Artist: Tminski madrigalisti
Label: Self-released
Released: 2012
Length: 37:32
Rating: 3.5/5
Tminski madrigalisti are a vocal-instrumental outfit that’s been around since 1996. Five sturdy, upstanding lads who hadn’t put out a single studio record until this year – only the tracks Grajska and Lejdih Stan showed up on the compilation CD »Upitje izpod Migovca« (2001). After that many years in the game you’re practically a legend, and then, once you’re almost a legend, your first CD finally drops.
This band is unbelievable! It actually started out as a parody, turning folk songs, mostly from the Tolmin area, upside down in a cheeky way, in the genuine Tolmin folk tradition. That’s how it all began! Later they started composing their own songs and writing their own lyrics, in the old-school Tolmin dialect, backed by nothing but bare acoustics – flute and folk guitar, that is.
At last we can say it! »Inspiration is in the wine« – so say the rosy cheeks of these lads. The whole booklet works like a manual for growing grapevines. Joking aside. »Tminski madrigalisti« is an album packed with a full measure of humor that can make you laugh to tears, provided you manage to really sink into the whole thing. The endearing Tolmin dialect can’t and won’t disappoint.
The lads wrote almost all the songs on the album themselves – the lyrics as well as the melodies of the lead tunes. Only for Abriblni did they borrow the folk tune »Dekle je po vodo šlo«. »Klinta, koka, kanabis« – a perfect acronym for the infamous »KKK« – comes pretty close in its lead melody to The Stranglers hit All Day And All Of The Night, and maybe that fact will stir up more interest in this CD among rockers too.
The choral singing is brought as close to the listener as possible in the sound of the CD, in all its authenticity, meaning a single take, no fixes, no overdubs. While listening you’ll also inhale alcohol fumes, as a special dessert and proof of authenticity. Tabul and, right after it, Madrigalisti have completely different atmospheres. The quintet wholeheartedly adapts to the message of each individual number, so it’s not hard to tell the different moods across the album.
The tunes can even hit a medieval madrigal feel, as in the opener Grajska, and the added flute and acoustic guitar arrangements deepen that vibe. A melody can be in a minor key and still keep the fun nature of the verses, as in the aforementioned Grajska. The lead melodies do recall the well-worn tunes of individual folk songs (Tabul, Franc, Lejdih stan,…), which is only natural for the kind of choral folklore Tminski madrigalisti cultivate. But that’s offset by a peculiar vocal harmonization that tips the scales so decisively that not even someone half-deaf could miss the realization that they’re listening to Tminski madrigalisti and nobody else on this album. The record doesn’t lack authenticity. Just how deadly seriously Tminski madrigalisti defend the drop of wine to the last drop of blood is best illustrated by the song Klintica. The verses in that song hit like love at first sight, the kind that not even the hottest filly of your wild nighttime dreams could stir up in you.
The album »Tminski madrigalisti« carries the preservation of folk heritage into the new millennium. This record is »twisted in its own way«, so it comes across as more accessible to a wider crowd too, who can be won over by its sparkling buffoonery and sharp-witted mischief in the poetry, because there’s no room here for old grannies’ sobbing. It’ll be interesting to see what the band does next, on future releases. Will they bring in some extra instruments of traditional origin, or invite another guest? There’s no end in sight to the cheekiness and silliness of this miniature pack of tipsy jokers. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait more than a decade again for the follow-up to this album, which is dedicated to Valter Jelinčič, a late member of the band.
Line-up
Domen Jeriha Perinčič – vocals
Damir Mrak – vocals
Marko Magajne – vocals
Rok Cuder – vocals, flute
Nikola Rutar – vocals, acoustic guitar
Production
Janez Zega
Tracklist
1. Grajska
2. Bje Čeča
3. Tebul
4. Madrigalisti
5. Ta pagrebna
6. Franc
7. Lejdih stan
8. Klintica
9. Matec
10. Žjefa
11. Kamercjalisti
12. Zlatolaska
13. Klinta, koka, kanabis
14. Abriblni
15. Fajn pobi
