Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Various Artists
Label: Društvo kočevskih glasbenikov
Release: 2017
Rating: 4.5/5
This is already the sixth »Kočevje špila« compilation, and it only confirms what a tough nut a regional crew of artists and creators can be when they’re united by a single focus on realizing their musical vision and, above all, a love of musical expression. With that kind of unity you can achieve a lot. This time around, the harvest of last year’s musical fruits arrives as the sixth installment of the Kočevje compilation, titled »Po Stojni«. Stojna is the hill above Kočevje that the locals identify with. The small, insignificant, ignorant and humble »swamper« writing these lines even dares to draw conclusions here, and puts forward the following thesis: let’s say Stojna’s symbolic weight at the regional level is what Triglav’s is at the national level. This compilation doesn’t just take us into the musical pulse of last year in the Kočevje area, it takes us deeper this time, out into the vast expanses of the Kočevje forests, into the realm of the great beasts, the kingdom of the bear, that good old forest Ent the people of Kočevje have been learning from and growing up alongside, in harmony, since forever. There’s no need to fear him, and the people of Kočevje know it. They’ve been getting along with the bear for centuries, unlike the other manipulators and lobbyists planted in the top ranks of the state, who see a nice trophy business in shooting the beasts. Just a glance at the packaging and the cover and it quickly becomes clear that the forest plays a major role this time. Sprawling fir and beech forests, with all their (mostly) natural landmarks, strung out across Stojna in fifteen points. Each of these points is tied, in energy, vibe and meaning, to one of fifteen special spots on Stojna. Unfold the booklet and it all becomes clear. Folded into a “map” and made from recycled paper! The »green language« of sustainable management of natural resources, following the famous recipe of »Poldé Kopitar« (for those of you living in the concrete desert, here’s a translation: Leopold Hufnagel), is something the people of Kočevje understand and know all too well.
This year’s compilation brings »only« fifteen tracks! That’s one of the rare novelties compared to the earlier ones. Once again the old familiar faces are back, keeping up the incredible genre variety on this small patch of Slovenia, with cross-genre fusion in the expression of individual acts becoming almost proverbial. That the new compilation for 2017 is once again the cherry on top of the cream hardly needs saying. It serves up everything the people of Kočevje, with their sharp clarity of musical outlook, spoiled us with long ago.
The old faces, then. Gaber Brin, pardon Roman Zupančič, with his famously colorful vocal engraving, joins Sebastijan Vukan (Sebatage) for a vocal duet in the opening track Dobro jutro sonce! The song comes at you singer-songwriter style. It’s optimistic and cheeky, like real morning sunbeams tickling your face with kisses and coaxing you out of sleep! Back on this compilation are the first-rate alt-rock jokers Jaguar Februar. This time with the new track Delirij. The band remains special and lucid, and the poetry underlines it once again. Stylistically they keep their link to the debut album that came out at the end of 2015.
Matthias & The Band, presenting a laid-back, slow-flowing, blues-baked number full of crafty guitar knotwork (in the background) called Ata mi je reku, bring the singer-songwriter spirit back to the compilation. Joe Krosher offers a track without “outside” vocal help this time. Another new radio-friendly number with an art-pop, DJ-style hairdo, which you’ll find in Messin’ Around. With a pronounced, dance-swaying beat. Trip and dance step! Action. Sonic warmth? Yes. The basses sound “fat” and totally organic.
A rock-sharpened bluesy swing, with harmonica up front in Papa Legba (Coketoiwn Cowboy), comes as quite a surprise on the compilation, courtesy of Voodoo Weekend, who once again stretch their reach of distinctly lucid, teasing sentiment. This is the blues! The Cowmonkeys deliver an alt/indie rock moment with One. In their sacred motif simplicity, the band deftly handles layered vocals, which keeps things unpredictable and adds a touch of pomp to the song. The track also carries an unmistakable psychedelic note. The compilation also features a new track from Vocabella namely Ko čas se ustavi. With this one the band keeps its eyes on the traditional legacy of the Slovenian popevka of the seventies. Since we’re mentioning the seventies in the Slovenian popevka, the title of this song is all the more fitting. Static could eventually take on the role of Kočevje’s version of the band Pande. Their pop-rock look really does carry some of that necessary art-pop fine mechanics, which they bring to the track Separe, along with a mastery of a more demanding (funky) rhythm groove and subtle keyboard play in the background of the sound, and they’re no strangers to jazzy rhetoric either. Jasmine Movrin’s female vocal is once again extremely likable and gets under your skin fast. A band born for radio rotation.
Kristjan 34 does an excellent job with the harmonica arrangement in the track Križ. The song works as an ideal film backdrop for the opening of some bankruptcy trustee proceeding. Križ is a neat combination of vocal delivery that deliberately plants a feeling of “tiredness”. The track is deftly seasoned with harmonica blues rhetoric, backed by the “funky mischief” of the rhythm’s kinetics and an organic acoustic guitar accompaniment. A compilation like this definitely can’t go without a pinch of electronics, and the project Extended Veins once again delivers convincingly with the »breakbeat« assault Rebellion.
The compilation hits peak fun with the track by D.O.G. called Paralelni svet Marjana Hladnika. After a colorfully burlesque introductory nudge, the song lands squarely on the well-worn phrase of a stock chord progression, but its parodic character and amusing vocal delivery pull it out of predictability, and it brings one of the most outrageous lyrics to the compilation. Typically Slovenian, you could say. A black tragicomedy where the little guy inevitably takes the fall! The modulation in the outro brings a special kind of climax of mocking hopelessness. Right at the tail end of the song. The compilation is closed by the legendary Kočevje singer-songwriter nightingale Pavle Benič. Well, well, well? Pavle Benič is namely »on fire« this time. He’s backed by a band! And the track Ah, daj no daj sounds rustic. Pavle is a man from the days when rock’n’roll was still young and spotless. The song carries the sentiment of seventies classic rock, bluesy inserts and a moment of psychedelia. The Greatful Dead meets The Allman Brothers Band? Debatable, certainly. But there’s no question that Pavle remains an eternally young and goofy rock’n’roll soul.
Nčodnč, without whom you can’t imagine a single »Kočevje špila« compilation, joined forces this time with the band Kosmate dlesni. The result is the joint track Ne bom se zadržvau. Two extremely special bands. Nčodnč are metalheads, while Kosmate dlesni always like to run aground on the »cross over« reef, which brings RATM to mind. Finally the guitars thunder on the compilation, as they should. Distorted. In that respect, »Po Stojni« is one of the softer compilations. At least Bito and company made sure a bit of snarling, sonic sharpness gets laid bare on it. Ne bom se zadržvau is the »voice of the street« and brings a sharp-tongued moment of hip hop with dark outlooks, successfully fused with the rhetoric of the metal riff. A neat combination of the two musical worlds both bands come from. A great fusion of the musical elements of both groups! The poetry is realistic, but the way that realism is delivered stirs up pure sarcasm. So this is the toughest moment of the compilation, which still keeps the note of its overall tomfoolery. If Skaktus and Sell Out are missing this time, Zapušanci are here with the compilation’s new SKA moment in the track Zapuže Town. The accordion wins here! Seriously. D Splash and the track Buongiorno Paycheck is a fun, slippery funk number, and the sound of the keyboards flirts, especially in the intro, with the »Hammond ring-around-the-rosie carousel« of Ray Manzarek (The Doors). In short, that’s it. How does a person feel when, for a good morning, they pull a payment order out of the mailbox? Ask D Splash. Mocking without limits.
To close this analysis, it’s worth stressing that the diligent Robi Bulešić, who is also the drummer of the naughty Istrian punks Tito’s Bojs, with his dedication once again made sure of a full-blooded aesthetic in the final sound mix of this compilation’s tracks!
How to write a short version of just about any review of any »Kočevje špila« compilation release, and the sixth installment »Po Stojni« is no exception, remains a riddle for the writer of these lines, close to unlocking Einstein’s theory of relativity. So, mission impossible. Simple. This time »Kočevje špila« delivers with »Po Stojni« a gem that, judging by past records, was quietly expected. Between 2012 and 2018, more than a hundred tracks came out across all the “Kočevje špila” compilations. In that sense it’s clear that quite a few acts who are regular guests on these compilations should already have released their own studio albums. Some already have (Jaguar Februar, Nčodnč, and the bands Sintetika and Charlie Butterfly, who aren’t on the “Po Stojni” compilation this time).
On the other hand, with its consistency, this project keeps everything that makes it special on the Slovenian music scene. Let’s hope that Društvo kočevskih glasbenikov, with its heartfelt and generous work, becomes a shining example for other similar regional organizations in Slovenia, and that it inspires releases of similar compilation CDs which, with that exemplary Kočevje heart, will worthily represent the musical pulse of other Slovenian regions too.
Production
Robi Bulešić
Track list
1. Roman & Sebatage – Dobro jutro sonce (03:05)
2. Jaguar Februar – Delirij (04:57)
3. Matthias & Band – Ata mi je reku (05:01)
4. Joe Krosher – Messin’ around (Radio edit) (04:10)
5. Voodoo Weekend – Papa Legba (Coketown cowboy) (04:04)
6. The Cowmonkeys – One (04:25)
7. Vocabella – Ko čas se ustavi (03:06)
8. Static – Separe (04:25)
9. Nčodnč ft. Kosmate dlesni – Ne bom se zadržvau (03:11)
10. Zapušanci – Zapuže Town (03:44)
11. D Splash – Buongiorno Paycheck (03:37)
12. Kristijan 34 – Križ (02:44)
13. Extended Veins – Rebellion (04:40)
14. D.O.G. – Paralelni svet Marjana Hladnika (04:34)
15. Pavle Benič – Ah, daj no daj (02:32)
