Issue #13 : The Balkan Issue

Welcome to iCrates Issue #13. Over the next month, we will explore the farthest reaches of Balkan music, from the villages of the Carpathian Basin, to the underground clubs of 1980’s Belgrade.

Defined by the region’s cultural diversity and a history at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, the music which has come out of the Balkans is some of the most powerful and evocative of the last century. Lending an eastern lilt to rock, punk, jazz, classical and almost any genre you can imagine, the influence of the Balkans on Western music (and vice versa) cannot be underestimated.

Revitalised in the last fifteen years, the Balkan music scene has taken on a whole new identity as DJ’s and musicians began mixing traditional influences with Western electronic music. Rocketing to popularity, this new generation of music, uniting territories under the name “Balkan”, has confirmed the region’s place as the beating heart of a uniquely European cultural identity and has sought to heal some of the wounds left by recent conflict. Not to mention that they sure know how to throw a good party.

In putting this issue together we have aimed to bring you the broadest possible spectrum of genres, using the theme “Balkan” as the glue that holds it all together. And having been consistently told that there was little in the way of vinyl in the Balkan scene, we took it upon ourselves to track it down.

So, grab yourselves a bottle of slivovitz and join us the adventure as we rattle around the continent (and beyond) to tell the tale of Balkan music through interviews, reviews and stories always with one eye on the lookout for that ever so elusive Balkan vinyl culture.

Photo by Sebastian Marggraf.