Discom Vinyl & CDs

Review: Beokraft features Yugoslavian electronic music pioneers Dejan Stanisavljevic (group Beograd), Zoran Jevtic (DATA, Sizike, The Master Scratch Band), Nikolaj Bezek (Consequential). Their debut effort entitled Time Machine features nine tracks inspired by legendary German outfit Kraftwerk. Whether it's the soundtrack to showroom dummies dancing after hours on 'Robot Men', the slo-mo sci-fi disco of 'Ex Yu Roy At The Control' or the computer funk of 'Men, Women & Inbetween' among others, this is something any record collector whose tastes go beyond the mainstream will value.

Review: Discom continues to unearth genuine gems from the former Yugoslavia. The dusty-fingered reissue imprint's latest pick comes from 1983. It's the sole, self-titled album from Boom Selekija, a relatively short-lived eight-piece made up of funk and soul musicians from other Belgrade bands, who disbanded shortly after the LP was released. Musically, the album pairs vibrant and authentic disco-boogie instrumentation - with some Eastern European flourishes - with impassioned Serbian-language vocals. It's a quietly impressive set all told, with our picks including the spacey and loved-up stomper 'Studentski Stan', the rubbery bass guitar, rock-style guitar solos and intergalactic synth textures of 'Vladina Gitara', the subtly jazz-funk-infused, slap bass-propelled 'Juljaz Me', and the almost beat-free jazz-funk sleaze of 'Frizerka Naja'.

Review: Yugoslavia went through unthinkable turmoil during the break up of the Soviet Union, which is why it is all the more astounding even all these years on that it had quite such a fertile and innovative music scene. In 1984, Zoran Jevtic and Zoran Vracevic were a key part of it and helped revolutionise the sound of the day by introducing synth-pop, breakbeat and hip-hop with their Data and The Master Scratch Band projects. Their releases paved the way for modern electronic sounds and this album dives deep into that era and compiles their earliest unreleased works from between 1981 and 1983. It's a daring exploration of genres including industrial, EBM, minimal synth and electro-funk. It adds up to a true digger's gem that will significantly elevate your vinyl-hunting credentials without having to do the hard work yourself.

Review: Some '80s legends of the Belgrade electronic music scene have their respected one and only release from 1984 entitled U Zemlji ?uda re-issued on Discom. The music was composed by duo Zoran Jevtic and Zoran Vracevic (Serbian legends known more commonly as The Master Scratch Band) and fronted by the the three vocalists Jasmina Brankovi? , Jasna Dimitrijevi? and Ljiljana Dimitrijevi?. According to Discom, the record represents an official reissue of six songs from their original 1985 album U Zemlji Cuda, and an official edition of six previously unreleased songs of group DATA from 1981-1984 period.

Review: Belgrade's Discom inaugurates its new catalogue with a rather special debut, an anthology by forgotten Serbian artist Misa Mihajlovic AKA Max Vincent. Due to the war-torn state of Yugoslavia back in the mid '80s and through to the late '90s, Vincent's synth jams never made it out of his recording studio, and although he was known in certain circles, the then young producer was simply not able to get his music out there. Luckily, Discom have compiled material from Vincent's library that was made between 1984 and 2002, quite a large gap in time. In this album, you can hear Vincent's love for 80's electronic music and the cutting-edge of the time, bands like Kraftwerk on the opener "OStavi Sve", the influences of EBM over tracks like "Beogradska Devojka", and plenty of synth-pop all over many corners of the album. The slow, wavy and pensive "Noc Pored Reke Nil" is also a winner. Recommended, don't snooze!