Indie-Re #35 by Radio Študent, Ljubljana

In this edition of IndieRE we are visiting Slovenia’s alternative and underground scene and various albums released in the past couple of months. From afrobeat collective Nesesari Kakalulu’s newest album, P’Jays and Kavasutra, two bands mixing together elements of jazz and rock. Then Zajtrk, a folk chanson duo, will follow, and the TRITE Sound label with their most recent compilation of electronic music, simply titled 8, to the promising death metal band Siderean with their debut LP. Nesesari Kakalulu and Zajtrk’s music will be followed by a short interview with their respective members.

Let us explore some of the interesting new music from the Slovenian alternative and underground scene. We will start with Nesesari Kakalulu, psychedelic funk and afrobeat band, followed by a short interview with Timi Vremec, the band’s bass player. We are also presenting a song of theirs, titled Srce teme, from their third album Pramada, which was released on the 26th of July.

P’Jays, formerly known as Pijammies, are a jazz band, consisting of five members: Tomaž Gajšt on trumpet, Gaj Bostič on drums, Blaž Avsenik on synthesiser, Mark Žakelj and Jošt Lampret on electric guitars, with Jošt also providing bass lines. They are a fairly young band, but most of them are studying music, which is reflected in the quality of their sound, consisting of elements of jazz, funk and rock. Now let's listen to the song Free Spirit from their freshly released second album titled Raconteurs, released by SonicTribe.

If you feel like the name Kavasutra sounds PG-13, then the cover art of their debut album, titled Zlati stojan, lajf in Celje, confirms that feeling. Kavasutra is a five member collective from Šempeter pri Gorici, with Ajk Vremec and Anton Lorenzutti, both on vocals and electric guitar, Žiga Ipavec on drums and Timi Vremec on bass guitar. They play a humorous derivative of jazz rock, and we are going to listen to the song Globalno segrevanje.

The folk duo Zajtrk consists of Laura Krajnc on vocals, tambourine and shaking eggs and Sven Horvat on vocals and guitar. They released their first album in 2018, and on 10th of July they self-released their second LP called Žetev, for which they invited a bunch of friends to play instruments on a couple of songs. They take inspiration from chanson, folk, pop and acoustic music, layered with playful, witty lyrics. They do not take themselves too seriously and are taking a fresh approach to storytelling in folk music. They are gonna tell us more themselves in a short interview, and we will listen to two of their songs: Ti me pelješ and Maček v žaklju.

Somewhere in the coastal area of Slovenia, there is an exciting label that releases electronic music, and it is called TRITE Sound. Championed by the electronic producer .čunfa, the label presented a compilation that demonstrates the span of its musicians. It is titled 8, born split in two: it has a ligher and a darker side. First, we are going to listen to the song Faking Jazz Together by nu-disco band YGT, formerly Your Gay Thoughts, from the light side of 8. Then, it will be followed by a song from the dark side, Dweller’s Dub by the promising music producer Rochwald.

And last but definitely not least, we are saying goodbye with some death metal provided by a band called Siderean, enjoy their song Coalescing into the Expanse from the freshly released LP. It is titled Lost on Void’s Horizon, and it was released by Edged Circle Productions.

Featured artists and labels:

Nesesari kakalulu (self-released), P’Jays (SonicTribe), Kavasutra (KUD Zvočni izviri), Zajtrk (self-released), Trite Sound, Siderean (Edged Circle Productions)

Songs in running order:

1. NESESARI KAKALULU – SRCE TEME (Pramada, self-released, 2021)
2. P’JAYS – FREE SPIRIT (Raconteurs, SonicTribe, 2021)
3. KAVASUTRA – GLOBALNO SEGREVANJE (Zlati stojan, lajf in Celje, KUD Zvočni izviri, 2021)
4. ZAJTRK – TI ME PELJEŠ (Žetev, self-released, 2021)
5. ZAJTRK – MAČEK V ŽAKLJU (Žetev, self-released, 2021)
6. YGT – FAKING JAZZ TOGETHER (8, Trite Sound, 2021)
7. ROCHWALD – DWELLER’S DUB (8, Trite Sound, 2021)
8. SIDEREAN – COALESCING INTO THE EXPANSE (Lost on Void’s Horizon, Edged Circle Productions, 2021)

Produced by Radio Študent from Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Prepared by Ula Kranjc Kušlan and Marko Miočić. Sound mixing by Samo Pavlica - Linč. Announced by Ula Kranjc Kušlan and Marko Miočić.