2023 Favourites – The Best Music from Central and Eastern Europe
The best Central & Eastern European albums, EPs and reissues of 2023.
Welcome back to Táto Strana Európy, a newsletter about music from Central and Eastern Europe. Around 1 year ago, I decided to cover music from this region on a roughly monthly basis, in my native tongue, Slovak. There were a few reasons for this, foremost among them the fact that there were simply no publications, newsletters, magazines or other outlets covering music from this region in Slovakia.
1 year later, I can say that it was a worthwhile experiment, but one that ultimately proved to be unfruitful. There was almost no feedback from the Slovak music community, limited and dwindling engagement, and I could tell that a lot of the people who were reading the newsletter to get to know more Central/Eastern European music weren't locals, but foreigners. So, as 2023 drew to a close, I was looking at a few options:
1) close this project (which was very tempting)
2) change the format to a radio show/podcast (which would feel slightly redundant as Skupina and Mappa are continuing their Kiosk residency)
3) switch to English and invite a few more contributors to ease the burden and widen the reach
After speaking with a few writers, I am choosing to begin 2024 with option number 3). Táto Strana Európy is evolving, growing and I hope you will enjoy the ride. For this first issue, I’m joined by Julia Pátá and Michael Papcun!
Today, we are starting this English journey with a recap of 2023. Below, you will find our favourite music from Central and Eastern Europe, an alphabetical list of 14 albums, EPs and reissues released in 2023 + a list of honourable mentions below. Thank you for listening! If you’d like to read more in the future, please subscribe below! All money gathered from paid subscriptions will go towards paying writers for features, interviews and other more longform content. —Adam Badí Donoval
2023 Favourites
Adela Mede – Ne Lépj a Virágra (mappa & Warm Winters Ltd.)
While Adela Mede’s trilingual debut was an introspective glimpse into one's fragmented experience of home, the follow-up Ne Lépj a Virágra reaches out to the uncertainty of collaboration via the addition of a "human-sounding" accordion to field recordings and layered vocals. Do not yield to the blindness, and behold the beauty around you, beckons the Slovak-Hungarian artist. —Julia Pátá
Amelie Siba – Gently Double A (Day After Records)
One of last year’s most unexpected adventures. From classic bedroom pop to a more ambiguous sound, Amelie Siba takes us on very personal route that links DIY, noisy old-Throbbing Gristle-like vibes with the legacy of the famous Czech shoegaze scene and beyond. Soft and heavy at the same time. An inner world in and of itself. —Michael Papcun
Bolka – smutné stropy (LOM)
Bolka’s dizzying biographical debut album smutné stropy (“sad ceilings”) on Bratislava’s LOM links art pop, DIY electronics and performance art. Existential questions sit side by side with Slovak rap references, lightness meets profound sadness. Bonkers in the best way possible: psychedelic pop, waltz trap, Eastern European love story, glitch electronics. —Adam Badí Donoval
Bryozone – Eye Of Delirious (Muscut)
Ganna Bryzhata’s Muscut debut as Bryozone titled Eye of Delirious didn’t disappoint. The Odessa-based artist was inspired by the Black Sea and there’s a tangible aquatic tinge to both the track titles and sounds within; the atonal drones, dubby rhythms, sounds of the sea tides and sinister atmospheres suggest a mysterious subaqueous journey. Muscut had a fantastic year and this one is the best of the bunch. —Adam Badí Donoval
Hyperdawn – Steady (Them There Records)
Manchester-based duo Hyperdawn (Vitalija Glovackytė from Lithuania & Michael Cutting from the UK) followed up their brilliant debut Bleach with Steady, an album of daringly experimental, wonky ambient pop/R&B. The result feels like an Andy Stott / Tirzah collab that you didn’t know you needed. Heartfelt, asymmetrical, skeletal and completely stunning. —Adam Badí Donoval
Line Gate – Trap (mappa)
The allegorical and laconic annotation of Line Gate's Trap is both contemporary and archaic, and so is the music that he creates. Trap blurs the edges of the hurdy-gurdy and voice; the result is a deep-dive into a beautifully modulated and highly immersive vooooooiiiidddddddddddd. Combined with its minimalistic artwork, Trap looks like something that the protagonists of Blair With Project (or any good folk-horror) could find deep in the woods. —Michael Papcun
Martyna Basta – Slowly Forgetting, Barely Remembering (Warm Winters Ltd.)
Slowly Forgetting, Barely Remembering is like field recording tape made in a totally fictional fairy-space. Polish composer Martyna Basta’s second album is a lucid dream captured in 8 tracks. Combining various recorded sounds with minimalistic electro-acoustic compositions, her sonic wanderings are hypnotic, captivating and conjure images in the listeners’ minds. —Michael Papcun
Mija Milovic – Still life (Escho)
Still life by Montenegrin/Danish musician Mija Milovic is one of my favourite discoveries of 2023. Operating in a strange space somewhere between Tirzah, Big Thief and renaissance music (yes, you read correctly), Mija Milovic weaves grunge guitar riffs, orchestral passages, catchy pop structures, clear piano and contemporary collage techniques into a brilliantly cohesive album. —Adam Badí Donoval
mu tate – they’re with you always (3XL)
Latvian, London-based artist mu tate returned at the height of summer with a stunning new album for 3XL. they’re with you always features Nikolay Kozlov, Space Afrika, an incredible Frank Ocean sample & lots of spoken word passages. Narcotic, ultra-detailed ambient music, one of those brain-tingling records that reveals new depths with each listen. —Adam Badí Donoval
Petra Hermanova – In Death’s Eyes (Unguarded)
The monumentality of sacral music has a lot in common with the introversion of folk music. Would you expect that? The debut solo album of Petra Hermanova floats on autoharp’s and organ's dense drones, dreamy pop-like melodies, and precisely composed and sensitively updated medieval zeitgeist. A weirdly enlightening memento mori experience. —Michael Papcun
Piotr Kurek – Peach Blossom (Mondoj)
Piotr Kurek’s Peach Blossom is one of those records that really sticks with you. Centred around synthesised vocal harmonies, its uncanny yet gentle approach feels completely and utterly unique. Voices, syllables, chimes, autotune, marimba, flutes – that’s pretty much it. Genuinely inimitable; Kurek creates the most fascinating and absorbing music from the simplest of ingredients. —Adam Badí Donoval
Richter Band – Smetana (Infinite Expanse)
Richter Band’s Smetana was reissued in early 2023 by UK label Infinite Expanse and instantly caught my attention. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Pavel Richter, Štěpán Pečírka and Jaroslav Kořán recorded this collection in a few apartments in Prague, utilising guitar, clarinet, sampler, marimba, trumpet, various amplified objects, as well as their own “fidlerophone”, capturing a uniquely Eastern European blend of minimalism, improvisation and ambient music. The magic lies in the obviously unambitious nature of their efforts; a beautifully unassuming record. —Adam Badí Donoval
Svitlana Nianio – Transilvania Smile, 1994 (Shukai)
Transilvania Smile from 1994 is one of Svitlana Nianio’s earliest solo recordings, unheard in its entirety until this year. Featuring Nianio on only harmonium, piano and voice, it’s a masterpiece which connects the worlds of minimalism, Ukrainian folk music and choral motifs. Magical, timeless and mysterious music. Mind-boggling to think this gem has been hidden for almost three decades. —Adam Badí Donoval
Symposium Musicum – Symposium Musicum (mappa)
Slovak label mappa continued its sonic/cartographic regional explorations with a fascinating release titled Symposium Musicum. The album includes snippets of sounds – conversations, questions, children laughing, but also playing on objects – recorded in areas with significant Romani enclaves, alongside electronic productions. Part oral history, part soundscape, part field recording, part social commentary, Symposium Musicum is both revolutionary in its approach and confrontational on a personal level. Huge recommendation. —Adam Badí Donoval
Spotify playlist with tracks from most of the above albums
Honourable mentions
Adrián Demoč – Neha (Another Timbre)
Andrius Arutiunian – Seven Common Ways of Disappearing (Hallow Ground)
buttechno & Triš – In Your Head (psyx)
Decolonize Your Mind Society – A Second Invitation To An Uninterrupted Katabatic Lens (Hunnia Records)
DJ GÄP – MUTUAL CARE (Mäss)
emer – sea salt (Lillerne)
Evitceles – Velvet Room (Opal Tapes)
Hanna Svirska – Yangola (Standard Deviation)
Heinali – Kyiv Eternal (Injazero Records)
IFS MA – REIFSMA (outlines)
julek ploski – Hotel ***** (Orange Milk Records)
Krija – Klang (Pawlacz Perski)
Kult Koruth – Kult Koruth (s/r)
Liis Ring – Vaikelu (Õunaviks record label)
Man Rei – Health (Somewhere Press)
Natalie Beridze – SPINES (CES Records)
Oleksandr Yurchenko – Recordings, Vol. 1 1991—2001 (Shukai)
OPLA – GTI (Pointless Geometry)
perila – On The Corner Of The Day (Shelter Press)
Šimanský Niesner – Jako Doma (Korobushka Records)
Tibor Szemző – INVISIBLE STORY (Fodderbasis)
Thank you for reading! More coming soon :~)
Glad you decided to stick with it and welcome to the new writers!
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