Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Vasko Atanasovski Trio
Label: Celinka
Release: 2013
Length: 52:10
Rating: 4/5
For the third year running, we’re being dazzled by a combination of three top-notch Slovenian musicians, led by the multi-talented woodwind wizard Vasko Atanasovski. Together they go by the name Vasko Atanasovski Trio. And here we have the trio’s second studio album, called »Feel«.
School and school drill are one thing; the power of pouring the ideas born in your head into musical form as authentically as possible is another. That’s the guarantee of a unique art profile in the content of your own work! Not everyone has it. And that’s the dividing line between good musicians and outstanding ones. Vasko belongs in the latter category, and it’s hardly worth wasting many words on that. He has proven on past works, and across a mix of different projects, in both leading and side (guest) roles, that he is an extremely strong and insightful composer and arranger. Wherever he plugs in, he’s a generator of musical change, a kind of perpetual motion engine, pushing the bar of musical daring up to a higher artistic level. A typical example is Vasko’s recent guest spot on the debut of the band Bard
»Feel« is the logical continuation of the story from the debut »Come To Me« (2012). It keeps serving up the same wildly effective eclectic stew of genre-blending, which is the trio’s entry visa into the land of serious musical originality. The result is an extraordinary musical mix that steers with incredible skill along the thin, seeming line between the daring of musical experiment and the form of predictable melodic catchiness.
Remembering is the album’s quirky, surf-flavored opener. The moment of mischief, as well as lucidity, is deepened above all by Vasko’s lead saxophone melody, and the track gets even “friendlier” on the ears once Vasko’s own vocal kicks in. It’s an energetic opening march, perfect for kicking off a concert night. Just like on the previous album, the new »Feel« gives us tracks that can be fully instrumental, and mostly tracks where Vasko tries his hand at singing in English, Serbo-Croatian and Slovenian. The song Nema više ničeg, or later U valovima, is at its very core a nostalgic nod to the bygone days of rich Yugoslav rock culture, evoking moments that will feel close to fans of Drago Mlinarec on one side and even to the band Time on the other (U valovima). Of course, the woodwinds are the musical element that drives the trio’s unique, recognizable character.
The new album confirms once again that emotions and passions are best magnified in Serbo-Croatian and Slovenian. The messages ignite far better and hit far harder in these two Slavic languages than in English, so I don’t think English would be missed at all if Vasko ever decided to ditch it in his lyrics. Given the geographic roots in which the trio’s particular melodic sensibility develops, the juiciness of the Slavic languages is simply the perfect fit. The song I Love you, backed by a polka rhythm and a traditional Russian motif masterfully crossed with elements of jazz, is actually a reworked version of the song Volim te from the debut »Come To Me«, and in terms of how the lyrics land, the new version has lost some of the original’s expressive cheerfulness and variety.
On the other hand, the choice of “three languages” is a pretty logical move for Vasko Atanasovski’s international renown. The fact is that this band is a must-hear live, because that’s when its expressive reach is strongest. And since Vasko Atanasovski Trio roam concert stages all over the globe, it’s more than welcome that they pick up the odd tune sung in English along the way, one that’s globally understood, which may open even more doors for them as they break into the international music scene.
The song Baby has an effective mix of alternative rock and jazz elements, while Vasko’s vocal performance conjures up lucidity and, on the other side, a touch of drama that keeps quietly, slyly lurking in the background of the mood throughout. If we stay for a moment with the tracks that lean toward alternative rock, a little later on the album comes the song I’ve Hated You, where Vasko’s vocal squeezes out even more manliness, and especially thanks to the simple four-chord guitar line in the accompaniment, it evokes the mood of Iggy Pop’s commercially successful moments. This track has the potential to grow into a concert favorite among the trio’s fans!
Of course, the album is also heavily loaded with the traditional melos of the Balkans. Quite a few properly cut arabesques sneak into the ornaments of the improvisation, which is one of the foundations of the exceptional musical taste, as well as the cheeky sense of fun, that the trio’s self-made stance adds up to.
One of the album’s absolute detours is the song Hubljeva roža, which you could call the sequel to Hubljev ples from the band’s previous studio album. This track is driven in the manner of neoclassicism, like hardly any other among the remaining songs. To put it in caricature: Jethro Tull would never have recorded a cover of Bach’s Bouree if Ian Anderson hadn’t gotten a similar inspiration for an instrumental like this in 1969 and put it on the famous Jethro Tull album »Stand Up«. Hubljeva roža is an exceptional composition, led by the delicate sensitivity of the flute. One of the most beautiful songs on »Feel«. The other major detour sits right before the end of the album, when the listener runs into the experimental composition In The Land Of Machine, which runs for more than 12 minutes. At the start, the two basic building blocks of the atmosphere are the firm rhythmic dictate of Dejan’s guitar (played without a pick), as well as the cunning use of Marjan Stanič’s percussion, which evokes the theatrical roar of machines in the background. The song unfolds in a brilliant spirit of unpredictable spontaneity. This is exactly what the more demanding music gourmet comes for when they read the names of high musical reputation standing behind the trio! In this very song, the band captures the true essence of the elemental nature of who they are and what they do. Their stature and their voice. In fact, this song gives us an instant answer to why the album is called »Feel«! This track is a “wacky” exploratory musical adventure that, in its experimentalism, is also darkly seductive. Dark the way only the land of machines can be. The point on the album with the biggest dose of experimental freedom, which also confirms the extraordinary chemistry in how the musical inputs of the trio Atanasovski-Lapanja-Stanič connect, a trio ruled by a great power of perception!
The mix of cheerfully quirky, potent unruliness in the more compactly defined compositions and the tantalizing strokes of musical experimental daring in the album’s more demanding tracks maintains an exceptional balance across the record, something that was already recognized on the band’s debut too! Despite that, because of a few individual tracks that stray stylistically, the album »Feel« gives the general feeling of working a touch more sophisticated and intimate compared to its studio predecessor.
»Feel« is an album of exceptional musical honesty, uniquely expressive insight, a mirror of the courage to boldly pursue quirky musical moves, of the artists’ craving to challenge their own creativity, and above all of the sheer joy of performing. That joy echoes throughout the album, as if Vasko Atanasovski Trio had played a real, proper concert in the studio. So »Feel« rings out as live and dynamically ravenous as it possibly can. An album where stereotypes instantly melt away and merge into the character of a tangible musical substance of full-blooded eclecticism!
Lineup
Vasko Atanasovski – saxophones, flute, vocals
Dejan Lapanja – guitar, backing vocals
Marjan Stanič – drums, percussion
Production
Vasko Atanasovski
Tracklist
1. Remembering
2. Nema više ničeg
3. Baby
4. U valovima
5. I Love You
6. Hubljeva roža
7. I’ve Hated You
8. In The Land Of Machine
9. Ni te več
