By: Artan P쳮aska
apernaska@tiranatimes.com
MADCON will replace Goran Bregovi硯n the 8th of August at the Tropical Complex, on the beach of Durr쳬 as this latter was reported to be suffering and needed reposal.
Goran Bregovi笠one of the most famous contemporary composers and musical virtuosos of the Balkans, was programmed to be back in Albania for his second visit to the country on the 8th of August 2009, at the Tropical Complex in Durr쳬 a few kilometers away from Tirana. The Bosnian-born “free-minded” musician and artist tried to stay aloof of ethnic divisions and ethnic hatreds in his home country. In his long musical career, he has celebrated tunes and rhythms from neighboring countries and neighboring ethnicities. He was wanted to return to Albania after three years. Bregovi硨ad been acclaimed at the Palace of Congresses in Tirana, capital of Albania, on the 1st and 2nd of April 2006, though another part of the opinion was hurt at his supposed support of Serbian expansion and military violence.
On one hand, Goran Bregovi硩s reputed for having used musical motifs coming from Albanian horizons. He is also is reported to have sung in Albanian at the time that he made part of the Bjello Dugme ex-Yugoslav rock group (Rroke Mandolin쮬 Bjeri 誦telis멮 Goran Bregovi硷as frontman in the renowned ex-Yugoslav group, Bjelo Dugme, where the Albanian Agron Berisha was also a member for a certain period of time.
On the other hand, Goran Bregovi硩s supposed to have supported hatred-works and hatred-politics, since part of the major films in which he starred as soundtrack composer were financed and realized during the Milloshevi硲egime. One of the numerous Emir Kusturica films for which he composed the soundtrack was “The Time of the Gypsies.” The hit theme of the film, called Ederlezi, is reputed to be of Albanian extraction, sung by Albanian Roma in the region of Kor諬 in south-east Albania. The Roma are said to call what is English St George’s Day, by the name “Ederlezi” with reference to two ancient Turkish prophets Hizir and Ilyas. They are reported to celebrate Ederlezi day on the evening of the 5th and on the morrow of 6th of May (says Garth Cartwright).
Bregovi稳 song, Kalashnikov, is also felt to spring from the same musical motifs as the Albanian singer’s Va襠Zela’s Djaloshi dhe Shiu. If the supposition of any such common spring-off theme is true, Va襠Zela’s song echoes the accents of an early rock-and-roll melody, while Bregovi稳 version wears over-folklorized, buffoonned accents.
Goran Bregovi硷ill be replaced on the night of the 8th of August by MADCON, a Norwegian duo that has won a World Music Award and has sold millions of singles and compilations.
The night of the 9th of August will air the music of Laurent Wolf, a French house-music producer and DJ. Named Laurent Dubuire when born in Toulouse, France in 1971, the artistically-named Laurent Wolf is renowned for his Tribal house productions and as an international DJ. Laurent Wolf was the winner of the DJ category in the 2008 World Music Awards. Wolf’s last album was Wash my World (2008) where the theme No Stress, featuring vocals by Eric Carter, was in 2008 Wolf’s number one French hit.
