Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Brencl Banda
Label: Društvo za eno glasbo
Release: 2014
Runtime: 67:43
Rating: 4/5
Brencl Banda is yet another Slovenian musical phenomenon from the Sotla »wine-growing region«, or let’s just say the Sotla homeland, whose main player and driving engine is the lead and majority songwriter, arranger, composer, guitarist, vocalist and bandleader Andrej Boštjančič Ruda.
The four-piece, who by this day (and I hope I’m counting right) have two studio albums in their pocket, played a concert on March 22, 2014, at Rimska ulica 2 in Ljubljana, in the Salon za Eno glasbo there, and at the end of this November it finally got its official release as a live document titled »Live / V živo«.
The document, with 17 tracks and a little under 70 minutes of music, leads the listener straight into the heart of the band’s musical essence. Into the core of what they’re about. I have no insight into whether the complete recording is on this disc or whether any of the songs played that night are missing, but there are definitely some »adjustment« cuts between the tracks. Either way, »V živo« shows an exceptional, even astonishing tightness from four musical acrobats who play with genre boundaries for fun and melt them into a colorful musical mosaic of eclectic value. Both studio albums already confirmed that, but if you happen to have missed them, »V živo« is actually an even more authentic place to start discovering the Brencl Banda story. Authenticity served up on a platter!
Since we were talking about Andrej’s homeland, it’s more or less expected, if not downright obvious, that a concise touch of the traditional folk perception of music from this southern geographic corner of Slovenia runs through the whole set. Andrej is an extremely effective conduit of this cultural heritage into the Brencl Banda musical dossier. Tracks like, among others, Petrino kolo, Hruškova, Zelena, Martinova, Tja čez daljno morje, Pismo and Juriš carry plenty of scraps of folk customs, jokes and traditions in their musical content. If that’s the starting point, then blending it with genres is the upgrade, and it leads to eclecticism. From flirting with neoclassicism in Na vrtu, where the arrangements could even make room for Spanish flamenco, to the bluesy, mournful Mi smo Ob_up (real »heavy« confessions in the verses), then Jinamor, where the accordion weeps in a »French« way, while Sonet, especially its intro and outro, could easily grace a Slovenian film soundtrack with any string of »peasant imagery« at the center of the script. Anevi carries an exceptionally beautiful lead melody, with an excellent framework for a productively predatory alternative rock tune. Of course, in an environment of completely different arrangements, plugged into the mains.
Throughout the entire concert recording we witness a superb performance, full of lucid and witty breadth, and the relaxed vibe of the quartet’s players enjoying their repertoire to the fullest. Through this free-spinning carousel of intense fusion of folk melos and a rich sense of adventure in »sketched-in« improvisation, you feel the remarkable rapport of friendly building blocks, vocal delivery included. The album »V živo« is a game of leaps and bounds and a manifesto of full-throttle drive. No brakes. The chemistry, the heart, the passion and the fire are all here. Hand in hand. The whole way through. From the opening to the closing beat. With this musical document, Brencl Banda add yet another shining pearl to the mosaic of vivid Slovenian musical macramé, one that carries the traditional gains of folk melos from different regions through a freewheeling play of improvisation, in a distinctive and unique way.
Lineup
Andrej Boštjančič “Ruda” – guitar, vocals
Klemen Bračko – violin
Rok Šinkovec – accordion, vocals
Matija Krivec – double bass
Production
Janez Križaj
Track list
1. Gustavson D
2. Mi smo ob_up
3. Petrino kolo
4. Jinamor
5. Še oj še
6. Hruškova
7. Igraj kolo jabolko
8. Zelena
9. Martinova
10. Anovi
11. Tja čez daljno morje
12. Na vrtu
13. Črešnjevska
14. Pismo
15. Juriš
16. Sonet
17. Puna Luna
