SMAK – The best of
Label: One records 1996
Einige Information:
Herkunftsland:
Kragujevac, Serbien
Genre(s):
Rock and roll, Blues-rock
Website
http://www.smak.org.yu
Mitglieder::
Laza Ristovski
Zoran Milanović
Slobodan Stojanović Kepa
Radomir Mihailović Točak
Boris Arandjelović
Weitere Alben:
1975 - Smak
1977 - Crna dama
1978 - Stranice našeg vremena
1978 - Black Lady
1978 - Dab In The Middle
1980 - Rock cirkus
1981 - Zašto ne volim sneg
1986 - Smak '86
1995 - Bioskop Fox
1999 - Egregor
1996 - The Best Of Smak
Wikipedia sagt:
“Smak was formed in 1971 in Kragujevac, SR Serbia (present-day Serbia), by guitar virtuoso Radomir Mihailović, nicknamed "Točak" ("the Wheel"). The first stable line-up, in late 1974, included Točak, drummer Slobodan Stojanović Kepa, bass guitarist Zoran Milanović, singer Boris Arandjelović, and keyboardist Laza Ristovski. They released 3 short play (SP) records from 1974-1975, on which appeared their hit single Ulazak u Harem (Entrance to the Harem). They also appeared as an opening act for the Deep Purple concert in Belgrade 1975. After a successful hit single and a concert with Deep Purple, they released their first LP called Smak 1975. It was one of the best debut albums of all time in ex-Yugoslavia. The album consisted of 5 tracks, including a 20 minute long instrumental, "Biska 20", the dramatically good "Blues in the park", the inventive and infamous "Biska 2", "Dark Minor" (Mračni mol) and the Hendrix-styled "Pearls".
At the beginning of the next year they released a DS (double SP album) called Satelit, which featured their hit song Satelit (Satellite) and one of the band's best, 'Šumadijski Blues,' along with two others: "Slikar sa Pikadilija" and "Čoveče ti si mlad". During that time they made a short movie called Smak in New York, which featured their brief tour in the United States as a promotion of the DSP Satelit.
In 1976 Točak released his first solo album R. M. Točak, which became the best selling instrumental album in Yugoslavia that year, even though it consisted of only 6 long progressive rock compositions. The LP was also famous for its great graphical sleeve design. Their next single was out at the end of 1976, entitled Ljudi nije fer/El Dumo.
During 1977-78, Laza Ristovski, the organ and keyboard player, migrated to a more mainstream band, Bijelo dugme. Ristovski was replaced on Smak by Miki Petkovski, who appeared on the 1977 LP Crna Dama, one of the best selling albums in Yugoslavia, and then by Tibor Levay on keyboards. With him they made the LPs Stranice našeg vremena, released in 1978 and the English versions of these two albums Black Lady and The Pages of our Time. (The latter is also known as Dub in the Middle, by Bellaphone records). Laza's transfer to Bijelo Dugme was noted on a popular national television news show.
By 1977, the group was playing in concerts all over Yugoslavia. Their LP Crna Dama was proclaimed as the vinyl of the year, and their title song "Crna dama" was the best single. They produced and recorded an LP in London, consisting of 7 tracks, with 4 hit singles: "Daire", "Crna Dama", "Alo", and "Plava pesma". Interestingly, they dared to challenge the biggest band in Yugoslavia (Bijelo Dugme) to a musical "fight", dedicating an extremely difficult composition to them. Točak sad that Dugme should call them (Smak) when they learn to play as well as them. Although Smak had a loyal fan base, less than 200,000 copies of their albums were sold.
Their next LP, Stranice našeg vremena, was not so popular. Točak and the rest of the band had major disagreements about lyrics and the group split. Točak was replaced by an anonymous guitarist and the concerts were less critically acclaimed. The music on this album, however, was performed virtuously, with songs ranging from hard rock tunes (Tenge-Tange) to 11 minutes progressive rock (Biska 18). The most successful was the remake of their hit tune "Ulazak u harem", this time played in fanatic tempo, in pure rock style.
In 1979-81, Dado Topić (ex-TIME, ex-Korni Grupa) collaborated with Smak as the producer and occasional guest vocalist on the single Na Balkanu before the band broke-up in late 1981.
In 1980, shortly before their split, the band released the LP Rock Cirkus, which was destined to be one of the most selling albums. However, due to the death of the Yugoslavian president Tito it had not gotten much popularity, mostly because of poor classic rock songs that sounded quite anachronistically in the punk-ska-new wave years. After that, they made 3 farewell concerts in Belgrade attended by more than 10,000 fans.
The original line-up gathered again in 1981, and with Dado Topić, released the LP Zašto ne volim sneg, which was dedicated to Točak’s recently deceased brother. It was supposed to be Točak's solo project, but their publisher (PGP RTB) considered it too risky and demanded it to be labeled as a "Smak" album. The most popular songs were the Macedonian folk tune "Zajdi, Zajdi" played as an instrumental composition in a bluesy 12/8 time, and the fast hard rock song "Juzni voz", sung by almost anonymous singer Zoran Živanović Hose, with guitar solos in an unusual scale. After that they split again.
During 1983, Točak recorded a Serbian patriotic war song "Marš na Drinu", with David Moss. This got unfavorable coverage in the government press at the time, as political songs were heavily restricted or censored. This particular song was also recorded by "The Shadows (Hank Marvin)", but was never released in Yugoslavia.
In 1986, with a new keyboardist Milan Đurđević, Smak came back and made the LP Smak 86 before splitting again. That album featured the songs "Sava" and "Kad spavaš sam".
The fourth comeback of Smak happened in 1992, with Ristovski again as a member, when they mostly played concerts in Serbia. The band released a live album, odLIVEno in that year, featuring Serbian mouth-harp player Pera Joe. In '92 and '93 Točak was promoting his second solo album and a soundtrack for the 1993 movie Byzantine Blue, which won a prize for the best soundtrack at the Christal prism awards.
Finally, in 1995, Smak re-appeared again. This time, along with Točak and Stojanović, they added the following younger musicians: Dejan Stojanovic Kepa Jr. (second drum kit), Dejan Najdanovic Najda (vocals), Vlada Samardzic (bass) and Milan Milosavljević Mikica (guitar). The idea behind this new line-up was to create a much bigger and more modern sound with two down-tuned guitars (D-tuning) and two very loud drummers.
In this shape, Smak released an album called Bioskop Fox (Cinema Fox). After a 4 year collaboration, Vlada Samardžić (bass) left Smak in order to attend the Berklee College of Music. Samardžić was replaced by Sale Marković, an artist who has never had any formal tuition, but nevertheless proved to be a great cohesive force in the band due to his aggressive style. With Sale they recorded the following albums: Live without audience in 1998, (literally, a live performance attended only by the tone technician, in a big, empty cinema) Egregor in 1999 (their least popular album ever, featuring alternate tunings, polyrhythmic and odd-meter experiments and, most importantly, no lyrics at all, except for one song - the vocalist used scat techniques instead), and "Live 3. Mart" and "Kragujevac klub 'La Cinema'" in 2000.
In 2001, the group split again, due to Točak's disappointment with the status of musicians in the former Yugoslavia.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Durch FreakCha' s Surprise Paket habe ich erstmals von dieser Band erfahren und möchte kurz ihr “Best of” Werk ansprechen.
Die Einflüsse von Hendrix, Plant & Co sind unüberhörbar, jedoch driftet Smak doch recht oft in den Jazzrock ab.
In den Infos im Netz ist zu lesen, das ihre Musik sehr Gitarrenlastig sei, was ich so aber nicht bestätigen kann.
Das trifft zumindest auf die Stücke zu, die auf dieser Kompilation verewigt wurden.
Orgel und Fender Rhodes haben einen nicht unerheblichen Anteil an der Musik und bringen in meinen Ohren mehr Vielfalt ins Spiel.
Es wird gerockt, gejamt, gejazzt und gelegentlich gefrickelt, was nichts anderes heißen soll, als das die Musik/Kompositionen sehr vielschichtig sind und so nie die Gefahr von aufkommender Langeweile gegeben ist.
Wer den Osten Europas musikalisch detailliert erhören möchte, sollte Smak unbedingt mit einkalkulieren.
Label: One records 1996
Einige Information:
Herkunftsland:
Kragujevac, Serbien
Genre(s):
Rock and roll, Blues-rock
Website
http://www.smak.org.yu
Mitglieder::
Laza Ristovski
Zoran Milanović
Slobodan Stojanović Kepa
Radomir Mihailović Točak
Boris Arandjelović
Weitere Alben:
1975 - Smak
1977 - Crna dama
1978 - Stranice našeg vremena
1978 - Black Lady
1978 - Dab In The Middle
1980 - Rock cirkus
1981 - Zašto ne volim sneg
1986 - Smak '86
1995 - Bioskop Fox
1999 - Egregor
1996 - The Best Of Smak
Wikipedia sagt:
“Smak was formed in 1971 in Kragujevac, SR Serbia (present-day Serbia), by guitar virtuoso Radomir Mihailović, nicknamed "Točak" ("the Wheel"). The first stable line-up, in late 1974, included Točak, drummer Slobodan Stojanović Kepa, bass guitarist Zoran Milanović, singer Boris Arandjelović, and keyboardist Laza Ristovski. They released 3 short play (SP) records from 1974-1975, on which appeared their hit single Ulazak u Harem (Entrance to the Harem). They also appeared as an opening act for the Deep Purple concert in Belgrade 1975. After a successful hit single and a concert with Deep Purple, they released their first LP called Smak 1975. It was one of the best debut albums of all time in ex-Yugoslavia. The album consisted of 5 tracks, including a 20 minute long instrumental, "Biska 20", the dramatically good "Blues in the park", the inventive and infamous "Biska 2", "Dark Minor" (Mračni mol) and the Hendrix-styled "Pearls".
At the beginning of the next year they released a DS (double SP album) called Satelit, which featured their hit song Satelit (Satellite) and one of the band's best, 'Šumadijski Blues,' along with two others: "Slikar sa Pikadilija" and "Čoveče ti si mlad". During that time they made a short movie called Smak in New York, which featured their brief tour in the United States as a promotion of the DSP Satelit.
In 1976 Točak released his first solo album R. M. Točak, which became the best selling instrumental album in Yugoslavia that year, even though it consisted of only 6 long progressive rock compositions. The LP was also famous for its great graphical sleeve design. Their next single was out at the end of 1976, entitled Ljudi nije fer/El Dumo.
During 1977-78, Laza Ristovski, the organ and keyboard player, migrated to a more mainstream band, Bijelo dugme. Ristovski was replaced on Smak by Miki Petkovski, who appeared on the 1977 LP Crna Dama, one of the best selling albums in Yugoslavia, and then by Tibor Levay on keyboards. With him they made the LPs Stranice našeg vremena, released in 1978 and the English versions of these two albums Black Lady and The Pages of our Time. (The latter is also known as Dub in the Middle, by Bellaphone records). Laza's transfer to Bijelo Dugme was noted on a popular national television news show.
By 1977, the group was playing in concerts all over Yugoslavia. Their LP Crna Dama was proclaimed as the vinyl of the year, and their title song "Crna dama" was the best single. They produced and recorded an LP in London, consisting of 7 tracks, with 4 hit singles: "Daire", "Crna Dama", "Alo", and "Plava pesma". Interestingly, they dared to challenge the biggest band in Yugoslavia (Bijelo Dugme) to a musical "fight", dedicating an extremely difficult composition to them. Točak sad that Dugme should call them (Smak) when they learn to play as well as them. Although Smak had a loyal fan base, less than 200,000 copies of their albums were sold.
Their next LP, Stranice našeg vremena, was not so popular. Točak and the rest of the band had major disagreements about lyrics and the group split. Točak was replaced by an anonymous guitarist and the concerts were less critically acclaimed. The music on this album, however, was performed virtuously, with songs ranging from hard rock tunes (Tenge-Tange) to 11 minutes progressive rock (Biska 18). The most successful was the remake of their hit tune "Ulazak u harem", this time played in fanatic tempo, in pure rock style.
In 1979-81, Dado Topić (ex-TIME, ex-Korni Grupa) collaborated with Smak as the producer and occasional guest vocalist on the single Na Balkanu before the band broke-up in late 1981.
In 1980, shortly before their split, the band released the LP Rock Cirkus, which was destined to be one of the most selling albums. However, due to the death of the Yugoslavian president Tito it had not gotten much popularity, mostly because of poor classic rock songs that sounded quite anachronistically in the punk-ska-new wave years. After that, they made 3 farewell concerts in Belgrade attended by more than 10,000 fans.
The original line-up gathered again in 1981, and with Dado Topić, released the LP Zašto ne volim sneg, which was dedicated to Točak’s recently deceased brother. It was supposed to be Točak's solo project, but their publisher (PGP RTB) considered it too risky and demanded it to be labeled as a "Smak" album. The most popular songs were the Macedonian folk tune "Zajdi, Zajdi" played as an instrumental composition in a bluesy 12/8 time, and the fast hard rock song "Juzni voz", sung by almost anonymous singer Zoran Živanović Hose, with guitar solos in an unusual scale. After that they split again.
During 1983, Točak recorded a Serbian patriotic war song "Marš na Drinu", with David Moss. This got unfavorable coverage in the government press at the time, as political songs were heavily restricted or censored. This particular song was also recorded by "The Shadows (Hank Marvin)", but was never released in Yugoslavia.
In 1986, with a new keyboardist Milan Đurđević, Smak came back and made the LP Smak 86 before splitting again. That album featured the songs "Sava" and "Kad spavaš sam".
The fourth comeback of Smak happened in 1992, with Ristovski again as a member, when they mostly played concerts in Serbia. The band released a live album, odLIVEno in that year, featuring Serbian mouth-harp player Pera Joe. In '92 and '93 Točak was promoting his second solo album and a soundtrack for the 1993 movie Byzantine Blue, which won a prize for the best soundtrack at the Christal prism awards.
Finally, in 1995, Smak re-appeared again. This time, along with Točak and Stojanović, they added the following younger musicians: Dejan Stojanovic Kepa Jr. (second drum kit), Dejan Najdanovic Najda (vocals), Vlada Samardzic (bass) and Milan Milosavljević Mikica (guitar). The idea behind this new line-up was to create a much bigger and more modern sound with two down-tuned guitars (D-tuning) and two very loud drummers.
In this shape, Smak released an album called Bioskop Fox (Cinema Fox). After a 4 year collaboration, Vlada Samardžić (bass) left Smak in order to attend the Berklee College of Music. Samardžić was replaced by Sale Marković, an artist who has never had any formal tuition, but nevertheless proved to be a great cohesive force in the band due to his aggressive style. With Sale they recorded the following albums: Live without audience in 1998, (literally, a live performance attended only by the tone technician, in a big, empty cinema) Egregor in 1999 (their least popular album ever, featuring alternate tunings, polyrhythmic and odd-meter experiments and, most importantly, no lyrics at all, except for one song - the vocalist used scat techniques instead), and "Live 3. Mart" and "Kragujevac klub 'La Cinema'" in 2000.
In 2001, the group split again, due to Točak's disappointment with the status of musicians in the former Yugoslavia.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Durch FreakCha' s Surprise Paket habe ich erstmals von dieser Band erfahren und möchte kurz ihr “Best of” Werk ansprechen.
Die Einflüsse von Hendrix, Plant & Co sind unüberhörbar, jedoch driftet Smak doch recht oft in den Jazzrock ab.
In den Infos im Netz ist zu lesen, das ihre Musik sehr Gitarrenlastig sei, was ich so aber nicht bestätigen kann.
Das trifft zumindest auf die Stücke zu, die auf dieser Kompilation verewigt wurden.
Orgel und Fender Rhodes haben einen nicht unerheblichen Anteil an der Musik und bringen in meinen Ohren mehr Vielfalt ins Spiel.
Es wird gerockt, gejamt, gejazzt und gelegentlich gefrickelt, was nichts anderes heißen soll, als das die Musik/Kompositionen sehr vielschichtig sind und so nie die Gefahr von aufkommender Langeweile gegeben ist.
Wer den Osten Europas musikalisch detailliert erhören möchte, sollte Smak unbedingt mit einkalkulieren.
