TASTARE (THEOLDWONES)

Shortly after foundation, BEGNAGRAD started composing their own songs and spent some time recording in Ljubljana's Radio Student studio in 1976. In this period the band consisted of Bogo Pecnikar-clarinet, Bratko Bibic-accordion, Vlado Spindler-bass and Igor Musevic-drums. Pecnikar recalls these moments in an interview*: "So we made our first Begnagrad recordings there, in the studio which was normally used by the speaker. It was completely small. Like our kitchen. Plus having the speaker's table nonremovable, in the middle! So we were all arranged around this table there. It was very funny."

A few recordings from that very session were included in this album ("The Old Ones" in English), which is a collection of archival and previously unreleased compositions from the early career, including "Unisolo". "This clarinet solo, if I can talk about it, it's another curiosity ­ it's like an echo, and the echo was made, not with a special echo machine, but with another tape recorder, a normal one, with the endless tape - you just put a lap of tape which just goes round and round. And what was funny was that this recorder was the one that was normally used to make documentary recordings of everything, that the state required them to have for the archives for a certain amount of time, in case they did something unpopular or politically incorrect." - explains Pecnikar.

The bulk of the material, however, was recorded during Radio Novi Sad sessions in December 1977, which were technically and musically better recorded. Less commercial bands from all over ex-Yugoslavia at that time were invited to record there because the editor (Vitomir Simurdic and his associates) was very open to experimentation and offered young groups to make their first demos. Even the now legendary BULDOZER recorded their psyche/avant rock masterpiece "Zabranjeno plakatirati" in this studio in Novi Sad (Northern Serbia of today) in 1976.

"So we were invited there for a week or so in December '77 with hotel and everything paid to make the recordings for an LP. After three days they were satisfied. When everything was done, we never entered the studio again. Even for mixing. So they did the mix by themselves, and since it was only a four-channel recording at that time, and the original tapes were lost, that's the mix that was left. They added a sleazy reverb on it all, like coming from a distant bathroom. We would have done it another way, done some additional playing and recording, but we never did." - says Pecnikar.

These tapes were never released as a record, until 1992. The bass player Spindler financed its release, so these recordings combined with a few earlier takes were released on CD as "Tastare (Theoldwones)". Shortly after these studio sessions, Begnagrad had their farewell concert in the cinema "Sloga" in Ljubljana and the track "Tazadna tanova" was recorded live at this venue. Since the bassist had to serve the Army, the band split after unsuccessful attempts to find his replacement.

The music of BEGNAGRAD from this period is a unique amalgam of Alpine and Balkan folk, swing, free jazz, polka, waltz and rock, arranged and performed with a strong experimental and RIO approach. Drums and electric bass provide a strong rock and sometimes jazz rhythm section, while accordion and especially clarinet provide melody lines and chords, sometimes each instrument independently, sometimes in unison. It is full of energy and beat but you can hardly dance to it! Outstanding tracks from this collection are "Uspavanka za Juvana", an excellent jazz beat and bass with intoxicating and slightly psychedelic clarinet solo (there are some twisted hints at the future TUXEDOMOON avant-garde moments mostly due to clarinet and bass), "Jara kaca" another lengthy jazz rock with bass and drums solo improvising, and above mentioned "Tazadna tanova" with crazy mix of psyche jazz and folk dance. The introductory "Begnagrad" and "Kranjskagorablues nazaj" are vivid pieces with folk melodies and polka rhythms performed with a jazz attitude.

Although this is instrumental music, humour is frequently present, even in track titles. Most of them are twisted Slovene words, while "Rismih Boro", which contains a popular Serbian folk dance excerpt ("Zikino kolo"), is actually an anagram of the name Boris Romih, the latter-day BEGNAGRAD member who played guitar on their acclaimed debut LP in 1982!

"We've been developing our music with a more jazz-oriented approach with lots of improvisation combined with complex structured compositions -­ a characteristic of so-called RIO (Rock In Opposition) bands of the time." - concludes Pecnikar.

Although at times you may find this music too hard or demanding to listen to, I can freely pronounce this rare title a specialty for connoisseurs of unconventional music who are more than advised to add "Tastare" to their precious collection.

*interview taken from www.beat-a-go-go.com/story/2006/5/18/21142/5697