A LITTLE COUNTRY WITH A LOT OF SOUL

SLOVENIA - BRANCH NEWS AND CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT

Our intelectual profiles range from sociology, ethnomusicology, ethnology, philosophy to music journalism and criticism. In the last twenty years the majority of our members have been actively involved either in publishing or broadcasting articles, books, translations, shows, etc., related to various aspects of popular music and culture.

Three of our members have recently published three new Slovene contributions to the study of popular music: Joze Vogrinc with "TV Gledalec" ("The TV Viewer", Studia Humanitatis, Ljubljana, 1996) Rajko Mursic with "Center za Dehumanizacijo: Etnoloski oris rock skupine" ("Center za Dehumanizacijo: An Ethnological Sketch of a Rock Group", Pesnica, Frontier, 1995), and finally Peter Barbaric and his study "Okopi Slave: Stiri desetletja popa in rocka" ("The Trenches of Glory: Four Decades of Pop and Rock", Vitrum, Ljubljana, 1996).

In the beginning of July the journal "Casopis za Kritiko Znanosti", Ljubljana, published a thematic issue "Pop Ear Eye" with a translation of three chapters from Pierre Schaeffer's monumental study "Traité des objets musicaux" ("Treatsie on Musical Objects", Seuil, Paris, 1966) dealing with "acousmatics" and "four listenings" (les quatre écoutes) and a chapter from Steve Jones' "Rock Formation" (Sage, London, 1993) dealing with the relationship between technology and the musician. The journal also includes Joze Vogrinc's article on video shows and Ico Vidmar writing on the phenomena of MTV's Unplugged series.

Last but not least, we are currently concentrating our efforts on organizing, in cooperation with the ISH (Institutum Studiorum Humanitatis, Ljubljana), a conference dedicated to BALKAN POPULAR MUSIC which will be held in Ljubljana between 22nd and 24th November 1996.

Despite the association with violence the Balkans have nonetheless been a space of integration and cultural exchange. Namely, the Balkans function as a meeting-place of Middle European, Mediterranean and Oriental cultural influences, which have generated numerous aesthetic expressions. Now is the time for analysis to stress instead of economic stagnation and various political disasters the possibilities of relative cultural advantages in the Balkans: the eclecticism, diversity and heterogeneity of regional cultural forms. The limits of practices and popularity of popular musical styles in the Balkans have usually not coincided with ethnic or religious boundaries or state borders. As music clearly transgresses zones of war or exclusion, it is obvious that popular musical forms are forms which resist and challenge the balkanization of the Balkans.

The conference will address the following themes: 1. Global vs. local (historical perspectives; is it possible to speak of Western cultural hegemony in the region?; the interrelation between musical traditions and contemporary popular music; the balkanization of 'world music'?), 2. Production and distribution (mass media; scattered regional musical markets; musical publishers, problems of distribution...), 3. Everyday lifestyles and culture (the presence of a local musical scene in everyday life), 4. Popular vs. official (popular musical forms and state cultural policy; certified musical styles and artists; censorship; the musical 'underground'), 5. Regional culture: integration and/or disintegration (can Balkan culture function as a force of (dis)integration in the future?)

All those interested in participating should contact:
Ico Vidmar, ISH - Institutum Studiorum Humanitatis
Beethovnova 2/III, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
tel/fax: (+ 386 61) 125 04 75;
e-mail: ico@ish.si

Balkan Popular Music
Ljubljana, Slovenia, 22- 24 November 1996