Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Ethnotrip
Label: Self-released
Release: 2013
Duration: 46:32
Rating: 3/5
Ethnotrip is a quartet that plays folk standards. Formed in 2009 and young going by the birth years on their ID cards, these are nonetheless seasoned musicians who treat the stage as a second home and feel great up there. They’re constantly on stage as Ethnotrip, and the individual members are also actively involved in other acts (Mlada Beltinska Banda, Marko Banda, L’amour Fou), so they’re always in top form.
The debut »Ethnotrip« is a very pretty piece of work. It carries well-known standards that capture the distinct flavor of European melodies, from the West (England) to the East (Russia, Hungary), and of course our dear Balkan peninsula (Macedonia, Croatia). Naturally, tunes from the folk tradition are in the mix too, like the opening Pastirče mlado (in milo) from Bela krajina – a standard that a whole universe of Slovenian performers has tackled over the years, from Katalena to Magnifico and everyone in between. There are also two from Prekmurje, Zreilo je žito, plus another classic coming from Prekmurje’s Žižki, Speivaj nama Katica (Sing for Us, Katica).
Such a colorful musical picture book, drawn from the rich ID card of Europe’s folk-music mission, is a guarantee of fun listening, and it’s effectively captured on the album »Ethnotrip«. At the center of the band’s character stands the striking voice of singer Tjaša Šimonka. On the tracks tied together by the related »Gypsy« melos of geographically close Prekmurje, Međimurje, Baranya and the area stretching toward Russia (Hungary), the fragile, swaying sweetness of her thin, maidenly pure voice is definitely an element that wins you over in an instant. That moment is etched deep across the whole album. Her yearning delivery of the vocal melodies is exceptionally soft yet steeped in pain, even though the lyrics usually carry messages of celebration. You could say it would be hard to find a voice better suited to the job than Tjaša’s. For such a bravura magnification of the message in traditional folk tunes, the way this album brings them together, it would certainly be very hard.
The instrumentation that builds the sonic backdrop is simply ideal for the album’s melancholic melos, which doesn’t let up even in the »Balkanisms« of Jovano Jovanke and Ajde Jano, where it openly mixes with the soothing breeze of »arabesque« influences from Asia Minor. For this set of standards, together with Tjaša’s core-defining vocal, they reach the optimal expressive payoff.
Despite a top-notch interpretation that you really can’t fault, the album sticks a bit too closely to the guidelines of school music textbooks. You can hardly squeeze out more correct playing and singing. And it’s precisely this schoolbook »ironed-out« and »polished« quality, where you won’t find a »crooked hair« or a »smudge left by a fly’s footprint«, that creates the feeling these stories have already been told, in very similar ways, many times before. The quartet is developing its own identity, but when you look at the plethora of Slovenian bands and performers who also dig deep into folk and ethno elements, »Ethnotrip« ends up in the league of average releases. It prefers caution to giving in to experiment and thus to a bigger display of its own authorial insight. Here you won’t hear anything »in-your-face« provocative, which is typical of acts like Katalena, Vasko Atanasovski and the like. Including the well-worn Podmoskovnye vechera and Katyusha, which scouts have been singing around the campfire for decades (all we’re missing is Trzinka!), plus the Celtic Scarbourough Fair, which Simon And Garfunkel turned into a hit single long ago and which art metallers Queensryche reworked in their own way while recording the album »Empire« (1990), is just proof that on their first album Ethnotrip would rather swim in the waters of broad accessibility and likability than try to slalom through artistic self-challenge, that is, outside the predictable molds fixed by the melodies of the album’s chosen folk standards.
So to sum up, nothing bad to say about the album. God forbid. It stands nicely and offers the listener a likable musical adventure. A gorgeous product of high-quality interpretation, adorned by the brilliance of the organic tone of an authentic, natural production and especially by singer Tjaša’s extraordinary vocal charisma, which with its fascinating vocal performance even pushes up into mezzo-soprano heights, it’s a solid foundation for the start of a fascinating new story about a new ethno/folk band, one that, it’s fair to believe, will deliver more authorial »sting« and substance in its future evolution.
Lineup
Tjaša Šimonka – vocals
Miha Kavaš – violin
Aleksander Varga – bass guitar
Primož Kramberger – piano
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Boštjan Baša – accordion
Kristian Majcen – guitar
Urban Kolar – trumpet
Marko Markovič – Maki – percussion
Production
Ethnotrip & Peter Ošlaj
Track list
1. Pastirče mlado
2. Seiyem hajad / Szep asszonyak kurizalok
3. Jovano Jovanke
4. Speivaj nama Katice
5. Dekanovsko grobiće
6. Igrale se Delije
7. Zreilo je žito
8. Podmoskovnye vechera / Katyusha
9. Ljubav se ne trži
10. Ajde Jano
11. Scarbourough Fair*
*… bonus track
