
Zmikeo! came into our attention whilst frantically searching for Serbia’s up-and-coming musical hidden gems before heading there at the tail end of last summer. We came across the mysterious Zmikeo! (aka Milos Petrovic) - whom we digged so much we put up his first live gig in Pancevo near Belgrade, in September. His dark, uncanny music has blossomed over the time as evident from his latest 13 minute epic track Stem Cell. Less dirty sounding, more weird and adventurous with what sounds like live? drum sounds.
Radio Wave Show

A new compilation put together by Nikola Vitkovic (as his independent endeavour) strives to highlight the buoyoant music scene of the troublesome period of Serbia’s history - the 1990s. It seems that the old maxim about art thriving in the age of general gloom is at play in this case as well. Nikola was, however, not interested in the country’s strong alternative indie scene (as an opposition to the state-supported turbofolk) but in the “genius freaks”, the talented and isolated (by their own will) dilettante. The album is divided into three parts depending on the time of inception - early 90s still heavily influenced by the preceding decade, mid-Nineties and the war, and late 90s. Each of these periods is manifest in the music itself, eg. the music made during the war with its almost “retarded” weirdness, a cathartic musical self-therapy. You can download the compilation for free.
What was the motivation behind compiling this list of songs?
The real, initial motivation was the desire to release several albums of experimental music projects from 90s Serbia, for the first time in public. There are dozens of undiscovered experimental gems from that era, but I was specifically interested in escapist projects outside of any scene, people who nurtured their private “one man scenes” in isolation.
Skattor Minox - Methadone Metronome by easterndaze
You mentioned in the accompanying text, that alternative, rebellious music in the 90s was accepted better than smooth pop?
According to what method did you put together the various tracks?
STARR & WEBB - jamais by nebriga
How does the 90ties alternative music scene differ to today’s alternative music scene in Serbia and what can it learn from that era?
-mrtvi- Sound c128 by easterndaze
Vuksa Velickovic is a writer, UCL alumni, editor of the Bturn magazine focused on promoting the music, culture and style of the Balkans and a general man about town. Here he divulges what rocked his world in ‘11 and what has 2012 got in store for him.
What’s the highlight for you in Serbia’s music scene?
Brickwall Brigade - Live @ Exit Festival 2011 by Brickwall Brigade
What is the low point for you in Serbia’s music scene?
The termination of Belgrade’s Dis-patch festival.
Discovery-new artist of the year /in Serbia/?
The above mentioned duo Brickwall Brigade. A good merge of bass, techno and more dub-infused rhythms.
Lots of love, food and better sound systems!

A view of Belgrade from the top floor hallway of one of the East Gate towers
Our affinity for the Balkans started more than a year ago when we first set out to explore the music scene of this for us totally unfamiliar country - at least until then (in spite of the fact that half of Lucia’s family lives there).
Serbia is perhaps the most economically and politically disadvantaged, dealing with the legacy of its past and relative isolation in European terms. Thus, we were intrigued by its music scene and the opinions and current context as viewed by the new generation of creators.
Politics, society, past and present, all this features in the hour-long documentary - a result of painstaking editing of the heaps of audio material that we amassed during our two visits - and gnd’s two months’ sojourn in Belgrade (he liked it so much the first time he decided to come back next year and stay).
Easterndaze Travelogues - [02] Serbia by easterndaze
Dusan Zica of Temple of the Smoke, Lukatoyboy, Vuksa Velickovic, Woo, BELI4, Ne-ton, Ivan Ckonjevic of Novi Sad’s Improstor, Rap Cats and others whom we would feature space permitting, create and function in circumstances that might be more adverse than in other European countries, but that doesn’t stop them from believing in what they do.
The show features:
Luka Toyboy
Belgrade Schoolyard (field rec.)
Luka Toyboy - Betmenu
Belgrade Street (field rec.)
Woo
Vuksa Velickovic
Marek Mikus
Dusan Zica
K.O.F.Y.
K.O.F.Y - Loose Cantrol
K.O.F.Y. - Mugabe’s Lunch
Mangulica FM
Mangulica FM - o o o
Rap Cat$
Rap Cat$ - Hi
Rap Cat$ - I$HT
Rap Cat$ - Alive
Tobi, Svetlana Industries
Filtercutter - Eastern Sham
WoO - Outendo
Belgrade Noise Trio - Moonstones (excerpt)
Vladimir Lenhart
Vladimir Lenhart - Live at Easterndaze Night in Bratislava
Ivan Ckonjevic
Ivan Ckonjevic - Plavi Bicikl Pod Oblacima
AM SERBIA - ROMANIA SCAN by Lenhart
Damian Brkic
BELI4 - Waves
Belgrade Train Station (field rec. by Tomlija)

A sonic tapestry of everyday life, confessions of drug addicts, mentally disturbed and alcoholics, of cafes and factories, streets or religion of and related to Serbia. Svet je davno zakovrno is a project by the Pančevo-based Mileta Mijatovic and his several contributors, including our friend Vladimir Lenhart, who supply him with sonic ephemera, excavated from tapes, vinyls or recorded on dictaphones.
The results are authentic - the sound-bites are not processed - and somehow hauntological, or haunting? SJDZ has been dormant since 2004 to gave rise to the band Klopka za pionira. Recently though, it has been resurrected. You can hear the latest recordings on their Soundcloud.
Kosmoholizam - Radovan Popović by Svet je davno zakovrno
Centrifuga by Svet je davno zakovrno
Romana - barbika, action man i ken by Svet je davno zakovrno