This is Ekatarina Velika's debut album, released when the band was still called Katarina II. It is a transitional work, that sounds a bit like Šarlo Akrobata (but without their experimental tension), and a bit like Ekatarina Velika's atmospheric efforts (but without their epicness). Still, it contains some great post-punk songs and Milan's voice is majestic. Milan Mladenović - lead vocals, guitar Dragomir Mihajlović - guitar Bojan Pečar - bass guitar
In 1993 Ekatarina Velika released "Neko nas posmatra", basically an alternative rock album. Even though it generated"Anestezija", their last hit and one of their masterpieces, the album was not adventurous as usual. In order to find new sources for his creativity (and to have a little break from his anti-war activism during these years), Milan Mladenović traveled to São Paulo do Brasil, where his old friend Suba (Mitar Subotić) had lived since 1990. In the spring of 1994 they recorded a bunch of tracks, with the help of two local musicians (guitar player Fabio Golfetti, percussionist João Parahyba) and various background vocalists. The result of those sessions was "Angel's Breath", an out-of-this-world album which incorporated alternative rock, musica popular brasileira, Balkan folk, electronic experimentation, and guitars which vaguely reminded the style of Robert Fripp (if you really want someone to compare them with). Milan came back in Serbia soon after, where he unexpectedly died of pancreatic cancer at the end of the year. After his death, Ekatarina Velika officially disbanded. The other two founding members also died young: Bojan Pečar had a heart attack in 1998, Margita Stefanović died of AIDS-related complications in 2002, after some years of major depression. Today Milan is still a music icon all around ex-Yugoslavia. Who knows which new frontiers his genius would have discovered if only he hadn't died so soon...
In 1991 Ekatarina Velika were an established force in the Yugoslavian music jet set. On this record you can perceive the darkness of the social and political situation which caused the outbreak of the War. Lyrics are more depressing than ever, generating deeply emotional songs such as the ballad "Bledo" and the anthem "Idemo". This is the first album without Bojan Pečar on bass; he was replaced by session men Dušan Petrović (from the band Plejboj) and Bata Božanić. The basslines on this album are way distant from the post-punk style of Pečar, preferring a prosperous jazz fusion approach. Definitely abandoning new wave and its chrisms, the band builds an unclassifiable sound. Songs are less catchy than in the past, with twisted, experimental melodies, where sometimes you can't even tell the difference between verses and refrains. Arrangements are quite rich, with piano, organ, acoustic guitars, percussions, lots of female background vocals, and threatening string sections. By listening to these songs you can easily understand why "Dum Dum" was not as popular as "Samo par godina za nas".
The Eighties were ending, and you can perceive it on this album, where EKV started to distance themselves from their original new wave sound. Though there is still a post-punk percentage, the sound of drums is not as glossy as on their previous works, the dosage of orchestral arrangements is higher, and some female soul-influenced background vocals appear here and there. This was EKV's definitive blockbuster, with three songs ("Par godina za nas", "Krug", "Srce") becoming universally known hits, and others entering the circle of cult classics ("Sinhro", "Ona mi je rekla"). This is a must have for everyone who loves ex-YU rock music.
Tracks 1-12: live in Novi Sad, 1988 Tracks: 13-14: live in Zagreb, 1988
Milan Mladenović - lead vocals, guitar Margita Stefanović - keyboards, vocals Bojan Pečar - bass guitar, vocals Ivan "Firchie" Fece - drums
This beautiful live album, released in 1997 by Global Music, contains powerful versions of nearly all the best songs released by EKV until 1987. Some of these outclass the originals, in particular "Oči boje meda" and "Jesen", where Milan screams his soul out of his tonsils.
"Ljubav" is considered by many to be EKV's most complete studio work. Preserving the polished post-punk sound which made them popular, it includes aggressive rock numbers ("Pored mene"), atmospheric songs with epic crescendos ("7 dana", "Voda"), and unespected folk hybrids ("Zid"). The hit single was"Zemlja", a powerful raga-rock, but my favourite song is probably "Tonemo", with Milan Mladenović whispering some depressed verses over an acoustic guitar pattern, with bleak synthesizer melodies and pristine piano scales all around him. I translated the song in English: We passed the first days of wonder, we passed the first days of stare, I'm not here, I'm not there or here. While I drink the juice from your eyes, while I lick the salt from your fingers, I'm not here, I'm not there or here. We're sinking, we're sinking. We passed the first days of lying, we passed the first days of remorse, I'm not here, I'm not there or here. No, days did not wait too long, days were running and crawling and flying, I'm not here, I'm not there or here. We're sinking, we're sinking.
This is Ekatarina Velika's second album. Every song here is an anthem for the fans of the band, and at least two of them, "Kao da je bilo nekad" and "Ti si sav moj bol", are universally known all across ex-Yugoslavia. The deluxe production of Dragan Čačinović adds even more power to the formula, which places the band in a no man's land where the melancholy of post-punk meets the muscular epicness of MTV's rockstars (I know, it seems a contradiction in terms, but this is why EKV were so unique).
Ekatarina Velika was Milan Mladenović's second band. It was founded in 1982 with the help of keyboardist Margita Stefanović. The original name of the project was Katarina II. After the departure of guitar player Dragomir Mihajlović in 1984, Milan and Margita decided to adopt the new, definitive name. This is the second album of the band, the first as Ekatarina Velika, and the first of their classics. "Oči boje meda" is an elaborated, chamaleontic post-punk number (it became a hit in Yugoslavia, launching the band into the pop-rock stardom); "Zaboravi ovaj grad" is another crazy song, with a synthesizer sound similar to that of Japan's Richard Barbieri; "Tatoo" is a powerful rock anthem, marked by a tight rhythm section. After such a sequence, the rest of the album sounds more relaxed, but it is able to offer other fascinating moments ("Ruke", with its liquid keyboard landscapes; "Modro i zeleno", with its prosperous bassline).
Today I'm starting to explore the discography of Milan Mladenović. Dead of pancreatic cancer in 1994, when he was only 36, Milan is still one of Serbia's national heroes. He was probably the most eclectic mind in the history of ex-YU rock. His adventure lasted from 1980 to the year of his death, through three historical bands: Šarlo Akrobata, Katarina II/Ekatarina Velika, and Angel's Breath.
Considering that every project was deeply different from each other, my opinion is that Milan can be ranked up there with the great geniuses of international music. He was to Yugoslavian music what Caetano Veloso is to Brazilian music, what David Bowie is to British music, what Franco Battiato is to Italian music, and so on.
Šarlo Akrobata had a short career. Their first record was "Paket aranžman", a crucial album shared with important names such as Idoli and Električni Orgazam. Šarlo Akrobata's songs "Ona se budi" and "Niko kao ja" became the greatest hits of the whole anthology, and two anthems of the Novi Talas movement.
After that brief wave of mainstream success, the band recorded this full-lenght debut album, characterized by an experimental, abrasive mixture of punk, funk, dub, ska, and noise. Their two hits were excluded from the tracklist, and the Jugoton label did not promote the record as expected, generating a commercial failure (only 10.000 copies sold at the time). The project disbanded soon after.
Milan Mladenović would have founded Ekatarina Velika, while bass player Dušan Kojić created Disciplina Kičme (another important band, which I will post sooner or later).
