Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Dvojina
Label: Celinka
Released: 2017
Runtime: 37:16
Rating: 4/5
Rok Zalokar and Nina Virant make a highly intriguing and in many ways unusual musical tandem. Rok Zalokar has been adopted as one of their own even in the alternative rock underground of Slovenia, while Nina Virant made her (slightly mischievous) charms more than clear at the Slovenska popevka 2014, where she performed the song Slika. If she was backed by a whole orchestra there, minimalism in the musical accompaniment is by no means foreign to Nina, a trained jazz singer, as in her other project Ansambel za slovesa. As for Dvojina, the minimalism is an even stricter component (though not necessarily in terms of expressiveness, but more on that later). A vocal-and-piano pact! Dvojina! It reads as minimal as it gets. Both musicians, who have been through plenty in their careers and were handsomely rewarded by critics at home and abroad, where they enjoy a solid reputation, for the artistic courage of their past projects, hit on a creative idea in the Netherlands. In terms of vision, that kind of idea has long since stopped being a fashion craze in our part of the world.
They set traditional Slovenian folk songs to music. But (thankfully) in a new way nobody’s heard before. They rearranged them, added a provocative jazzy makeup and a completely new, fresh outfit that once again sounds distinctive. Rok and Nina have managed to breathe new life into traditional folk melodies, whose main tunes practically echo through our beings every day, giving them a new face, a new musical nature, and a new way of stirring emotion and passion. The magic of Slovenian folk heritage has thus gained a new dimension.
Lately Rok has been drawn once again to somewhat less complex arrangements. He already hinted at that with the current studio debut of the trio Kukushai, »Fruitile«, released on Radio Študent’s label. The cover of the album »Lila« shows a horseradish root, which firmly stands in for the colors of traditional Slovenian cuisine. You know, Easter, Easter Monday: horseradish is a must on the Easter table and symbolizes the nails used to crucify Christ. And at those moments of celebrating old village customs, Slovenian folk songs would of course ring out in the family parlor, with the warmth of a proper farmhouse stove.
Although the duo keeps the main motifs basically in the recognizable manner of the eastern-flavored melos of the tunes, what gives this record its peculiar artistic gloss is of course the self-provoking inner restlessness of both musicians, who air the songs out in a jazz manner, and in a cabaret chanson manner too, to the point where, in their new guise, they provocatively seduce any listener at all. In picking their arrangement costumes, the duo gives itself free rein. So in the middle sections or even in the outros, the songs “fall apart” into fragments of their motifs. Here Rok whisks them off in a modern jazz manner beyond the recognizable melodies, but always masterfully and with a refined touch he swings back and heads toward endings that take the form of an elemental motif outline, which gravitates toward finishing the song with a repetition of the traditional tune. That observation is not an absolute rule, though. The palpable departure from form has to be achieved through an improv-exploratory route, otherwise Dvojina simply can’t ignite together, or leave an expressive impression on any listener at all!
The second, equal building block of this musical story about deviating from standard forms is of course Nina Virant, whose vocal interpretation by no means sticks to the mold of the recognizable melos of traditional folk tunes. She does stick to the tunes, of course, but often deliberately very, very “loosely”. She skillfully makes use of her wide arsenal of vocal techniques throughout and, just like Rok with the piano, brings in an “unusualness” that gratefully teases and keeps the listener busy, and, last but not least, achieves that essential element. Expressive appeal. Above all, the wit grows on this fresh-faced experiment, in which the traditional Slovenian musical language lives (once again) in effective coexistence with the language of jazz. Nina is an incredible vocal chameleon. She places her colorful arsenal of vocal interpretation superbly in dialogue with Rok’s piano, thus giving the individual songs extra contrast. She gives them a strong expressive weight of delicate emotion and passion. Especially playful mischief and wit. As is the way of the eastern-flavored traditional Slovenian folk melos. That is certainly retained in the overall takeaway of the album »Lila. Only it manifests in a new, different and still untested way. With just two building blocks, which embody the famous chemical interplay of mutual influence within the theater of musical expression created this way! Dvojina is no joke. On this album, Rok and Nina prove they are top-class musicians, since within the harmonious rhetoric of musical (vocal-and-piano) minimalism, they are in fact marketing the optimal expressiveness. Idiosyncratic, roguish and of course full of appeal.
Dvojina (Rok Zalokar & Nina Virant) – Dober večer, mamica (official video):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaPwBBE2MTY
Lineup
Nina Virant – vocals, percussion
Rok Zalokar – piano, backing vocals
Production
Rok Zalokar
Track list
1. Dober večer, mamica
2. Marko skače
3. Kaj ti je deklica
4. Štonderja kopajo
5. Zrelo je žito
6. Lepa Anka
7. Ne orji, ne sejaj
8. Dekle je prala srajčki dve
9. Da göra ta škarbinina
10. Bunda, bunda
