This RockLine piece is all about albums by Slovenian artists that came out last year and are simply too good not to shout about. So here we go! RockLine has dug through the best of the best that the Slovenian music scene gave us last year: the albums that stand out among all the notable releases and deserve (your) attention and ears. They’re listed in random order.
Bakalina Velika – Prvi Krajec
What its predecessor “Španabije” (2017) hinted at in its closing track Ko se je dielu sviet, »Prvi krajec« has now fully delivered. With the new album, Bakalina Velika have slyly stretched their artistic reach: they loosened up and livened up the arrangements, convincingly reached for tricks and ideas they hadn’t tried before, and not only kept their one-of-a-kind character but dug into it even deeper and lifted it to an even higher artistic level. Poetry and music click together perfectly, and out comes a brilliant record that practically bends under the weight of its eclecticism and uniqueness!
You can read RockLine’s review of the album “Prvi krajec” HERE!
Same Babe – Vražji Bend
Same Babe were sent straight from the devil, and they’re easily the kings of mockery in Slovenian music. »Vražji bend« is an album of unrestrained satire, played and arranged with huge fire, driven by a primal knack for the sharp-tongued plasma of limitless intellectual cynicism, in a format that couldn’t be more Slovenian if it tried. Buldožer or NLP could easily have adopted it as their own. Vražji bend is yet another manifesto of the great, brilliant artistic pose the band has kept up and nurtured over the years.
You can read RockLine’s review of the album “Vražji bend” HERE!
Up N’ Downs (U.N.D.) – Vse kar sem pozabil II
A mature rock album, polished down to the last detail, that decisively builds on the debut. Considering the history and character of Slovenian rock expression, we can say, immodestly, that with »Vse kar sem pozabil II« Up N’ Downs are gradually becoming the Slovenian hard rock band of the new millennium.
You can read RockLine’s review of the album “Vse kar sem pozabil II” HERE!
Martin Ramoveš – Rob
The fourth studio album from Martin Ramoveš, the young and wildly ambitious Slovenian singer-songwriter who enriches his musical storytelling with his own illustrated tales, hits the peak of his artistic maturity on »Rob«. It’s an ambitious fusion of the poetry of Slovenian poet Ivan Rob and his life story, told through playfully tinted comic-strip illustrations, with the sensual, subtle craftsmanship of Ramoveš’s songwriting, and the two click together with a high degree of harmony.
You can read RockLine’s review of the album “Rob” HERE!
ŠKM Banda – Nouvi Sad
With the new album »Nouvi sad«, ŠKM Banda prove they’re among the most refined tightrope walkers in Slovenia, balancing skillfully between loose, relaxed motifs and tangible substance in their phrasing. When it comes to melting post rock, jazz and alternative music into an eclectic sonic watercolor of constantly sustained, sensual balance, ŠKM Banda are definitely Slovenia’s top showpiece.
You can read RockLine’s review of the album “Nuovi Sad” HERE!
Mary Rose – Resničen svet
The biggest comeback of the year, with a rock’n’roll debt that had been piling up for a solid thirteen years since the album »Feniks«, goes to Postojna’s Mary Rose, a classic Slovenian hard rock band with roots reaching back to the eighties, and one that’s been badly missed! With their stellar new hard rock album »Resničen svet«, packed with good old Slovenian hard rock school, they’ve more than made up for the long years of waiting. Welcome back home, boys, with an album that, thanks to its high quality, could grow over time into an evergreen of Slovenian rock.
You can read RockLine’s review of the album “Resničen svet” HERE!
Dežurni krivci – Narobe svet
You usually have to wait patiently for each new album, but Prlekija’s passionate sonic terrorists, the “dežurni krivci” (the usual suspects), keep up their unbreakable rebel stance of the highest heart and sincerity. They do it with their sturdy recipe of rudimentary rock’n’roll firepower, mischievously dosed with punk tomfoolery, blues rhetoric and even stoner rock, and the excellent new album »Narobe svet« is no exception.
You can read RockLine’s review of the album “Narobe svet” HERE!
Orlek – Živel Rokenrol
After ten years, and thirty years into their career, the legendary Orlek crew from the Zasavje region came out swinging with the fresh expression and mature breadth of their new album »Živel Rokenrol«, which is exactly what its title promises, full of sharp, idea-driven tracks that hit you with the intensity of a high musical payoff. Let the new occupation of Slovenia’s taverns and stuffy dive bars, soaked in alcohol derivatives, begin under the thunderous baton of knap n’ roll!
You can read RockLine’s review of the album “Živel Rokenrol” HERE!
Teo Collori in Momento Cigano – Kamerato Muzikante
Teo Collori in Momento Cigano, Slovenia’s blacksmiths of modern “musical prose” in gypsy swing, haven’t just matched but surpassed their extremely bold and entertaining predecessor with »Kamerato Muzikante«, an album they came into the scene with only a touch reserved and more cautiously.
You can read RockLine’s review of the album “Kamerato Muzikante” HERE!
John F. Doe – Druga stran
A band with a distinctive “alter-indie” character, a well-crafted vision and a potent creative drive that isn’t afraid to trade in “otherness” and try the untried. So it wouldn’t be a surprise if the third album turns out significantly different again, both from the debut and from »Druga stran«.
You can read RockLine’s review of the album “Druga stran” HERE!
Jernej Zoran – Stik
The tireless Jernej Zoran, with his creative drive, has grown into a yearly fixture when it comes to new studio albums and EPs. This year he served up another one, called »Stik«, where he keeps busily nurturing his polished musical rhetoric of classic rock colliding with blues and elements of musical hunger that are made for radio airplay.
You can read RockLine’s review of the album “Stik” HERE!
