Introducing Zmikeo! - the repetitive, synth and bass-heavy production of the 24 years old Milos Petrovic from Serbia, our latest obsession.

Zmikeo-Empty recycle bin by ZMIKEO!

Zmikeo!’s tracks have the lo-fi angry and unpolished quality that could be ascribed to grime, it’s only that Milos comes from Belgrade and not a suburb in London. However with the recent sound of instrumental grime the comparison is not so far-fetched - Zmikeo! is a self-proclaimed dnb-head with an affection for hip-hop.

Zmikeo- Zmajkovo kolo! by ZMIKEO!

Make sure to also check Zmikeo!’s other beats: http://soundcloud.com/zmikeo

Mangulica FM is a project of Belgrade-based musician Luka Papić. Luka is also the head of the startup label Over9000, dedicated to supporting the Serbian music and art scene. Named after the “the only surviving autochthonous Serbian breed of domesticated pig” MangulicaFM is all about a contemporary recontextualization of Serbia’s culture tradition and history.

MangulicaFM - Hromi Daba by easterndaze

Also Mangulica’s new release, the Third Eye EP is sonicaly cruising the abstract landscape of dub and instrumental hip-hop that is drawing heavily from ex-yugo folk. The EP is composed of samples of “serbian, macedonian and bosnian ethno and folk with a few samples from roots reggae records and one or two from american 50s rock” in order to create something that Mangulica describes as Gogol/Chagall atmosphere: an almost nostalgic feeling for countryside magic mixed-up with contemporary urban sound.

You can listen and download the whole EP on Mangulica’s bandcamp page.

At least two acts hailing from the former Ost Block have released on respected US imprints recently. Interestingly, both of the acts are from post-Soviet countries (don’t worry, we are not going to start a political tirade here:). The Estonian chanteuse Maria Minerva has been making waves in the last few months with releases on Amanda Brown’s 100% Silk and Not Not Fun imprints. Boomkat compared her to Nite Jewel and we are sure there will be other comparisons flowing. It’s obvious why Minerva’s fuzzy lofi pop struck a chord with the North American label.

Currently based in London, Minerva, at least according to this interview, seems to be in touch with her Baltic roots. “Well, I did grow up in an independent country (we’ve been independent since 1991) but pop culture-wise we still don’t have that much happening, and I’ve always found that very frustrating. Coming from the periphery, it’s probably easier to be just a weirdo instead of trying very hard to sound like any other European or American quality indie act. My badass badness is probably my biggest strength.”  Her new full-length release Cabaret Cixous is out now on Not Not Fun.

Another act to sign a pact with a US underground staple is the Russian project Wind in Willows. Its name is telling, almost in an onomatopoetic way. Breezy ambient soundscapes infused with a customary dose of psychedelia flow freely through analogue sonicspheres recalling Russia’s complex and at the same time limitless landscape.. WiW’s split release with Bedroom Bear is out now on Hooker Vision.  Wind in Willows self-released another split last week with St. Atom as a free download.

BEDROOM BEAR- Skate Breeze (excerpt) by Hooker Vision

WIND IN WILLOWS- Aurora Hover (excerpt) by Hooker Vision

Periszkóp Rádió and Moiré Association for Culture calls experimental music/sound artists from Czech, Slovak Republic or Poland for residency in Pécs, Hungary for 2012, through the Visegrád Artist Residency program. They’re looking for somebody who could spend 3 months in Hungary to realize his/her own artistic projects, and besides this is able to connect his/her local scene to the Hungarian in order to collect material for a recording release of a mp3/vinyl compilation which would present both countries’ sound artists.

The resident should use the infrastructure of Periszkóp Rádió (this site) and can cooperate with the Institute for Media and Applied Arts at the University of Pécs (http://art.pte.hu/211orchestra/).

All of the conditions are on the VARP website:http://visegradfund.org/residencies/

Please contact us with short cv and project proposal at Balázs Kovács, xrc@periszkopradio.hu until 25 August 2011.

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The Hungarian project Gazsi Rap Show sing about loneliness?? (Egyedül vagyok mint az ujjam) on the backdrop of industrial beats and lofi rapping.