Alternate Steps / Pop from former Yugoslavia / 30.04.22

It's impossible to listen to records from what was once the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and not hear an eclecticism driven by open borders and receptiveness to cultural influence from all directions. The range of artists backed by its state-owned labels reflected a multi-ethnic population whose contacts with western Europe, for instance through schemes like the guest-worker program, allowed for the rapid importation of new styles. It was the arrival of disco via Hollywood cinema in 79 that made the 80s a high watermark of this meeting between celebrated folk tradition and foreign influences. However, the decade also began with Josep Tito's death which left behind a precarious political coalition that eventually proved deadly, the turmoil of the 90s destabilized the relationships between nations, religions, and cultures that were key to the unique Yugo sound.