While I'm still on a roll with various ethnic music from different parts of former Yugoslavia, I decided to check music from Macedonia. Now, although Macedonia is definitely very far away from where I grew up (spiritually and geographically) the sound of the language is actually somewhat close to my heart because I have spent twelve months of National Army Service there so kind of get the idea of phrases and even music. (You hear very close sound in nearby Bulgaria, which to my understanding is centre of bitter dispute among neighbours) In any case, I always liked Macedonian music so this little single was just a perfect gift from me to me.
Side A has duet Vaska Ilieva and Nikola Badev in traditional Macedonian folk ballad - guy is fine but lady is extremely idiosyncratic (to put it nicely) and even though Ilieva seems to have been highly regarded in her homeland, her strong, nasal wail might be acquired taste. Here she was actually still very young and sweet, on some later recordings she really goes strident. Side B has another traditional folk song but this one was recorded by almost-operatic Blagoj Petrov Karađule who had truly magnificent voice - it is perfectly authentic vocal as it should be, with thrills and frills that demand strong control of vocal chords worthy of any opera house. Of two sides B would be my preference for the simple reason that I truly enjoy singer's voice much more. Both songs have very sophisticated, semi-classical background that might not really be authentic (my guess is that some conductor or the other decided to make it more classy) but everything sounds perfectly fine.
No comments:
Post a Comment