#serbian war songs

[robulz]

LITTLE LATE BUT FOR THE PLAYLIST THING Serbia ( yes same anon who asked you about Serbia last time HAHAHA >:] )

it's for real never too late to ask me abt serbia i'm clawing at the wall like a rabid animal for opportunities to discuss that bastard <3

let's go for d is for dangerous & this house is a circus by arctic monkeys, consequences by lovejoy, and demoni by joker out :D OH also obligatory crane wives song, the garden & tongues and teeth

[countriesgame]

Please reblog for a bigger sample size!

If you have any fun fact about Serbia, please tell us and I'll reblog it!

Edit: Yugoslavia is misspelled.

[jokeroutsubs]

[ENG SUB] Joker Out's album premiere reportage on Val 202 (14.11.2024)

On the 14th of November 2024 Joker Out presented their third studio album 'Souvenir Pop' for an early-listening party with Val 202's host Andrej Karoli and 50 chosen fans. In this reportage, fans share their favourite lines and first impressions about the new songs, while Joker Out say what touched them the most.

The original audio can be found on Val 202's website.

Transcript and translation by @chaosofsmarty, review by drumbeat, proofread by @flowerlotus8, subtitles by @vesdagrem

Translated into:

🇷🇸 Serbian by IG marija_rocen

🇮🇹 Italian by @vesdagrem

📝Full transcript and video below the cut! 👇

❗If you are quoting the transcript below, make sure to properly credit by linking back to this Tumblr post!

Transcript:

‘Novi val’ intro

Fan: I think the first song I heard was 'Gola' on a random Spotify playlist. And I was like "Okay, it's some Slovenian band, I guess, okay" and then there was more Joker Out in the playlist, and more and more, and now we're here.

Fan: My favourite line is from 'Metulji' "Za roko te držim, a se ne dotikava".

Fan: I have a tattoo, so it's "kupim karto do vesolja, če zemlja pregori".

Fan:  Mine is maybe "Igra sovraštva je za vas, hvala lepa, ne računajte na nas" because it's, I feel like, a deep message in a pop song.

‘Novi val’ snippet

Bojan:  There we go.

‘Novi val’ snippet

Fan: I can't wait to hear the other songs, because currently the ones we know are really good, so... I can't wait.

Fan:  I'm also very excited and... yeah, I'm looking forward to the new songs. The first experience of this sort, to be able to hang out with musicians, who are also known around the globe. So I'm very happy about this. I really like that we can have experiences like this within Slovenia, or opportunities, where it can happen. And yeah, I'm very excited.

‘Novi val’ snippet

Bojan:  Thank you very much!

From the release of their previous album, 'Demoni', 806 days have passed. After several months away touring abroad, they've now returned to their local audience with a new album 'Souvenir Pop'. Last night, approximately 50 of Joker Out's biggest fans heard the premiere of five songs from their album, with the most dedicated already knew the lyrics. Bojan Cvjetićanin:

Bojan: I really enjoyed watching how, with the songs that have a very unexpected plot twist, the plot twist looks on someone's face. That was actually my favourite part. I also saw a few tears, which was beautiful.

Jure: It was especially nice to see that people already knew the lyrics, and were already singing along to them.

Bojan: A few of them, A few of them, we have to tell you why, used a VPN and went to countries in a timezone...

Jure: That's it.

Bojan: where the album was already out, so we saw, a couple were singing all the lyrics and we were like "how come?"

Jure: "Where did they get them from?", “Were we hacked?”

Bojan: “Did we leak them?”

Reporter: Truly truly dedicated and resourceful fans.

Bojan: Yes, very. very, very, very, very. Always have been.

The album is a mixture of both languages and genres, and the first song was, despite the more serious theme, a favourite for some.

Andrej Karoli: I had the honour, and took the right to pick the order in which the new songs will be played. And before the first, I just want to say that all the band members said "Why?" The title is 'Sonce'.

‘Sonce’ intro

Bojan: Yeah, 'Sonce' is a story where a son after his passing speaks to his mother back in the land of the living. It was directly inspired by the current situation in Palestine.

‘Sonce’ snippet

Fan: Yes, 'Sonce' is definitely a tear jerker, I know it was created because of the war in Palestine, I myself work with orphans from Ukraine, who came to us because of the war, and I really feel, like it embodies all these children's feelings, who are maybe two to three years old, and they've already lost their parents and had to move to a completely different country, and there's still a war raging in their home country.

‘Sonce’ snippet

Fan: I was really touched, maybe also because of the fact it was the first song played. And I was really like "Wow, this is really music!"

Reporter: In what way did it speak to you, what did you think of when you listened to it?

Fan: Maybe really about the situation that's going on, how it's unfair and nonsensical, in a way, and I'm very happy that Joker Out decided to speak out about it, put it into music and yeah...

‘Sonce’ snippet

Reporter: What was your favourite song and why?

Fan: 'Sonce'. I don't know, it's really from... the heart. Yeah.

Reporter: Were there any tears?

Fan:  Yes, of course. At the start of... of... of...

Reporter: Hard to describe, right?

Fan: Difficult, yeah, you can't, sorry...

‘Sonce’ outro

Bojan: I think that our fans, people who listen to us, generally think in a very similar if not the same direction as we do, so I think it's not the target audience that wouldn't be emphathetic enough or that wouldn't be able to hear these messages in the way they were meant to. There's been plenty of sociocritical, plenty of calls for help written, from much more famous names than we are, with a lot more listeners, and we see where we are today. So... while I think that you should never give up, it's hard to get to those who aren't even willing to hear the message.

An evergrowing fanbase is a source of inspiration and motivation to the band for future creating, especially when the most honest, but unfortunately not always the brightest moments happen. Kris Guštin:

Kris: Right now I can think of maybe not one moment, but a few of these moments, where some listeners have come to say that we've helped them a lot during a very difficult time. I know that it was even said once or twice that they thought they wouldn't be here anymore if they hadn't found our music. So that stays with a person, I think. And... I find it nice everytime, it's really beautiful to hear that each time.

The language of love isn't just French, it's also Slovenian, English and Croatian, said Bojan Cvjetićanin at the presentation. The song that was most musically and lyrically exciting to the listeners is nostalgic, titled 'Muzika za decu'.

Andrej Karoli: And now, my almost favourite, all of us are someone's children. Joker Out, 'Souvenir Pop'. 'Muzika za decu'.

‘Muzika za decu’ snippet

Fan: I literally only thought about Cvetka¹ and how I'll just be jumping and screaming there and yeah, I can't wait to finally be at their concert again, like I've already told them, Slovenia loves you loads and misses you.

¹Cvetličarna venue in Ljubljana.

‘Muzika za decu’ snippet

Fan: Rock-and-roll. There.

Fan:  I feel like it's going to be a fan favourite.

Fan: 'Muzika za decu', because it's so very... I feel like I can just scream along to it, and yell all my emotions out.

‘Muzika za decu’ snippet

Fan: I'm a teacher and I actually care for the next generations, and I feel like it's really a song of "Don't worry too much, it'll be okay, we've got this, we've got the power, don't stress too much, we are who we are".

‘Muzika za decu’ snippet

Fan: I was listening to the lyrics, I tried to focus on every word, I feel like it's because they make fun of Joker Out as a boyband for children, with their nine year old fans and their mothers behind them, and they made the most rock'n'roll, hyped up, hardcore sounding song possible about how this is supposedly music for children. What a move. Genius.

‘Muzika za decu’ snippet

Fan: An awesome experience, I'd definitely do it again, thank you.

Fan: I can't describe it, just... I like the album, it exceeded expectations.

Fan: They promised they'd surprise us, which they definitely did, but it still has the feeling of being Joker Out. Because it's a true reflection of them, and they are themselves. They aren't fake, they're real.

‘Muzika za decu’

Reporter: Mojca Jevšek collected the impressions of yesterday's 'Souvenir Pop' album presentation, which is already available on all music platforms. For this sunny Friday outside we'll now enjoy a previously mentioned bit of energetic nostalgia from it, 'Muzika za decu' and... And Joker Out.

[mar3ggiata]

professional help, c31. Four or five.

simon riley x original character.

trigger warnings: violence, sexual assault, mentions of rape, trauma, sexual themes, swearing, use of alcohol and drugs, EDs and death.

song to listen to when reading this: Lo que puede, puede. Ca7riel, Paco Amoroso.

abstract: Simon here. You're following the story alright? Good, cause I'm not. Getting more and more confusing and everywhere I go, she's following. I can't get her to stop invading my space, it's getting repetitive.

'Oh yeah?' What a stupid fucking thing to say, Simon get it together. She looked at him, beautiful, tired siren eyes, beautiful long lashes, sad gaze. She nodded. She knew his family was dead, she knew cause he told her. How they died, she didn't know. Addiction? Something else? 'Yes, 'twas a…', lie Alba, '…drunk driver'. He nodded, his eyes still on her. He felt sorry. Why didn't she talk about her family more, why did she move away? Why was she so far from home? 'It's tough.' That's all he could say. I lost all my family, he could have said. But how do you explain something like that, how do you even say it out loud? How can someone like her understand what happened to him, how can someone like her comprehend. What happened to him was out of this world, his family, death, the bodies, what he had been through. It wasn't the same, sure losing a family member was awful, but it wasn't the same. They weren't the same.

He got up from the chair, taking a step away from her. He couldn't even look at her, he mumbled something about not staying at the base at night. And he was gone. She wasn't mad, she wasn't offended. She cursed herself for saying that thing about her brother, wanting him to feel like he could share parts of his past. It was probably too much, too soon. But still, if he wanted to, he would. Especially after throwing that tantrum at her place on the 24th. Don't expect me to listen to you bitching and moaning about my lifestyle and your brother and not wonder about it.

She went home soon after, she wasn't concentrating on her tasks, she was too tired. A walk with the dog, dinner, a shower. Things were only getting more complicated. She laid in bed trying to put the pieces together, the gentle snoring of the dog in the other room, the wind outside the window. How she was gonna manage to stay on top of things and stay sane, she didn't know. She had a meeting with Price on Thursday, three days after her chat with Simon. Didn't go well. She was sitting with her back straight, hair in a slick bun. She had a skirt on, a turtleneck, big chunky glasses. Her, Roman and Honey were academics in a room full of soldiers and men of war. With their stupid dictionaries and stupid papers, all written in gibberish. Price was mad. Honey, who took control over the situation, was trying to explain their findings to the captain. Behind the three, stood Scotland, Simon and Kyle, along with two other people. Scary stuff, it felt like they were being interrogated. They got new information about the mission. First of all, the Serbian group was talking about transportation. They were talking random numbers, they all suspected drugs. 160 grams per unit, 663 grams per unit. They started wondering which substance they were talking about, since the shipping was intended to reach different countries, and it was going to be pricy. One hundred thousand per unit. Cocaine, meth?

'So you have no idea what we're dealing with?' asked Price.

She was fed up with the captain verbally abusing her and her colleagues, so she spoke, 'You know, they're not talking about shipping tons of heroine like they're talking about football captain', she was raising her shoulders, 'They're discreet.'

'Okay, what are you suggesting we do then, Jude? You guys have made no progress.'

She stopped him again, 'We did, we just told you…' she pointed at Roman's notes in front of her, 'they're shipping single units in separate containers, they're using trucks to make separate shippings, we know it's something expensive…'

She was calm, collected, she was fucking hot as hell. Simon stared at the back of her head as she controlled the room, she was assertive. She was tense, he could see the muscles in the back of her neck. 'You have two days', Price had said. When she got up from the chair she was too mad to even acknowledge him. She turned towards the other two translators, he didn't know who they were. They said something in italian he thought, they all knew italian? They left together. All three.

She didn't even look his way. What, cause she was pissed at Price it meant she was pissed at him as well? What did he do? He thought they could maybe talk, she could share more of what they found... Maybe these two new friends she was working with were taking his place, she didn't need him anymore. He watched her leave the room like they didn't know each other, and he felt a strange pressure on his chest. She didn't look his way, like she didn't care that he was in the room. And she was the only thing he was concentrating on every time they were together so... What a shame.

It all happened so fast, one random Tuesday at 5pm. Honey tapped his hand on the desk three times, she immediately turned around, getting tangled in her headphones. Roman spilled some tea in the attempt of running from his desk to Honey's. 'Shit shit shit', someone whispered. Honey took off his headset, turning up the volume so that everyone could hear. It was a male voice speaking, he was speaking broken English.

'At four, пет, не знам.'

She glanced up at her colleagues. She understood what they said. They said 'four or five'.

'They want job clear and fast, да, добро'. Clear.

Honey was scribbling on a piece of paper, trying to get everything down as the man spoke.

'Read that, да, not many men. како се каже, English… code, secret. Secret.'

He went on for a minute, when he finished they all went back to their stations, at the speed of light. The reason was, if some soldiers went to different rooms to speak about the attack that was just announced they could share thoughts and information, they had to be at the top of their game for the next thirty minutes. She put on her headset, trying to calm the beating of her heart that she thought could explode out of her chest. She heard Serbian, she heard English. Someone said Видим се. See ya, that was the translation. 'Alright…' someone whispered.

'Oh, oh porca troia raga…', that was the clue for Honey and Roman to quickly turn towards her.

Her eyes luminescent, her ears burning, quick fingers typing on the Word document in front of her.

'A job at four or five, don't know the date, they're shipping something to Iran, circa 20thousand maybe more, cocaine and something else, but I'm not sure…' It was Madison, she guessed, referring that information to them. He was whispering into the recording device, speaking quickly so that he could leave that spot without being suspicious. 'Sending you a copy of the paper, gotta go, they have prisoners, poor people, they're all sitting in a room…they're killing them, they want to kill them…' He soon after stepped out of the toilet.

She finishes writing, and got up. She looked at the two other people in the room, just as surprised and shocked as her. Shocked and happy, they finally got something. Shocked at what they just heard, people, prisoners…

'Job at four or five, are they selling drugs?' Roman asked. 'To Iran?' She tried, Honey understood immediately what she was on about. 'No way! Fuck, poor people in a room?' He covered his mouth with his right hand. She had never heard him swear, or lose composure. 'Honey, they're doing something for the Iranian at four or five, they're paying them to do something.' She got up from her chair. Poor people in a room…

'Holy shit…' That was Roman.

'I thought they were gonna attack them, sell the drugs at higher price'

Poor people in a room…

'Hold on, sorry…' Roman got up as well, a piece of paper in his hand. 'What we heard on Sunday, about the shippings. They're selling stupid amounts, look…' He got closer to the others, a paper with translations and calculations in hand. 'They're shipping to loads of countries, nearly 5 pounds, 4 hundred thousand for 5 pounds of what, heroine? Why are these prices so high?'

'Cause they're not talking about drugs. It's the poor people in the room.' She got it.

Her blood went cold. It was true, they had been going on about refrigerated containers, moving trucks that could fit tons and tons of materials inside, too large to go without being checked, too risky to use for a bit of marijuana. They were dealing with larger objects. Pricier material, fewer pieces. They had people to kill… No… They had prisoners, people in a room. The Iranian paid them cause they had the people. She clicked her tongue, shook her head. This was above them, this was… too much. It was the people.

'It's organs. It's organ trafficking.'

'Oi are you even listening?' Ghost turned his head towards the voice on his right, Johnny was walking beside him heading towards the hangar. 'Wot?' He said, an annoyed tone. 'I asked how many?' He wanted his head to explode, he had a migraine, he was tired, Johnny was speaking… 'How many what?' He raised his voice. He had things to do, reports to finish, he had to pack cause he was about to leave, and he didn't even know if he was deployed, they just told him 'in case we need help' and it was fucking stupid, did I mention he was tired? 'How many units per container, why are you not listening?' He rolled his eyes, they were walking towards Kyle. 'They're late cause of a bloody sandstorm', he informed. They had to wait for all the soldiers who were still in Al-Jareena to come back, they would have a meeting with Price and apparently Shepherd was back for a while.

'Where's Thomas?' Johnny asked, Kyle shook his head. 'Couldn't make it again, he still has problems with his back.'

'Ah shit'

'Oi, did you get that email about that human rights convention and what not?' They were walking beside him, they were not shutting up. He craved his bedroom, his childhood bedroom in the UK, he craved silence, he craved warmth of a fireplace and a steak…

'Did you get it L.t.?' I didn't. I don't care. He said no.

'You never answered my question, I was trying to do the math'

'What question?'

'How many units of drugs per container did they say, heroine or cocaine, cause the weight would be different...'

'I don't know, whatever Alba said.'

The ceiling collapsed, the floor crumbled under his feet, his body falling though the abyss of Hell. Blood rushing to his ears. He watched as the two men's faces went from shock to fear. They stopped in their tracks.

'What the fuck?'

'Who the fuck is Alba, mate?'

'How do you know?'

'No way, Jude is Alba?'

'No fucking way, it's her you've been seeing?'

'What do you mean, you're going out with her?'

Before he could register the immense mistake he had made, he heard a voice. A sweet, sincere voice. He heard the voice he normally heard in his dreams, in his mind. The two men were soon forgotten, she was coming his way. 'Hey!' She shouted. She stood in the middle of the hangar, making a few men turn towards her. Her, in all her grace, her dark aura, her aura of power and knowledge. She looked pale, she looked… she was crying? She looked scared. Watching all three soldiers stop and look at her, she signalled them to follow her with a single nod of her head. Come with me, that was the signal. 'All three' She said. They followed like they were some damn dogs.

'Are you out of your mind!?' Price's voice was loud, his hands on his hips. They were inside the listening post room, him, Johnny, Gaz, the captain and the three scientists. 'What?' She raised her voice as well, he had never heard her like this before. 'Literally, what is your problem?' She spoke to the captain, crossing her arms. Price went on for a few minutes scolding the three academics. The accusations and the theories on organ trafficking were serious, and they had always talked about drugs, why were they abandoning that route? 'Because it makes the most sense, captain.' Tried Honey. He showed Price the list of all the weights and measurements they had heard about, which, as they discovered, fit quite perfectly the average weight of kidneys, lungs and hearts. 'That explains the refrigerated containers', she chirped in. 'And the prices', Soap, unexpectedly, gave her a nod of credit. 'And the poor people', finished Honey.

They explained it wasn't rare for poor people to get into situations such as organ and human trafficking. They could make a lot of money, they were easy to convince, easy to manipulate and desperate. It all started to make even more sense when they found information in Serbian news articles online about people disappearing in the latest few months. They found many individuals started reporting to be victims, or suspect family members to have had illegal surgeries for organ trafficking. 'They said they're receiving a note with a code of some sort', she was standing on Simon's right, near her desk. Her hair was messy and undone on her shoulders, she glanced at the time on her phone from time to time. Have you got somewhere to be? 'Probably containing information on when the shipment might be made, or what to do with the people they're gonna take the organs from'. The room was filled with silence. It was sad, really. They were glad they made the discovery, but overall, not good news. Price crossed his arms, looking down at his feet. It was clearly more than they were expecting. Simon would't take his eyes off Alba. He was proud, he was sad she had to deal with this tremendous job. She looked at him. He gently tilted his head foreword, as to say, you're good. He didn't know why it was so important for him to let her know that he supported her. She gave him a small smile. He felt they were feeling the same emotion somehow.

'Will you be able to translate the code?' asked Price.

'Sure, yes, we'll do everything we can.' Honey.

Price sighed.

'Good work.'

notes: massive chapter, sorry!!!

taglist:

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[coolblackmetal666]

Yeah, yeah. I get it. "Women are my favorite guy". "How does it mean". Haha. It's funny that they don't speak their second language perfectly.

But I do think that Americans lack a lot of context here. DJ Crazy Times shouting "World Peace" and "Stop the War" isn't just random non sequitors. Yeah, he grew up in East Germany, but DJ Crazy Times parents are Croatian. The original Ms Biljana Electronic (Aleksandra Jovanovic) is Serbian. The war they're talking about is the at the time ongoing war in former Yugoslavia.

Yeah, as a Slovenia based duo, they weren't like in the heat of it, since Slovenia was the only part of Yugoslavia that broke away peacefully, but both had relatives who were in an active war zone and in some cases on different sides of that war. "Planet of the Bass" was meant as a slice of relief during a very though time, and I feel people are kind of minimizing the message just because they were raised behind the iron curtain in cultures where knowledge of english wasn't really a priority at that time. It's also not like they were these serious, super deep, tortured artists. They made silly eurodance and they were aware of that fact. A lot of the comedy on that song is 100% intentional.

Idk. I wish they would clarify this for people who don't know, but I know why it's been hard for the media to reach out to the both of them in light of their songs new wave of popularity. Iirc DJ Crazy Time is still part of that vegan celibate cult thing that he joined in 2007, and Aleksandra Jovanovic has kind of stayed out of the media light after the 90s. I can't blame her though. The tabloid papers kind of hounded her after her alleged affair with Tony Blair. I hope she's doing well.

[kalinq0]

Whenever Enis calls Ilija "Alija" he would reply with singing "Oj Alija, Aljo" and other serbian war crime songs

[yugotrash]

ok now that shitshow is done i need the woke euroid crowd to show up at least half as fiercely for teya dora as they did for breskvica's song. let's hear about how she's glorifying the memory of world war 1 serbian soldiers who fought to expand national borders for a sub-colonialist regime

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2023: #22 - #21

Mild like is not a zone I prefer to rest long in, so let's make the next two a package deal so that only 20 remain going into the new year!

22. SERBIA Luke Black - "Samo mi se spava" 24th place

Decade Ranking: 63/116 [Above Fyr og Flamme, below TBA]

Spaaaaavaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaai

But I am getting ahead of myself.

In the days leading up towards towards the rehearsals I got the feeling that Luke would only barely squeak by despite being both Serbian and reasonably well-liked by the fans. This came with the slow realization that "Samo mi se spava" is kind of cringe, oop. All memes eventually become stale, and that rate at which they age accelerates further if the music's kind of not good lol. Not everyone can have the eternal resilience of "In Corpore Sano".

So yeah, I totes understand why the Latvia stans were pissed they missed out while Luke basically passed to the Grand Final based on flag. However, many acts sucked in the semis, so I'm not bothered if one I liked (sorta) qualified over one i did not (sorta).

Not to get things twisted though, "Samo mi se spava" was serviceable for what it was, as a Melovin-lite combination of shock horror and an art major's irreverent graduation project. Once you've accustomed to the senseless krumpcrat choreo and the atonal mewling however, you just have to recognize Serbia's 2023 entry was the vanity project of an ageing emo twink . Do I enjoy it? Yes, but only as ~A Piece~ (not as "a song") and only in small enough doses. Take, a listen every four months.

All that said, there are two small things about "Samo Mi Se Spava" that I greatly enjoy.

(1) the frogmarches remain hilarious so let's enjoy that in gif form:

What a great way to finish A Piece.

(2) I merely have to think of Luke to hear "SPAAAVAAAAI" and "HELLO?! GAyME OVuh" ring through my mind in his characteristic gaywhispervoice and that ALWAYS produces a chuckle. So ultimately, while "Samo mi se spava" was admittedly not very good, it does manage to lift my spirits somewhat, and for that I'm willing to carry it to 22nd in my list!

-----------------------------------------

21. UKRAINE TVORCHI - "Heart of steel" 6th place

Decade Ranking: 62/116 [Above Luke Black, below Kalush Orchestra]

Yeah, Tvorchi did well for themselves. Given the war and the general air of misery surrounding last year's Vidbir (unironically a contender for worst NF this year, even under the circumstances) and the fact that Ukraine picked their most disappointingly heterosexual entry yet, there was no way "Heart of Steel" could become good. Like, who does this appeal to? What sort of person listens to this edgelordian church cabal, and thinks "ah, my favourite has arrived." Just the Musk fanboys, right?

Fortunately for us, Ukraine is the one Eurovision country that always understands the assignment. What do you do when your song below par? You provide a good show at least.

and it kinda nibbled.

...

...

Yeah, there's no punchline. Sorry but it's NYE, i cooked the family dinner by myself and you may think it's a small step to go from roasting broccoli to roasting mediocrities, but the latter action takes up too much thinking space for a brain semi-operating on sparkling wine that is trying to weave in and out of social conversation. Jeffrey sang well, I liked the presentation and it didn't drag the more enjoyable entries around it down, what else can a one ask for? It wasn't going to get any better than what we got. Count them lucky stars, and all that.

Fourth place in the televote is a VERY stupid result (this is more in range of a 14th placer if it were any other country) but let's not end the year on a sour rant. "Heart of steel" could have been a morose drag. Instead it was moderately bemusing. Upward and onward to better things.

THE RANKING

CONGRATZ FOR MAKING THE TOP 20 to the following:

ALBANIA / ARMENIA / AUSTRALIA / AUSTRIA / AZERBAIJAN BELGIUM / CZECHIA / ESTONIA / FINLAND / FRANCE ICELAND / LITHUANIA / MALTA / MOLDOVA / POLAND PORTUGAL / SLOVENIA / SPAIN / SWEDEN / UK Some of you kind of don't deserve to~ ps: Happy New Year Everyone!!!

[taediumvitaewe]

i think the worse question someone could ask me is: what music do you listen to. i don't even know anymore. one day is serbian turbofolk narrating about war crimes, then i have the kanye west old albums loop, then I listen cumbia villera for three days straight. death metal, after that it's hyperpop, black metal and breakcore. al yankovic....... some dark polo gang songs dpg dark gang siamo la bibbia. old school reggaeton, city pop, drone music, azealia banks....... deftones!!!

[michellezagenda]

Since you're into metal I have a few recommendations.

First one, I know it's male led but I love these two songs Night Witches and Lady of the Dark which are about a legendary plane group from Russia and a Serbian war hero respectively.

Another is Beyond the Black. Lead singer is female and I'd recommend Numb, Pearl in a World of Dirt, Human and Monster

thx for the recs ☺️

[kirkwahmmett]

HELP WHY DOES THIS SERBIAN NATIONALISTIC SONG CALLED “MY DAD IS A WAR CRIMINAL” THAT I HEARD YEARS AGO STILL PLAY IN MY HEAD

[northernstarrants]

Yugoslav TurboFolk

In recent times, I have started to listen to an increasing (and admittedly bizarre) amount of Yugoslav turbofolk.

To clarify, wikipedia defines turbofolk as “[…] a subgenre of Serbian contemporary pop music that initially developed during the 1990s as a fusion of techno and folk.” This definition is fine, but makes a few fairly major mistakes. I will also specify that I am talking about military turbofolk. I will use the term “Turbofolk” for simplicity, but I do specifically mean turbofolk with war and conflict as a backdrop.

For one, turbofolk is not unique to Serbia. Most ex-Yugoslav, or even, more broadly, most balkan states have some form of turbofolk. In addition to that, one could even argue that turbofolk exists outside of those countries, but I won’t discuss that argument immediately.

In addition to this, I think that referring to it as Serbian at all is bizarre. Must turbofolk artists would date back to Yugoslav times, and even thought most artist espouse views of national or ethnic superiority for their specific group, it is still bizarre to say “Serbia” when Croats and Bosnians have produced songs in that genre as well.

But why turbofolk?

To be concise; because it’s catchy. There is an undeniable appeal to music that is purely catchy. To use a non-Turbofolk example; the song “Sommartider” by Gyllene Tider is not particularly interesting musically. It is essentially the same lyrics repeated over and over again over a fairly uniform track, but it’s a very good song. It’s hard to listen to a song like that, even if, unlike me, you don’t particularly like that kind of music, without humming the chorus to yourself.

(Sommartider, hej! Hej! Sommartider, ge mig din hunger, ge mig din hand.)

Essentially, even if one doesn’t find a song particularly interesting musically, it can earn merit based solely on it being enjoyable.

The same rule applies to most turbofolk. “Panteri Mauzer” by Roki Vulovic is not a very interesting song musically. Neither are “Bosanska artiljerija” or “Tata”, but they are still fun to listen to just for the undeniably catchy choruses.

But there is an obvious elephant in the room I haven’t adressed; subject matter.

A vast majority of turbofolk music contains lyrics, messages, or other links to some utterly deplorable things. A song I mentioned earlier, “Tata”, by features the opening lines…

“Moj je tata zločinac iz rata

Moj je tata zločinac iz rata

Vi se potrudite pa ga osudite

Vi se potrudite pa ga osudite”

For those wondering, these roughly translate to…

“My dad is a war criminal

My dad is a war criminal

You do your best to condemn him

You do your best to condemn him”

I trust I don’t need to clarify, but this is praising the war-criminal-father, as opposed to condemning him. This is an example, but there are many more (and many FAR worse I could’ve chosen from.)

Context

Most of these songs were written in the early to mid 1990s, a period of turmoil in the balkans; on account of the dissolution of Yugoslavia. The breakup of this large nation caused ethnic groups that had been living together in relative peace to begin fighting, in a bid to gain their “rightful territory” from their neighbors.

This is a major oversimplification, there were many causes of both the increase in fighting between ethnic groups and the dissolution of Yugoslavia. It’s a sort of “Chicken or the egg”, as it was in large part due to tensions between these that the nation collapsed; which led to even more ethnic conflict.

But essentially, ethnic tension led to groups seeking their own states, which led to further tension, and so on in a vicious cycle.

Subject Matter

But with that in mind, one can now address subject matter again. These ethnic conflicts frequently resulted in the massacre of civilian populace. And an important tool for this was propaganda. Among other sources, these songs served the important role of reinforcing the idea that “my group is better than this other group, and therefore I am justified in extreme violence against them.” For instance, “Oj Alija Aljo”, a song written by Serb-Nationalist band Коридор features a number of lines specifying that the Bosnian muslims are inferior to the Serb orthodox Christians. Importantly, this phenomenon was not unique to the Serbian factions during the Yugoslav wars; most groups involved had their own turbofolk. To summarise, a lot of this music’s subject matter comes from its origins in military and ethnic conflict, in which it was beneficial to praise one’s own side, whilst insulting the other.

At this section’s conclusion, I will establish these as being my rules for what defines a turbofolk song:

• The song generally praises the group the made it, or the religion and values of the group that made it.

•The song is generally linked to conflict, specifically linked to promoting or encouraging one side of the conflict.

•Musically, the song in question must combine traditional folk elements with contemporary pop.

•The songs in question should generally be catchy or upbeat, or slow and inspiring.

The Balkans?

In the beginning, I mentioned that I took issue with saying that turbofolk is a uniquely Balkan phenomenon. I disagree. I believe that one could argue a number of nations have their own versions of turbofolk. An obvious example is Ireland. If we are to look at the folk-rock band The Wolfe Tones, almost every song they released in their 50+ year career fits into the categories I established above. The only major differences being, they praise the IRA, or other extremist factions of that era, as opposed to a balkan extremist group, and that the “folk” element is Irish folk, as opposed to Balkan. If we are to look at Broad Black Brimmer, written some time around 1970. The most famous version of this song, recorded by the Wolfe Tones in 1973, opens with traditional Irish instruments over the first two verses. However, after the second chorus, the song start over for the first verse a second time and a third chorus. Except this time, instead of the traditional Irish instruments, the backing track is a very early 70s-sounding hard rock track. With a bluesy guitar and prominent drums, this is an obvious departure from the banjos and fiddles one can generally expect from Irish folk. This song fits perfectly in the criteria I established for turbofolk, but I am willing to admit that there is something missing. This song fits the criteria, and yet it isn’t turbofolk.

The most important factor of turbofolk, in my opinion, is the balkans.

Turbofolk’s main appeal to me isn’t the awful, yet morbidly interesting lyrics, or the catchy hooks and refrains; it’s the fact that it can function as a time capsule. One can listen back on these songs, and in a way that isn’t the case with the Wolfe Tones, who still have bands that regularly cover them, hear something that probably won’t be done again. Listening to “Bosanska Artiljerija” for instance, feels, above all else, uncensored. It seems like something that should have been left in the past and yet wasn’t. Arguably the most accessible memento of these wars and ethnic cleansing that killed thousands is nothings violent, but something jovial. A catchy pop-song, that if one didn’t know any better, could be referring to anything.

It is in this capacity that turbofolk is so very interesting. These songs that sound like they could be so innocent and joyous, originating in one of Europe’s darkest chapters. And therefore, I think it’s important that the term turbofolk isn’t used for anything it could fit. Yes, I believe the Wolfe Tones have all the makings of a Turbofolk band, yet they aren’t, simply because Turbofolk, as a such an entity, only existed during that short window, during the 90s in Southeastern Europe.

[jokeroutsubs]

[ENG translation] Joker Out end the tour with a gig at Padova Hall

A report from the Padova gig. Original article written by Marianna Grechi for Inside Music, published on 31.03.2024. English translation by IG valohwave, proofread by IG GBoleyn123.

Thursday, the 28th of March, marked the end of the tour of Joker Out, the Slovenian breakthrough rock band of the 2010s new wave that made itself known to the wider public with their participation at Eurovision 2023. They played a short set focusing on freshness and coolness, and where you could breathe a certain Erasmus-like atmosphere - for the nostalgic ones.

Fresh from the gig in Milano, whose venue was relocated at the last minute from Magazzini Generali to Circolo Magnolia, Joker Out closed their tour at Padova Hall with the same energy of five friends getting together on the weekend to jam in a garage. Sometimes the complicity among the members is so tangible, it seems they are unaware of having an audience.

Disclaimer: A full immersion Slovenian course might prove to be useless for following a Joker Out gig because the repertoire includes also Serbian songs like 'Demoni' and 'Ona' and some new hits like 'Bluza' and 'Šta bih ja'. So relax, jump, try to at least get the vowels right, and enjoy the concert of Bojan Cvjetićanin's band.

The evening is opened by Bigoyday, a brass band from the Plain of Brescia, that immediately gets the crowd going to the sound of wind instruments, and then, the party begins. A few minutes to get the stage ready and there they are: Bojan, Jan, Kris, Jure and Nace on stage in all their beauty.

Bojan with a glittery eyeshadow, Nace dressed as a "geek", a shirtless Jure, each of them has their own character and yet everything is so spontaneous. I get so lost in this marvel that I don't realise we are already halfway through 'Gola'. Around me something weird happens: everyone is singing, some with a thick Italian accent, others are clearly native speakers, and we're all here in Padova for Joker Out.

From the very beginning the gig feels like an international karaoke - just like during Erasmus! - and it literally becomes one when Bojan comes down from the stage to let the first rows sing verses from 'Umazane misli', each in their own language.

In a few minutes, they touch all our weak spots. We go wild for 'Katrina' and 'Plastika', but there's also Bojan's piano moment with 'Everybody's Waiting', dedicated to those suffering from anxiety and panic attacks. Within an hour, we reach the song that changed Joker Out's life, 'Carpe Diem', precisely the Slovenian version they brought to Eurovision 2023.

At the end, the boys hug each other, they bow. Not without a message of peace against all wars before they end with an acoustic and moving 'Novi val', sung with the choir that is the audience. Among lights and hugs the Erasmus experience is over, we've all got to go back home.

[mildmagician]

Serbia🇷🇸

Serbia surprises us with the beautiful ballad ‘Ramonda’ by Teya Dora!🌠🟣

Teya Dora will be celebrating her 32nd year on this planet by representing her home country on the big stage. She is a very talented singer, who had a very tough competition in Pesma za Evroviziju ’24. Eventually, the jury and public settled on her song being the best of this national election season.

‘Ramonda’ references the the lilac flower that is being used as a symbol of the Serbian people's struggle and victory in World War I, as it has a special ability to revive itself, when fully dehydrated. Teya wants the listeners to interpret the lyrics themselves based on the healing of the human soul.