Lenhart Tapes with Dens (GLITTERBEAT GBCD145) …this is Vladimir Lenhart from Belgrade proudly described as an “ethno-noise” outfit, and this release owes a debt to Tijana Stankovic, proper ethnomusicologist who, among her many accomplishments, is the music editor for Radio Belgrade.
If I’m reading this right, her singing voice can also be heard on this upbeat record, along with Svetlana Spajic and Zoja Morovcanin. While the opening cuts pander to those foot-tromping types hungry for dancefloor fodder, I think Lenhart’s plan is more oblique and intelligent than simply adding beats and electronic rhythms to samples of folk and ethnic music forms, and from about track 3 or 4 you can start to feel the waves of seriousness and engagement rolling off every track. One telling image might be the cover art to a marginal 2012 release of his, on which an Eastern European religious icon is détourned with slogans about capitalism and oppression by “the system”. I particularly enjoyed the relentless anthem ‘Mejremo’ – I might not understand the language, but the stern message of warning contained in this music is very clear.
Cover art to Dens is also very strong – a cabal of masked figures wearing gloves, handling bundles of tapes as if they’ve just discovered a cache of BitCoin keys and are wondering where to start their plan to take over the world. Vinyl edition of this tasty Pljeskavica is also available. (24/10/2023)