"I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You: Aretha Franklin, Respect, and the Making of a Soul Music Masterpiece" by Matt Dobkin

When I was growing up as a teenager in than-Yugoslavia, there were hardly any books about popular music around - with two notable exceptions of Rock and Jazz encyclopedias (foreign work, translated by rock critic Dražen Vrdoljak) there was absolutely nothing on the market as perhaps popular music was at that time not considered worth serious attention. If you were passionate about pop music, there were handful of illustrated magazines and cute, little "ITD" written seemingly by teenagers for teenagers was our only window in the world far beyond geographical limits. At certain point I have discovered libraries in foreign embassies (imagine how much I must have searched trough regular libraries until that point) and they did have music magazines and books - what a joy! - this resulted in my membership in US, British and German libraries (no wonder I eventually became multilingual) and frustration upon finding that all those beautiful and interesting records have never even been released in my country.

So facing the limitations of both unavailability of foreign records (whatever we had, was released years after the original date) and absolute lack of any music literature, I depended on occasional TV video clips and word of mouth to find out about something different than what radio played. How can I forget my trip to Ljubljana (another country, two hours by train in one direction) where they had foreign bookshop and the whole purpose of my trip  was to order the book and than wait two weeks until the darn book arrived, than another trip to collect it and to find out that what I expected to be "Women in Rock" was in fact lesbian fiction "Woman on the rock". 

Luckily, things have changed and improved.

Nowadays the literature about popular music is completely accepted part of publishing world and in every bookshop there is a whole section with biographies, reviews, essays and encyclopedias, the wealth of titles that would give me heart attack if only I could see them when I was fourteen. And the titles of these best-sellers are constantly changing and evolving, proportionately to public interest in certain musicians. People who used to be biggest stars in 1980s (when I was growing up) are replaced with other stars, someones death usually brings several quick cash-in biographies and some writers go so far that they actually lovingly write about musicians from decades ago (the best examples are Peter Guralnick, Garry Giddins and Will Friedwald whose work I adore and find fascinating). This book came my way completely by accident - isn't this the best way? - and naturally, since the passion for music literature has never left me, I gulped it in two days, than re-read some chapters with greatest pleasure.

Other authors have written about lives of various musicians and some have even focused exclusively on music, but Matt Dobkin goes one step further and focuses exclusively on one particular album. Mind you, its not just any old album but the album that caught the defining spirit of late 1960s, reflected civil rights movement and catapulted Aretha Franklin into stardom as enthroned Queen of Soul, female answer to brother Ray Charles. It is perhaps difficult to understand today how strict the racial barriers were up to that point and how important was that this particular release suddenly became hip, trendy and accepted by general audiences all over the world (encouraged by admiration of local rock stars, audiences in UK were already long enamoured with soul music). This was not just any sugary pop Motown cookie cutter or whitewashed version refined for wide market but a full-blown battle call for attention and yes, R-E-S-P-E-C-T. It truly (and deservedly) shook up the pop world, bringing the whole avalanche of spectacularly gifted performers for whom Franklin opened the doors. 

Dobkin writes with passion (how else can you write about this album?), fascination and knowledge, going so far to actually interview people involved in creation of this masterpiece. He carefully examines the social climate of the times, background of main characters, Franklin's past and influences, the difference between her Columbia and Atlantic music and how it came to be that previous recording company failed to do what Jerry Wexler and his bunch of Southern white musicians achieved so spontaneously. 

(It comes as a surprise to realise that this, quintessential soul album actually had studio full of Caucasian musicians - led by self-confident and determined singer who actually co-produced the whole thing.) Even years after the fact, everybody remembers the recordings vividly, as it changed their lives and became a benchmark against future soul music was always compared. "She certainly has been a beacon" poet Nikki Giovanni said " I mean, there are ships out there and she's been the lighthouse. And it's been good. Because some of us do crash. But it's nice to know where lighthouse is."

This is so far the best book focused on single album that I have ever came across. You can't help but run and play the Aretha Franklin music immediately.

"Mjesec Iznad Oblaka" by Petar Grašo (1997)

Back in the day, I thought this young singer was just a clever, short-lived gimmick - he sounded exactly like younger version of beloved Oliver Dragojević with exactly same vocal mannerisms and the colour of his voice was so similar to older singer that I expected this cannot continue successfully but time proved me wrong, he actually went on from strength to strength. What I didn't know at the time was that Petar Grašo actually writes his own material and in fact he actually started as composer, the song "Boginja" that I always considered one of the best songs of Dragojević was writen for him by 16 years old Grašo.

When his debut album "Mjesec Iznad Oblaka" was released, Petar Grašo was only 21 (!) but he was already overflowing with strong material - almost the whole album was composed by him and even though I always found similarity of his voice to that of Dragojević a bit unsettling, now I understand this is done affectionately as homage. The album was smash hit and it ruled radio waves at the time. It basically sounds like younger version of Oliver Dragojević - everything we knew and loved from him (Dalmatian dialect, effective rasp in the voice at perfect moment, rousing gospel choir, etc) was present here but coming from somebody else. Since older singer was widely admired and loved, the appearance of someone who so closely resembles him but writes his own, strong material was almost sure-fire success. Upon closer inspection, I hear not only Dragojević but also influence of Italian singer Zucchero ("Baraba") that suggest Grašo could easily continue as blue-eyed soul singer if he was inclined so. 

"Budi se dan" by Doris Dragović (1990)

I just had an epiphany: this, basically folk album (arranged and framed as pop music, but only because of synthesisers and drum machines) is exactly what was previously done by composers Đorđe Novković and Rajko Dujmić for another singer from previous generation, Neda Ukraden. Ukraden has found huge mainstream success in 1970s and 1980s by appealing to masses with her folksy material dressed up as pop music and on closer inspection, everything from her lyrics to folk-sound (folk being here a very wide phrase, describing influences all over, from Mexico to Greece and back) was tailored for her in order to become smash hit amongst listeners who belonged to that grey zone, middle-of-the-road audience who were interested in neither pop or folk exactly but preferred this clever hybrid. Ukraden went on from strength to strength with her collaborators and composer Zrinko Tutić was obviously aware that there is a huge market out there for this kind of music so he created his own Ukraden out of young Doris Dragović who was more than capable to step into older colleague shoes and follow the path.

Close your eyes for a moment and it would be easy to imagine this material as sung by Ukraden - it is exactly same approach and combination of folk motives with light pop that older singer used to do. In fact, by some coincidence there is a cover of old Mexican chestnut "Kap veselja" that Lola Novaković recorded back in 1960s and this was actually very first song that young (and than unknown) Ukraden performed in public. So the shadow of Neda Ukraden looms strongly over this whole album and at this point Dragović sounds exactly like her clone, so close that even the last song, anthemic  "Budi se dan"  sounds uncomfortably close to Ukraden's smash hit "Zora je svanula". The appeal of this kind of calculated collection depends of how much is listener conditioned to accept this hybrid of folk and pop - success of not just Ukraden (who was the queen of folk-pop) but bands like "Magazin" proved that there is a wide audience for this kind of music. 

"Boje Ljubavi" by Giuliano (1998)

The very first time I heard Giuliano, he reminded me very much of young Zdravko Čolić and that was a strong compliment indeed because older singer had one of the best voices in business. But where Čolić clearly enjoyed the attention, star treatment, spectacular national tours and his famous dancers were sensation, Giuliano happened to start in bleak times of post-civil war Croatia with far less glamour around him. I have no doubt that in different circumstances young singer could have been capable to do exactly same like Čolić before him, but unfortunately for him, shrunken market and few local pop festivals were all he could conquer. 

Still, this was a solid pop album, composed almost entirely by Tomislav Mrduljaš (lyrics by Dijana Malenica) and Giuliano does well - it is combination of ballads and feel-good uptempo songs, with one true hit ("Jugo" where he duets with Marijan Ban) leading into surprisingly strong collection of songs. Even though there is nothing earth-shaking or new here, its endearing that young guy kept his head proudly above any flirtations with folk music - a step that would be commercially calculated and effective but would probably alienate younger audience he wanted to appeal to. There is even one song co-written with famous Gibonni, which is actually very strong indicator that singer's heart truly lies in rock music. No matter what he sings, Giuliano always sounds 100% committed and he does have great voice. I was not thrilled with dance-pop excursion he did on his next album, but his voice intrigued me enough to go backwards and listen his earlier discography.

"Anne of Green Gables" by Lucy Maud Montgomery

This one somehow slipped by me during my childhood and this is really strange because when I was growing up, I was one of those children who devoured books - either it has not been translated in Croatian or it was out of print and therefore not available in public libraries where I made faithful weekly pilgrimages. I do remember being completely obsessed with Doctor Doolitle and naturally I knew classics like Little Prince, Bambi, Alice in Wonderland and few others, but as far as little orphan girls go, I knew only about Heidi and in my part of the world she was huge, beloved fictional character. Later I became vaguely familiar with few other Heidi-like girls but at that point I was already on Jules Verne and Alexandre Dumas so children literature became just a warm, comforting memory and it took me decades to even consider that perhaps re-visiting some of these old friends from different perspective might be a good idea. Recent pleasure of re-visiting Robinson Crusoe proved that this is a very good idea indeed, so somewhere at the back of my mind I had a whole list of titles suitable for revisit. 

It is because of the fact that my ship weekly visits Charlottetown that I became aware of their local heroine Anne of Green Gables. Sure, she is a fictional character but in the books she lived around here and actually walked trough streets of Charlottetown, which eventually spread the fame of the whole town trough the world, so naturally there are lots of shops with Anne-souvenirs on almost every corner. Asked by my (equally ignorant) colleagues - who, truth to be told, all come from different continents - about her, I answered this is just some annoying children's book and I assumed this must be something sweet & sugary, but my annoyance was actually based upon my own cluelessness and to correct it, I decided to check the book out. If it's silly, never mind, I will just confirm my opinion.

So I have approached the book with suspicion, thinking that this cannot possibly appeal to me and it must be something very old-fashioned.

At first, it seemed I was correct: elderly brother-and-sister couple Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert decide to adopt a boy from local orphanage and they asked boy to be sent by train so Matthew will collect him from the train station, however by some confusion and mistake little red-haired girl was sent instead and Matthew couldn't possibly just leave her on the train station, so he takes her home just to decide what to do next. As Anne excitedly chatters on a way to Green Gables farm (and she talks non stop) I got already tired of her and just wanted Matthew to throw her in some bushes to shut her up, luckily Matthew did not share my opinion, in fact he seems to be completely charmed with her and eventually convinces (insist) his stern and serious sister that girl should stay with them and he can always get another boy elsewhere. This is where the book really starts and as Anne finally finds a warm home (after years she spent working and basically slaving in other foster families) chapter after chapter unfolds so nicely that slowly I found myself utterly charmed with not only character of Anne but the whole little magical world of Prince Edward Island and its people.

At some point I even got the newest movie adaptation but quickly decided that reading book is far more precious experience, so I continued with the book and right now I am in the second part of it. Anne has won over almost everybody she had ever encountered - she has such a sweet personality that its actually impossible to resist her, because she is clever, charming and excited about everything she see around her, being nature, garden, sun or her new school friends. Often she uses complicated words from the books so she never says "I am sad" but "I am in a depths of despair" which of course makes even old curmudgeon Marilla burst into laughter and slowly the old spinster accepts that she loves little girl so much that she can't even imagine Green Gables without her. Chapter after chapter Anne makes new friends, apologises for her mistakes, meets new people, fascinates everybody in her school and so on - I found myself giggling with pleasure on many occasions and wish she stays little girl forever but now slowly it becomes apparent that she is growing into serious and affectionate girl who might even become a beauty (and her worst enemy, boy from a school called Gilbert Blythe who used to tease her about her carrot hair) might even in the future become her love interest. This book gave me so much unexpected pleasure that I immediately decided to check out numerous sequels thought I doubt that anything can approach the beauty and freshness of the first, original book.

Canadian writer Lucy Maud Montgomery became world famous because of this book and British king even honoured her with title Officer of the Order of the British Empire. She said that the book was often written in the twilight as she would gaze trough her windows at the nature outside and reader can feel her pleasure as she lovingly describes nature and all the paths Anne walks, however there is just so much love and affection (and humour!) in her writing that I honestly doubt anybody could ever read this book and not be completely charmed with it. It is supposed to be children's book but actually I can easily imagine people of all ages enjoying it because there is nothing childish about it, it is simply a beautiful story told affectionately. What a discovery.

Canada - Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Quebec

Arriving in Canada after cold and windy Greenland and Iceland was like a reward. 

It sound like a paradox, because nobody ever think about Canada as sunny and warm place but it all depends on perspective - if you were stuck on windy volcanic rock in the middle of North Atlantic the whole summer, the warm climate of Canadian Atlantic coast feels like a comforting embrace. Visiting this part of the world is quite an experience because I always imagined Canada completely different - in my mind this was some wast, permanently frozen tundra where people like Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen write their intellectual poetry with icicles shining outside their windows while wolves howl outside. Well, I guess there are some places like that somewhere in Canada - after all it is a huge country - but what my eyes have seen right now is cute beyond the words, in fact I could easily move here right now this moment without thinking twice.

First of all, this whole part of Canadian Atlantic coast has a very warm climate - even the northernmost point of our journey (St.John's in Newfoundland and Labrador) welcomed me with glowing, sunny day that felt like a God's gift after being whipped by wind and the rain previously the whole summer. One thing I noticed immediately is that local people are really very friendly and nice, much more than almost anywhere I had roamed trough years and this comes apparent specially in times of needs, charities or any disasters. Whatever happens, you can be sure that Canadians will help you - not just with advice with direction but they would actually put you in a car and drive you there. Very first place on my itinerary is cute, little Charlottetown situated on Prince Edward Island: it is a quaint little historical town with lots of wooden and brick houses, very easy to walk around (basically there are two main streets), lots of local art & craft shops, restaurants with lobsters and surprisingly large number of bookshops. It feels like time stands still here - there is something dreamy and almost unreal about this place - maybe because as you walk around, there is nothing modern, no steel and glass monstrosities you encounter elsewhere, this is just a charming little historical town with nice people everywhere. Charlottetown is world famous for being a place associated with fictional character of Anne of Green Gables and she is a local heroine, her dolls, all sorts of gifts and even musical in local theatre, everything here is about Anne. Which intrigued me enough to actually check out the book (very belatedly) myself and to my surprise, at the age of 47 experience the delight of this wonderful children's novel.

Our next stop is part of Canada called Nova Scotia and here we have capitol Halifax.

Halifax is not some immensely huge city - in fact, it feels exactly right, because the city is built very nicely and is spread symmetrically so its very easy to walk around - but the population of this town actually eclipses total population of Iceland (!). Where Charlottetown was historical, Halifax has best of both worlds, combination of both old and new. As you walk trough pretty streets, you can admire old architecture, beautiful waterfront area or newest shopping mall areas - it has absolutely everything and once, after enjoying particularly nice walk trough Spring Garden street and magical park Public Garden, me and my colleagues excitedly decided we could live here. Halifax is also a place where victims from Titanic were buried, so I went to visit that cemetery - I don't know what came over me to walk there, because it is really very far and completely different part of town, but it was a beautiful sunny day so probably I got carried away with enthusiasm and it took me solid five hours to get there and back. The cemetery was really interesting, because lot of these people were never identified and gravestones have simple numbers and year of death. Walking back I enjoyed discovering completely different part of town that I would not know otherwise and I took some nice photos to remember this moment. Halifax was also a place of terrible accident in 1917 when two ships collided (one was full of explosives) and detonation wiped the whole town away, killing some 2 000 innocent people who didn't even know what happened - I have bought a book about this and its really shocking, because the tragedy of this explosion erased lives of so many people who were that morning simply minding their own business and never expected the life will be over for them. Because Boston helped first with trains full of medical staff, food, furniture and such, Halifax sends them Christmas tree every year ever since.

Finally, there is a prettiest place of them all, wonderful Quebec City that must be one of the most magical cities I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot so far. I seriously consider Quebec City to be in my top three most beautiful spots ever, along with Prague and Dubrovnik. It is an ancient French Canadian town with cobblestoned streets, chic restaurants, art galleries and zillion of churches, palaces and wonders everywhere. Magnificent hotel Château Frontenac proudly towers over the city from the hill above, but amazing as it is, I actually fell in love with cute little hotel just behind it (I think its called something like Château de la terrace) that has only two floors and it just looks so comfortable and cozy that I could imagine living there permanently. Everywhere I walked trough city, people seems to be very much enjoying themselves, there are naturally lots of tourists but they are all herded in certain central areas so if you just avoid big groups, you will be fine on your own and countless little streets are perfectly quiet once you step away from tourist attractions. I have even visited local history museum and learned about beginnings of Quebec, which grew out of fur trading post into this present beauty, really stunning place, full of culture, sophistication and art. Every single time we visit Quebec, I talk so proudly about it that my passengers assume I must be local, for me this is really a highlight of the whole trip.

Zlatan Stipišić Gibonni

Gibonni is music artist who is immensely and probably deservedly popular in Croatia but I managed to stay away from him for good 30 years, partly because I dislike anything that has a big advertisements and media push, partly because I travelled around the world and kind of had different focus. Sure I was aware of him but rather as songwriter for other people, songs I accidentally heard on the radio never properly caught my attention although I noted his lyrics have particular, recognisable way of expressions and occasional turn of the phrase sounded fresh when compared with competition. Finally I got my hands on his discography and decided to give it a proper listening in order to actually make up my mind about this guy. 

"Sa mnom ili bez mene" (1991)

I couldn't care less for his previous Hard Rock band "Osmi Putnik" and their three albums with juvenile chest-beating and macho posturing that actually seem pretty embarrassing today but this, his first solo album is actually surprisingly fun. Part of the appeal is that Gibonni is rocker at heart and playfully toys with hard rock stereotypes (one of the songs is tribute to porn star Ciccolina) and as long as he is having fun, this is solid gold - its when he sinks into sentimental ballads that I perceive tunnel vision and limitations of genre, as they all tend to sound alike, big refrains followed by guitar solo and weeping lyrics - we heard it all before and it is not very different from hundred of other hard rock ballads sung by other performers. Not everything is first-rate and quite of lot of this is filler, but it is still a welcome step into solo career and promising if still shaky voice that demands to be heard. Its probably more fun now, listening in hindsight as Gibonni later became huge superstar and on this album he was still just an eager, young rocker (that he is so dead serious about it just makes him seems so darn likable). Upbeat songs are brilliant, generic ballads perhaps less so but his passion is sincere and step into solo career makes a perfect sense. 

"Noina Arka" (1993)

This seems to have been released right in the middle of the civil war and honestly it comes as a surprise because I was there and don't remember anything entertaining or show-biz about those gloomy times, the only music we were aware of were rousing national anthems constantly played on the radio waves during air raids - we came to dread those anthems because they became associated with fear, danger and hiding in the basements. In the middle of it all, Gibonni seems to have new album and its huge improvement on its clumsy (though charming) predecessor: for one thing, the album starts with the bang and probably one of his best songs "Nek' se dijete zove kao ja" which to this day is a audience pleaser and concert favorite. The rest of the album leans perhaps too much towards generic rock ballads ("Dobri judi", "Noina arka", "Zlatne godine", "Tebe nisam bio vrijedan") that all have big, snarling guitars and somewhat whining lyrics - even at this early stage, I notice certain recognizable trait in Gibonni's signature, he either goes for excellent upbeat rock or self-pitying ballads. 

"Kruna od perja" (1995)

Ballad "Lipa moja" was a a huge hit and propelled Gibonni into stadium rock stratosphere - for the first time we started to actually listen his lyrics, which are quite idiosyncratic, in his own earnest way, he is actually quite endearing, almost like schoolboy pouring his heart out into poetry. It is huge leap forward from those embarrassing hard rock albums he recorded while in "Osmi Putnik" and even though the whole thing is really generic, there are several solid highlights, like opener "Nije Vrime Od Nedije U Polje Poći", "Dvije Duše", "Ljudi, Drž'te Lopova" or "Život Me Umorio" . Though Gibonni is honest and musicianship is fine, its his lyrics that get the most attention. This has been played to death everywhere but its in fact surprisingly strong album. The runaway bride song ("Pjesma Za Bijelu Vranu") is actually still darn good song, starting like a haunting ballad and metamorphosing into real rock later. 

"Ruža Vjetrova" (1996)

Everything written by Gibonni - who is surprisingly capable as lyricist, possessing original way with phrases and colloquial expressions - except one cover ("Loše vino") but its a homage to great Arsen Dedić and it was already consecrated as rock ballad some two decades ago in version by unforgettable rock band "Bijelo dugme". Elsewhere singer/songwriter is on a roll and seemingly invincible no matter is it upbeat rock or a ballad - he can do both and is actually excellent. Perhaps I would be tempted to prefer his uptempo numbers but than, on this album he introduces such a lovely ballad as "Ispod moga pramca" (better known as "Tempera") which must be one of his most beloved songs. It is a distant cousin of "More Than Words" by Extreme with similar feeling to it and Gibonni does magic with what is basically small but heartfelt voice. It was later covered by Vanna who is by far superior vocally though there is a honesty and truth in original. My God what a beautiful song. Almost overbalances the whole album.

"Judi, Zviri i Beštimje' (1999)

Much better production and everything is wrapped in a glossy cellophane, but under the surface it is still unmistakably Gibonni and my impression is suddenly that he wanted to expand as lyricist outside of box - "Miss Croatia" is a sharp, biting social comment about macho society that uses beauty contests as slave market. It is a slippery territory because once artist moves into other subjects, he might lose compass but Gibonni does it with a style. Still firmly planted with both feet in rock iconography, he describes women as either fairies or whores, its a black & white world with no clearly defined borders and it makes one wonder where this bitterness comes from. I wouldn't go so far to call him misogynist but there is definitely some prejudice involved here. There is a duet with Vanna (probably best female Croatian singer nowadays) and a funny disco song where Gibonni claims he can't dance, the production is excellent overall. 

"Mirakul" (2001)

Generally considered to be Gibonni's masterpiece, this album expands on acoustic gentleness of his prettiest, earlier song "Tempera" and tops it off with first class production.

It is actually quite masterful song collection that contrasts sharply with his clumsy beginnings, because at this point singer completely leaves behind those earlier hard rock macho posturing and moves into adult oriented rock, with thoughtful lyrics, memorable music and wistfulness that was so far always just been suggested but this time takes centre stage.

Almost every sing is mid-tempo and singer pours his heart in that small but effective voice that cracks with emotions. Fans of his earlier work might find this too subdued but personally I find this maturity far more appealing and its a joy to witness that artist such as this changes and matures with times. Like writing some of the best songs in his career is not enough, Gibonni tops it all of with spectacular production - it is a smorgasbord of all sorts of influences and touches, from gospel chorus, a Capella vocal group, African chants and cameo guests from all over the world. It does not sound forced but merely frames songs like a nice touch, which is quite a surprise because in different hands it could have been disaster - with every listening we discover more and more of these little ornamentations and the whole album stands as proud artistic statement. Excellent.

Nina Badrić discography

"Personality" (1997)

Late Dino Dvornik (and we should not forget Oliver Mandić way before him) really broke the ice by bringing fresh, modern production to local pop music that was dangerously sinking into stale "schlager" swamp of mainstream festivals and stereotypes - with Dvornik, we suddenly got homegrown music that was played in trendy clubs and bars and he inspired a whole new generation of artists who determinedly followed newest international fashions instead of commercial folk.

In many ways, Nina Badrić is Dvornik's godchild - apparently he was impressed with her voice enough to use his clout to get her recording contract and it all started from there. Her earliest recordings were in music genre that did not appeal to me but with this album - step into soulful, funk direction - Badrić got herself sizable radio hit with her cover of "I'm so excited" that impressed many listeners unaware that singer is in fact white, East European girl from Croatia. Since she collaborates with the same team who works with Vanna, comparisons are inevitable but to my ears they nicely compliment each other, as they both belong to same generation of young, urban singers who probably listened similar music and in all probability instead of being competition, they might be good friends. Where Vanna has a huge, Whitney Houston-like voice, Badrić was born with naturally "black" sound that seriously suggest she had listened a lot of soul singers. Album brought several nice, big hits and its interesting that singer herself wrote several lyrics - composer Ante Pecotić is fairly represented and he must have a ball working with two of the best Croatian female singers simultaneously. 

"Unique" (1999)

Quite impressive third solo album by latest Croatian pop sensation who works with exactly same team as celebrated Vanna - Boytronic, Ante Pecotić, Ilan Kabiljo, names that guarantee certain urban sensibility and music that will be played in trendy clubs. In just a few years Badrić managed to built quite a impressive reputation as one of the best vocalists in country and her powerful, naturally soulful voice won many fans even amongst celebrities who often named her as favorite singer. Besides obvious pleasure to listen such gifted singer biting into strong material, the most interesting thing about this album is how contemporary it sounds in comparison to any latest release recorded in world's biggest recording studios - unrepentantly urban and looking towards west rather than east, this is collection that suggest that little Croatia has not only sport but music talents that can stand up to any international heavyweights. Retro-disco "Na kraj svijeta" was smash hit and deservedly so, because its feel-good number that Donna Summer herself would have liked. 

"Nina" (2000)

Careful - and welcome - change in sound, courtesy of lots of new collaborators who brought different music ideas. Further distancing herself from any comparisons with Vanna, Badrić replaces what was basically other girl's music team with her new choice of songwriters and even though production still suggest party, clubbing music, this time we hear step into new direction - "Ako Kažeš Da Me Ne Voliš" has Spanish, acoustic guitar intro and lilting "Nek Ti Bude Kao Meni" with its Cuban atmosphere places singer in completely new territory that sound fresh and exciting. In her heart, Badrić still can't completely let go from those early dance roots ("Igraj se") so the large portion of this album still has certain dance flourishes and flirtations with English-language phrases (even one song recorded completely in English) but transition is set in motion and we are aware that she is curious and brave enough to spread her wings and experiment with other genres. Singer herself wrote several lyrics and other collaborators are Darko Juranović, Miro Lesić, Sandra Sagena, Ivana Husar and brothers Brešković, all of them gifted songwriters ready to bring Badrić into new millennium. 

"Ljubav" (2003)

Good news : Badrić, who have in the past occasionally written a song or two, have this time written almost the whole material herself and results are fascinating because what comes out of her heart is relaxed, romantic and unexpectedly lush. She is still urban girl raised on dance music and her production team wraps everything in current, clubbing sound but between the lines, undertones are almost torch ballads. Just to point how far she had metamorphosed, "Moja Ljubav" actually starts with guitar intro straight from classical piece "Concierto de Aranjuez" - this is definitely worlds away from where she started and change is dramatic. As always, comparisons with Vanna are inevitable, because

Badrić uses same musicians (Darko Juranović, Ante Pecotić,  Sandra Sagena etc) so yes, there is a certain similarity of sound but apparently girls get along just fine and Croatian music scene is just richer for having both of them. Infectious and breezy "Za Dobre I Loše Dane" might be a highlight and it comes in two different versions of which I prefer second ((Gelo Live Edit), it is absolutely beautiful, feel-good song and wonder of wonders its actually composed by singer herself, its one of her best recordings ever. In fact, the whole album is such a pleasant surprise that it might be my favorite in her discography.

"Ljubomora" by Tony Cetinski (1992)

Where on his very first album Cetinski Jr collaborated with composer Đorđe Novković now he turns to composer's son and it makes far more sense because not only both guys are children of famous parents but they are close generation-wise and music by Boris Novković actually suits young singer far better. Novković Sr was still untouchable as a hitmaker but this is the first instance that his son might eventually achieve similar heights as a composer. Where I never found anything remotely interesting or original in singing of Boris Novković, Tony Cetinski is refreshingly good singer - he makes this material sound far better than it is and there are few little pop gems spread around two volumes of this album (confusingly, they are titled same "vol.1" and "vol.2") - " Tebe ne bih mjenjao" was by far the most radio friendly and perhaps Tony's first substantial hit. Live recorded homage to Elvis Presley titled "Elvis in me" suggested that Cetinski is more than ready to jump into dance pop arena and follow Dino Dvornik and Electro Team, which is exactly what he is going to do very soon.

"Loot: The battle over the stolen treasures of the Ancient World" by Sharon Waxman

As someone who regularly admires museums around the world, I couldn't help but wondering (upon seeing places like British Museum) how on earth did this magnificent peace ended up in here. Perhaps majority of visitors don't even think about - it is easy to be fascinated and absorbed with huge quantity of art objects collected in one place - but honestly, when you visit something like museum in Berlin that has a whole Greek temple re-assembled stone by stone and proudly displayed (not to mention the bust of Nefertiti) it is simultaneously thrilling and just a little bit unsettling, because yes, it does feel like imperialistic showcase of the loot from impoverished colonies. We might be dimly aware that certain countries constantly demand the return of these artifacts but so far I had never encountered such exciting, informative and well-researched book like this one by Sharon Waxman who passionately presents the subject from different perspectives and clearly points that the matter is far from being black-and-white. In fact, while reading this book, I was constantly changing my mind about it - the more facts you know, the more angered you might be, but it goes both ways, equally towards big museums of the West and ignorant, greedy bureaucrats "at home' who demand what is officially called restitution. 

There is no doubt that these ancient artifacts were stolen. 

The whole idea of museums is relatively recent - they started in 18th century as big Western powers stripped naked impoverished countries they invaded and brought home ships full of art objects, in order to display their loot. France, Germany, England, you name it, they all did it. I am absolutely sure that Napoleon would bring home the whole pyramid of Giza if he only could (instead, he brought home obelisks, just like everybody else). This started the whole idea of museums being one place where art of the whole world would be displayed together as a inspiration and education for Western visitors and the whole purpose of museums is basically built on these basis. Sure, the attitude was that they are preserving priceless objects of art from ignorant locals who don't even care for them - Waxman makes a point that if archaeologists have not showed interest in them, they would probably be already long destroyed, burned and still buried deep in the ground. In Egypt, there was a whole village built on the ancient burial ground and locals were using mummies for burning the fires. The science of archaeology achieved huge explosion because French took Rosetta stone from Egypt and managed to decipher  the enigmatic hieroglyphics, suddenly we were able to actually read and understand the language that disappeared some 2 000 years ago - because of political machinations, French were forced to give Rosetta stone to England, of course nobody even bothered to ask Egypt what they think about it. So yes, it was West that carefully researched all these forgotten wonders and without this curiosity ancient art would be completely forgotten, however West also kept their institution decidedly in hands of privileged few - when the science of Egyptology started, locals were absolutely forbidden to participate and they couldn't even get educated about it, so in a way who could blame them for not understand and appreciate what they had? The only thing they quickly realised is that Westerners will pay for these strange old stones and they became convenient bargaining tools. Without interest there could have been no market in the first place.

We also have to remember that museums started some 200 years ago with idea of exhibit and collecting pieces of art from all over the world in order to inspire and enlighten visitors, sort of universal property of the whole world. As such, places like British museum surely influenced countless artists and this is undeniable. 

However, with the passage of time, particularly in 19. century, the world became different place and as nations started to identify themselves and cherish their own history and traditions, the idea of universal property became dubious. How can Rosetta stone be universal property if was actually found in Egypt? People in museums answer: current Egyptians have nothing in common with culture that produced Rosetta stone (and this is true, they are mostly Arabs who have absolutely no connection to either Egyptian religion or culture). The perfect example is the discovery of the shipwreck in Florida, full of gold that was bound for Spain - both Florida and Spain claim it, but it is government of Peru that says "hey, wait a moment, the gold was actually stolen from our country so we should be the ones getting it back" - and they have a point.

Sharon Waxman cleverly presents perspective from both sides. 

She is passionate about the truth and truth is, yes, these sculptures, vases and objects of art were taken from archaeological sites in Middle East, Egypt, Greece and Italy. By present standards and laws, they belong to the countries where they were found. Facts are here:

- museums in the West bought these art objects for huge amounts of money (funded by private donations) and took good care of them

- marble stones taken from Parthenon and displayed in London are in much better condition than those left in Athens, that decayed and darkened because of the enormous amount of air pollution. If they actually stayed in Athens, they would also be covered with soot.

- all the artifacts displayed in world's biggest museums were seen by millions and millions of visitors. If we really put them back where they belong, they will be in deserts of North Africa and Middle East where people come very rarely. Waxman explain that when she visited one of these places in the desert, only two visitors were on the bus.

- Governments of Egypt and Turkey claim the ownership of art that was found in their territories, however these people have really no connections to ancient civilisations as they arrived here much later. 

- art that has been returned to countries of their origin has often been immediately stolen and re-sold (!) not to mention that museums in (for example) Turkey have far less visitors than museums in the West. The number of visitors of museums in Turkey for the whole year amounts to number of visitors in one hour in big world's museums. If we are talking about purpose of art to be seen, it makes more sense that they are displayed in the West.

- majority of this art is famous because it is displayed in places like Louvre and British Museum.

- if we start returning art to the places of their origins, we might as well empty all the world's museums because they are collections of art from all over the world

- all the art on display in museums is out of the context anyway, majority of it was created to be displayed in either churches or temples so in today's modern world they are archaeological as well as historical artifacts

While reading this book, I was constantly swaying between two opposite decisions - to return or to keep the ancient art where it is. Contrary to what I expected, knowing more about the whole subject makes me aware how dangerous it might be to actually return them to places like Egypt or Turkey and now I started to think that perhaps they are safer in the West. But than again, if Martians take our ancient art for display elsewhere, saying "its safer with us" I could imagine what an passionate outcry that would be, so its really matter of perspective.

Talking about loot and stolen art, its just so amusing that I have actually stolen this book - just couldn't resist, I took it with me as I moved from one ship to another (with idea to eventually leave it in the next ship's library). I guess that I would be the first one to walk around with pockets full of keepsakes if they let me anywhere near archaeological sites. 

"Pjevaj srce moje" by Doris Dragović (1988)

By the late 1980 singer songwriter Zrinko Tutić has completely overshadowed his predecessors, composers who firmly ruled pop charts in previous decades. For better or worse, people like Đorđe Novković, Zdenko Runjić and Rajko Dujmić, each in his own way, established what it is that huge mainstream audience wanted as hit on a national level - easy listening pop music with memorable refrains, preferably a little bit of Greek or Mexican flourish to it and of course lyrics have to drip with tears so audience can cry in their beers. Sounds cynical, but close inspection to huge best-seller hits shows exactly same approach and as it were, formula worked wonders. It is business, after all and every single one of these composers eventually gave up youthful artistic aspirations (they all started seriously) once they realised what market actually wants. In fact, rare are musicians who decidedly stayed firmly behind their ideals - in Croatia they can be counted on fingers of one hand - majority will eventually embrace different path that promises mainstream success even if it differs from where they started.

Nothing wrong with either this album or Doris Dragović for that matter - it might be the best album she had recorded so far, since every single song sounds like sure hit. Cooks are all first class professionals (Marina Tucaković, Zrinko Tutić and Rajko Dujmić stands as a producer) and I guess its producer who gave it this particular golden glow, so in a way this is how singer would have sounded if she was a member of his classic pop band "Novi Fosili". With such juggernaut force behind her, young singer could simply not make a wrong step as project was destined to be a smash and indeed it was. As a young man, Tutić might have dabbled in rock and chanson, but here he serves Dragović with mix of everything from bouzouki to Mexican ballads, Spanish guitars and even traditional a cappella vocal band on the last song. It truly works like magic and the whole album might be the best thing she had recorded (it went platinum) because there is something for everybody, be it sad weepies or uptempo pop, almost like perfectly selected concert play list. It is easy to dismiss something that does not even attempt to be more than simply entertainment with no pretensions and as such it was created with utmost care to details - perhaps a little too calculated, but surely it sounds intoxicating and I dare anybody to come up with more memorable refrains. This album overflows with them.