Constantly active Sarajevo duo (whether about their own songs and albums, theater and film music, or art projects like merging music with recited poetry), they also worked hard in 2018, and released a double single on their own Periskop Records.
Another song (“Mountains of Panama”) by their favorite poet Mehmed Begić, this time has not been recited but sang by another artist from Herzegovina, singer Sanel Marić Mara.
Basheskia & Edward EQ on Facebook, Bandcamp, Soundcloud.
After uniting in a marriage and in a music project couple of years ago in Norway, Bosnians Adisa Zvekić (previously singer of Dubioza Kolektiv, La Cherga) and Aldin Hasanović have published two albums and started Diamusk as a source of beautiful music based on reggae, dub, and world music influences. Add some jazzy vibes performed by some great Norwegian musicians and you’ll have what’s on an EP released in April 2018. New album, “Sleepwalkers”, is to be published in March 2019, bringing some great new collaborations.
Diamusk on Facebook, Soundcloud, Instagram.
For many years the most popular band from the Balkans region in the wider European territory, Dubioza Kolektiv continued with its frequent tours and concerts across Europe and the rest of the planet throghout 2018.
One of the songs from their last album, “Pjesmice Za Djecu”, is the single Rijaliti, in which they are dealing with the phenomenon of reality show programs, and it came out accompanied once more with fantastic animated video.
Eagerly awaited, the new album of one of the most praised MCs on the Balkan hip-hop scene arrived in 2018. ”Put u plus” (The road to plus) is one of the best rated albums on top charts in Croatia (where Edo lives and works) and BiH (from where Maajka originated). Bridging various styles of urban music, this album ended at the top of the ranks in several genre categories and apart from the musical quality (greatly contributed by the excellent team of musicians with whom Edo records and performs live) lyrically this is one of the best albums of this charismatic frontman in his long-standing career.
After people got to know about them and their music (hip hop/urban/crossover) in 2017, through the debut LP “Go u gostima”, this year they dedicated to promote it playing concerts throughout the exYu region.
Still active with their radio show and a theater play, guys also managed to record several featurings and singles, among which we chose this one – politically charged “Smetljište historije” – a song inspired with the elections in BiH. In 2019, the guys plan to release a new LP and perform as much, accompanied by a great band, so stay tuned.
As we said last year, an annual selection of most interesting releases from Bosnia and Herzegovina simply can not go without mention of a young and talented producer – Hibrid. In 2018, he continued to expand his emotional and atmospheric vision of electronic music by performing, creating new songs, and releasing his and his colleagues’ music on his Submarine Vibes label.
This is the single that announces the new LP, after his debut – “Lost” (Last) released last year. Great news for fans and new discoverers of Hibrid’s sound and aesthetics, an audience which is becoming larger with every new release.
Hibrid on Soundcloud, Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp.
Insane Insan is a band that just started its journey, releasing only this single so far. The band is an international team of five similar-minded individuals, with lots of experience as musicians, writers, composers and performers.
They gathered in “the heart of Europe” (Sarajevo), performing in German, Franch and Turkish. Insan in their name means “human being” in Turkish and Arabic and how insane they are we will see/hear soon, on their debut LP.
Insane Insan on Facebook.
Jall Aux Yeux is interesting both for their music, and the fact that they sing in French, although their singer does not speak/understand the language. French people who heard it said that it sounds quite convincing though. As for the music part – it’s a pretty colorful sound (pop, rock, folk, funk, traditional, chansons …) delivered by a seven-member band, based in Bihać, in the north-west of BiH. Their first album, Salutations du Fond du Monde, was released by the Croatian label Juda Records, and in this bilingual song, ”Je te cherche (Looking for you)” their guest is the vocalist of the excellent alt/rock band M.O.R.T. from Sinj (Croatia).
Letu Štuke is an indie/pop/rock band from Sarajevo, which for years has been one of the most appreciated of its kind among the mature audience that grew up on punk, or pop&rock tunes with attitude – those who appreciate high-quality lyrics in popular music. Dino Šaran, frontman of the band is one of the most appreciated lyricists on the scene, often engaged in writing for other performers.
In 2018, after a seven years break, they returned with the album “Topla voda” (Warm water). The album so for satisfies both critics and the audience, and one of the songs that represent a move towards more commercial sound is their single “Supermarket”.
The youngest artist in this year’s selection of the most interesting new music from Bosnia & Herzegovina, is Sir Croissant, a singer/songwriter from Banja Luka. Accompanied with his acoustic guitar and emotional vocals, he has already drawn attention to some regional showcase festivals.
With two EPs released so far, Sir Croissant has also recorded this demo track in 2018. We use it here as a hook for further exploration of this boy’s work.
Sir Croissant on Facebook, Instagram, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, www.