a little bit of everything. "Wiem że nie wrócisz" is a baroque song with reminisces of Procol Harum and other proto-prog bands, "Ach jakie oczy" is a powerful example of Polish funk, "Przyjdź w taką noc" is a strong r&b with beat music influences, whilst "Jeszcze sen" is as tragic as any Aznavour's chanson. The biggest hits of the album, "Pop papugami" and "Czas jak rzeka", are two perfectly orchestrated pop songs, with nothing to envy to Burt Bacharach.
Led by singer Nele Karajlić and guitar player Sejo Sexon, Zabranjeno pušenje (transl. No Smoking) was one of the most important bands for the Yugoslav new wave. They are considered to be the band that brought this kind of music to Sarajevo, which up to that moment was limited to mainly classic rock and folk music. "Das ist Walter" is a brilliant debut album, it contains both raw and polished sounds, and a singalong pop feel shines throughout the tracklist. "Zenica Blues" was a hit, pushing the album to the 100.000 copies mark. I consider it a new wave equivalent to Johnny Cash's "San Quentin", as their melodies are kinda similar, and they are both about prison.
Today Darkwood Dub is one of the prominent bands in the Balkan indie-rock scene, but it hasn't always been this way. Their affirmation is the result of a long process, which started with the Yugoslav war and endured to the very end of it. During the conflict, the band encountered difficulties in both distributing records and performing live. The debut album, "Paramparčad", was recorded in 1992-93, but released only in 1995. It was a strange record, heavily influenced by funk and dub music. Anyway, a poor sound quality and some monotonous guitar-driven arrangements penalized it a bit. It was only with this second studio effort that the band finally revealed its true value. While the mix of indie-rock, funk and dub remains the main key of their music, the album is full of keyboards, samples, and scratch tricks, making it one of the most exciting hybrids between guitar music and electronic sounds of the Nineties.
After the positively received "I Ching", Wojciech Morawski (drums), Wojciech Waglewski (guitar), Andrzej Nowicki (bass), and Zbigniew Hołdys (vocals) decided to record another album, this time without any external help. "Świnie" sounds monolithic when compared to the eclecticism of its predecessor. The entire tracklist is dedicated to a cold post-punk formula, with dissonant guitars, powerful bass lines, a metallic drum sound, and some striking, desperate vocal performances. The album surpassed again the 50.000 copies mark, becoming another cult classic of the local new wave.
