Patience Is Bitter, But It's Fruit Is Sweet.....Hali Gali Halid's 'Vo-Zdra' 7" ep

There was a hot minute there in the late 80's/early 90's where the Listen Loudest & Blind Dog label's was makin a bid for heraldin the new, Yugoslavian underground scene. There was a spirited attempt by someone stateside-I forget who-to get titles to the people; Lola V. Stain, Satan Panonski & Machine Gun were all releases on the aforementioned labels that I seen here in the USA. Perhaps not the most mindblowing sounds to pass through your head, but pretty damn unique & solid especially considering their locale. But then a civil war come along & that was the end of it. Both label's functioned out've Zagreb-the capital of Croatia as well home to an arts academy & a university-which took a quite a pounding after the secession from Yugoslavia, so it's no wonder the carpet had been rolled up. There probably wasn't none left! The records 'n tapes that had been around were gone, not to be seen anytime soon or ever again. It was sad & tragic on many levels, not the least of which was what had happened to people involved. There was a lot of "what if's" to conjure up, but as the years kept grinding away, so did one's feeble hopes. The bands & releases became hallowed footnotes, the history of them almost beyond comprehension. I mean, you could find an address to write, but chances are the building/house/street destination no longer existed. Pretty heavy when you think about it. I figured just be patient & hope for the best.
So then cut to 2006. I'm looking through the S-S Records catalog & I see this 7" from 1991 by Hali Gali Hazid on the Listen Loudest label & it's in stock. Scott Soriano had sniffed out a few copies, presumably from the source. I couldn't believe it. Great news! I snagged one & let me tell you somethin, you'll be hard pressed to find a more exotic mix of rock & folk.....anywhere! The beguiling charms of (presumably) gypsy trance & traditional Croatian are seared into a slab of western rock what's swagger sounds implictly American (in origin). It would be pure conjecture to point out their influences as Velvet Underground and Stooges. For one, it's not that obvious. True, them bands might be the source, but you gotta gorge yourself through a primitive rasher of Pere Ubu, (Metal Box era)PIL & Angel Face before ya get there. And don't forget a very heavy dose of ethnic zonk as potent 'n fortified as the blackberry wine that was no doubt copiously consumed as these tracks was recorded. It staggers, it croons, pinwheels, rips 'n howls & it does so on a mantle all it's own. A most amazing find & if your gonna spend 8$ for a 7" this year, why not make it this one.Go to http://www.s-srecords.com/
for more info.
Or check out the Listen Loudest site, at; www.gla.ac.uk/~dc4w/listenloudest/front.html