JUZNJACKA UTEHA

"Juznjačka uteha" ("Southern Comfort") is the twelfth studio album by GALIJA released in 1999. Although the band had already occasionally worked on folk elements on the earlier albums, this one consists entirely of the traditional covers, save the title song "Uteha". Most of the tracks are traditional folk songs from the southern Serbia and Slav Macedonia. The rich musical heritage of this region is very inspiring for many artists, and those like LEB I SOL or Vlatko Stefanovski as solo artist made even a distinguished international career.

If the selection of songs included in "Juznjačka uteha" is not disputable as such, their realisation is very much so indeed. GALIJA uses studio production in order to make accessible, radio-friendly "shopping mall music" which is very distant from rock or jazz (not to mention any experimental, alternative or "progressive" approach!). Even more disturbing is their inclination to follow the trends no matter what it is, so if the 1990s brought the mass popular interest in "re-discovering" the folk roots of the Balkan people, it was natural for Nenad Milosavljević and his company to follow suit.

Unfortunately, the majority of this type of music in ex-Yugoslavian countries is rather poor and cheap mass-consumer products (with particularly bastard phenomenon like "turbo folk" as the extreme form) which, while merging folk and pop-rock, effectively destroyed both styles. Notable exceptions, who know how to present the genuine traditional folk music in a contemporary "ethno-jazz/world-fusion" style with a true artistic skill, would include artists like Tamara Obrovac in Croatia, Damir Imamović Trio in Bosnia, Theodosii Spasov in Bulgaria or aforementioned Stefanovski. GALIJA with their "Southern Comfort" does not belong to this crew.

PERSONAL RATING: 1,5/5

P.A. RATING: 2/5