Maria Peszek is Poland's most controversial artist, hated by many and loved by some. Produced by a talented multi-instrumentist such as Michał Król, this new album debuted at no. 2 in Poland, staying in the top 10 for a couple of months. I consider it an art-pop masterpiece, and I love how electronic rhythms are perfectly balanced by guitars and acoustic piano. Peszek's lyrics are stronger than ever. I want to post some verses from "Modern Holocaust", one of the most shocking tracks of recent years. A letter, letter, letter in a white envelope, someone, someone threatens me with death. You smell of a lesbian, you leftist scum, dumb bitch, Jewish hooker. Today, today someone texts me in the internet. I'll destroy you, fuck you up and flush you in the toilet, you smell of a lesbian, you leftist scum, you're stupid, bitch, i'll find you for sure. [...] The big furnace of Polish hate burns, there's nowhere to flee, nowhere to run away. It's like a gulp of dirty vodka, Polish modern holocaust.
Indexi was a Bosnian rock band active since the early Sixties. From 1967 to the mid Seventies they were the country's most important band. The huge popularity earned them the nickname "the Yugoslavian Beatles". On this anthology you will find all the anthems they released during the Seventies (the only big hit missing, "Predaj se srce", is one of their rare weak songs in my humble opinion, so it's not a big deal). Most of these songs, which were released only as singles at the time, are really catchy and well crafted. Among my favourites are the tragic ballads "Bacila je sve niz rijeku" and "Ugasila je plamen", the dreamlike gem "Balada", the electronic "Njene oči, usne, ruke", and the beautiful cavalcade "Svijet u kojem živim". Styles range from progressive rock to soul, from folk to baroque pop, from garage rock to soft pop. Indexi changed many members over the years, but three of them have been a constant for decades: Davorin Popović (vocals), Slobodan Kovačević (guitars), and Fadil Redžić (bass guitar).
Despite started out as a band, from the ashes of MWNH, Voo Voo soon became the personal project of Wojciech Waglewski. Today they are still one of the most revered names of the Polish alternative scene, even though they never really reached the mainstream. This is their second album, their best according to many, and it contains a peculiar mix of post-punk, art-rock, folk, jazz, spoken word, and noir atmospheres.
Seven days ago "Kocham wolność" by Chlopcy z Placu Broni was voted the best Polish song ever by the listeners of Radio Trójka. It was done with the purpose of sending a message to the current Polish far-right government, since the title means "I Love Freedom". It is a wonderful song indeed, a striking alternative pop anthem, with beautiful jangly guitars. The rest of the album is quite diverse, as it goes from jangle pop to melodic hardcore, including acoustic moments and bluesy ballads. "O! Ela" is a brilliant debut, for one of the most important Polish bands of the early 90's. Their leader, Bogdan Łyszkiewicz, died in a car crash back in 2000, at the age of 35. P.S. I also added some rare recordings from their 1988-89 radio Trójka sessions.
Korni Grupa were an important Serbian rock band, founded in 1968 by keyboard player Kornelije Kovač, shortly after having left Indexi. They had two parallel careers. One as a pop act, releasing many catchy songs exclusively for the singles market, and the other as an ambitious progressive rock project, with full lenght releases which sold only a few thousands copies at the time, but established them as one of the most influential Yugoslavian bands ever (Smak, Leb i Sol, and Bajaga, just to name a few of their fans). This is their first and most important album. In fact, it is considered one of the founding moments of YU-rock. Please note: whilst Dado Topić was a renowned member of Korni Grupa, he didn't play on this record, having left the band in 1971. The lead vocalist here is Zlatko Pejaković.
