Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Hadalin, Aleš
Label: Celinka
Released: 2015
Rating: 4/5
»Ta tobak je sladka travca« is the closing chapter of Aleš Hadalin’s folk-song trilogy. »Jaz mam pridno gospodinjo« came out in 2009, and the record »Stoji tam gora Limbarska« followed in 2012. Clearly, three-year gaps between releases are just the right tempo for folk singer Hadalin, who has also loved to »tack on« the odd folk song here and there over the years, even on his earlier albums that weren’t strictly devoted to singing Slovenian tradition.
This time, too, the man has roamed the length and breadth of Slovenian territory, and even ventured beyond it again. From Istria (Dajte dajte), Prekmurje (Ne ori ne sejaj & Vüra bije, sunce mi zahaja) and Porabje (Jaz bom jene citre küpo), all the way to the Gail Valley (Prvi rej). For his takes on Bog je ustvaril zemljo nebo, Ko se je Noe postarou and Pa je bla ohcet u Kangalileji, he found inspiration in the Bible. There’s also a reworked Bela Krajina folk song, Tri jeterve, which, under its full title Tri jeterve žito žele, first showed up in Hadalin’s vocal arrangement on his studio album »Antisong«, released in 2005. The title track of the album, picked out while leafing through versions of various »geographic origins«, is a re-interpretation of the folk original from the little village of Plestišče, on the far side of the border, a stone’s throw from Breginj.
Hadalin can afford a cappella albums. His voice is the voice of a nightingale. Harmonizing the main vocal line with his extra backing vocals is enough to keep the lead motifs lively, so there’s no danger of the songs coming off dry and/or repetitive. So once again, in a strictly vocal arrangement, Hadalin has made very good use of the trick of gradually building the mood through the verse into the chorus and back. Two songs (Prvi rej, Sem fantič mlad iz Šiške) feature an accordion, the album’s only »non-vocal« moment, and in the end you don’t really miss even that. Hadalin also spices up some of the vocal lines by not copying the originals of Slovenian folk poetry word for word, instead swapping words in the verses for ones dictated by his own imagination. That way Hadalin mostly entertains himself with his interpretations, which comes across as hugely endearing throughout the album.
Hadalin does announce that with this album he has created the final act of his trilogy of folk-song albums. But he has surely left the ending open. He’ll stay faithful to singing tradition for the rest of his career, no doubt about it. »Ta tobak je sladka travca« is a must for anyone who owns the previous two albums, since it’s the missing piece of an extremely fun and cheeky puzzle, a unique approach to interpreting Slovenian folk folklore, the kind only Aleš Hadalin’s recipe can deliver. That said, it’s clear the musician needs a temporary artistic shift toward new creative challenges down the road, otherwise there’s a danger he’ll turn dry and predictable. Until then, we can have a blast with Aleš Hadalin’s heartfelt medley of Slovenian folk songs.
Lineup
Aleš Hadalin – vocals
GUEST MUSICIAN:
Petra Trobec – diatonic accordion on tracks 2 and 8
Production
Aleš Hadalin & Boštjan Jurjevčič `Jurki`
Tracklist
1. Ta tobak je sladka travca
2. Prvi rej
3. Jaz bom jene citre kupu
4. Pa je bla ohcet u Kangalileji
5. To bilo je veselo
6. Ne ori ne sejaj
7. Ko se je Noe postarou
8. Sem fantič mlad iz Šiške
9. Bog je ustvaril zemljo nebo
10. Dajte, dajte
11. Tri jetrve
12. Vura bije, sunce mi zahaja
