TOP5 – SIDDHARTA

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baroko, id, jani hace, ljubljana, Ljubljana Castle, male, napalm3, nord, petrolea, rh, roke, ross robinson, saga, siddharta, Slovenia, tomi meglič, valentino kanzyani, VI, vlado kreslin, vojna idej

This week our guests in TOP5 series are Slovenian rock band Siddharta.

Today the biggest name on Slovenia’s music scene, Siddharta was formed in 1995, when four friends – Tomi M. (vocals, guitar), Primož B. (guitar, back vocals), Primož M. (bass) and Boštjan M. (drums) – got together and named themselves after a well-known book by Hermann Hesse because they liked the sound of it.

Today they play in next formation – Tomi M. (vocals, guitar), Primož B. (guitar, back vocals), Jani H. (bass) and Boštjan M. (drums).

In 1999 they released they debut album I.D. Single from the album (Pot v X) Album was soon followed by E.P. Lunanai where they collaborated with Slovenian musician Vlado Kreslin  on a song Lunanai.  Their second album NORD (Samo Edini, B Mashina) broke all selling records in 2001. In 2002 they released album Silikon Delta ( Platina, B Mashina, Stipe), where artists like Laibach, Random Logic, Umek, Valentino Kanzyani remixed their music.

In 2003 they released their most successful album RH- ( Rave, Ring, Et tu) .  A month after the release of their third studio album Rh-, Siddharta opened the Rh- tour with a concert which astounded all who were there and those who were not. The band, accompanied by the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and 60 dancers, played before a crowd of over 30,000 people. The English version of Rh-, which had already been released as the bloodbag limited edition in 2003, was remade and re-released internationally in spring 2005.

Three years after releasing RH- they released new album in 2006 called Petrolea ( Domine, Plastika, Tria). Having kept their fans waiting that long for a new album, Siddharta rewarded them with a free cultural event – an opening concert at the Ljubljana Castle. It was at the same time the first rock concert ever to have taken place in the castle courtyard, the event thus placing a new milestone on the band’s path of achievements

Eight years after their first performance in the well-acclaimed radio show Izštekani (Unplugged), hosted by Jure Longyka on national radio, Siddharta were invited to perform live for a second time. The acoustic versions of selected numbers from all four albums were later released as a CD + bonus DVD

Four years had passed since the breathtaking Stadium concert and Siddharta were ready for a new venture. They placed it in Ljubljana’s Hala Tivoli, packed with fans eagerly awaiting a new blow by Siddharta – and the show had been sold out within a couple of weeks. performed their whole set-list from day one, a total of 56 songs, and was on stage for full 5 hours plus. Siddharta’s first bass player Primož M., Big Foot Mama’s singer Grega Skočir, rapperNikolovski, legend of Slovenian rock music Vlado Kreslin and string quartet Godalika joined them on stage.
The concert was released in December as a collection of four CDs with a bonus DVD, which featured a documentary on the happening in- and outside the hall, both before and during the Marathon concert. The documentary was shot and cut by Dafne Jemeršič.

Their new album SAGA was released in 2009 . Album was produced by Ross Robinson. Before the release of the album their released 4 EP’s – Vojna Idej, Napalm3, Baroko,  Angel Diabolo.

2011 starts with preparations for new stadium concert. This time at the new stadium Stožice in Ljubljana. But even second time around, things are not as simple as they seem. The challenge is to record a new album and a DVD of the concert right there in front and with the public. New songs are being written and shortly they all, one after the other, appear on the web and radio airwaves.

The show at stadium Stožice is visited by 11.000 visitors on June 18, 2011. Almost three and a half hours and 35 songs later the people leave the stadium and their opinions are variations of; high expectations, but we got so much more.  The album is recorded. ntil November when the band announces the date of the release of the new album VI (word play; vi in Slovene means “you” but it can also be interpreted as VI as in 6 and 6th album) and the double DVD. They are both released on Wednesday, Nov 23, 2011.

SIDDHARTA – VI ALBUM

SIDDHARTA – NOVE SVET (KEAZIREE)

For the 10th anniversary of their cooperation with Symphony Orchestra RTV Slovenia they presented new song — Novi Svet (Keaziree). The song was recorded with Symphony Orchestra RTV SLO on June 17th and 18th this year on a sold out concert in Cankarjev dom.

Follow Siddharta: Official Page, Facebook, Soundcloud

THIS IS SIDDHARTA TOP5 SELECTION – Each band member chose one song.

ANNA CALVI – SING TO ME

LOW PEAK CHARLIE – DOL VAS DAM

PLACEBO  – ROB THE BANK

CHILLI GONZALES – KENASTON

ARCTIC MONKEYS – DO I WANNA KNOW ?

CHRIS ECKMAN – NOTHING LEFT TO HATE

Tags

Anita Lipnicka, Bambi Molesters, chris eckman, dane.zajc, dirtmusic, glitterhouse, melodrom, project rem, vlado kreslin, walkabouts

Few words about Chris Eckman.

Chris is american musician from Seatle living in Slovenia from 2002.  He is a vocalist in cult american band The Walkabouts. The Walkbouts have been formed in 1983 and have released more then 15 albums so far. Their last album is titled Travels in the Dustland and it was released in 2011.

Chris Eckman about the album:

Travels in the Dustland is a collection of interconnected songs. It is a song cycle. The Dustland is a made up place but it looks and acts like a real place. While different characters come and go throughout the songs, the most important character is the landscape itself:  Its vastness, its endless skies, its scarcity, its hidden opportunities and its rugged dead-end roads.

The Dustland seems to be somewhere in America. It is an America with a future as cracked and worn as a dry-lake bed. It is a land where hollow ideas win-out and hopes and dreams are slowly slipping back into the wilds from which they began.

But more than being an idea, this album is obviously a collection of music. We wanted songs and sounds as wide-open as the landscape that inspired us. We wanted an album with a mood of experimentation but also an album that played to our strengths as musicians.

Presentation of the album on Val202 show Telstar – Link.

Follow The Walbouts: Homepage , YouTube channel.

Chris Eckman released his first solo album A Janela (which means “The Window” in Portuguese) in 1999 when he lived in Portugal.

In 2004 he released his second album titled  The Black field.  Few songs from the album: Nights like these, Crystalline, Pirates Clowns, Why Can’t I Touch It?.

He also released album together with Croatian group The Bambi Molesters in 2004. They joined together and formed group called The Strange. Album was titled Nights of forgotten films.

In 2008 he contributed music for  for documentary film: DAR FUR – War for Water  which was directed by Tomo Kriznar & Maja Weiss  and was  premièred in  Cannes film festival.

In 2008 Chris Eckman released his third solo album: najnovejši projekt je album: The Last Side of the Mountain. He transformed Dane Zajc poems into songs. Few songs from the album: Who will light your path ? (with Anita Lipnicka), Down Down, With What Mouth, The Same

Chris Eckman  collaborated with many musicians in his career: Steve Wynn & The Dragon Bridge Orchestra , Willard Grant Conspiracy, The Bambi Molesters , My Buddy Moose, Vlado Kreslin, Melodrom, The Frictions and many more.

NOTHING LEFT TO HATE is first song From his solo album “Harney County”.  Coming out December 6th/2013 on Glitterhouse. More info’s about the album – LINK.

CHRIS ECKMAN – NOTHING LEFT TO HATE

Damir Imamović Sevdah Takht: Razbolje se lijepa Hajrija

DAMIR IMAMOVIĆ SEVDAH TAKHT were performing on this year’s Festival Druga Godba.

Photo: Amer Kapetanović

“Takht” used to be a name for small, chamber groups which travelled throughout the Mediterenean and played traditional music of the region. The word “takht” is of a Persian origin and denotes a “stage”, “throne”, “plank” and similar. In Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian it was preserved idiomatically as “tahta” which denotes a “plank”, “tahtali” which means “flat” and associates a so-called “flat song/singing” – one of the most important origins of the today’s Sevdah music genre.

Damir Imamović Sevdah Takht calls upon a tradition of bands that cross the borders of actual genres and learn from different traditions. After two very successful CDs with his own Damir Imamović Trio and a couple of CDs solo, with this new band Imamović steps in a direction of understanding sevdah as a genre based on a continuous learning and research. Alongside Imamović, Sevdah Takht are:

Nenad Kovačić (b. 1982, Zagreb, Croatia) – A percussionist and a rhythm student with big experience of working on rhythms from the Balkans. In Zagreb he runs a school of African rhythms which he founded after studying with some of the greatest living masters of the craft from Western Africa. He writes for theatre and film and is a regular member of bands such as Afion, Antenat, Naš mali Afro Band

Ivan Mihajlović (b. 1980, Kladovo, Serbia) – One of the most interesting young bass players and authors in the music scene of Belgrade. Regularly plays in bands such as Naked, SviNaPod, Menson Benson, Plava kuća. He spent some time learning in the USA. He writes music for film and theatre.

Ivan Mihajlović (b. 1980, Kladovo, Serbia) – One of the most interesting young bass players and authors in the music scene of Belgrade. Regularly plays in bands such as Naked, SviNaPod, Menson Benson, Plava kuća. He spent some time learning in the USA. He writes music for film and theatre.