Discom: The Wednesday Alternative Mix

As one of the inevitable addresses in searching for lesser-known music from the former Yugoslavia, Belgrade's Discom label presents a Wednesday mix made exclusively of diggers' pearls from this historical region. From free jazz, funk, disco and boogie to ambient, synth pop and new wave, this mix recaptures an authentic Yugoslavian sensitivity: dreamy, mysterious, beautiful and yet ridiculous, grotesque and tragic. Mainly composed of songs which became Yugo oddball classics, it acts as a good starting point for further investigation and individual research. You can find more Yugoslavian music on Discom's website as well as on their Discogs account. Their latest release, Consequential – MicroComposed 1980-86 is out today!

Please introduce yourselves… who are you, where are you and what are you?

We are Vanja and Luka, a married couple from Belgrade who run the Discom record label with a mission to promote lesser-known music from the former Yugoslavia.

What would be the ideal setting to listen to your mix?

A couple of cheap Apple earphones would be great.

What should we be wearing?

Pink parachute with brown sleepers.

What would be your dream setting to record a mix?

In Boris Blank's home studio in Zürich with his sound presets and our ideas.

Which track in the mix is your current favourite?

The track called 'Fantasticno Putovanje' ('Fantastic Journey') by Sladjana Milosevic, because of the lyrics and fabulous arranging by Srdjan Jul (also known as Michael Varjak, guitarist in The Sisters of Mercy).

What was your first DJ set up at home and what is it now?

The first and the last – Roland DJ-1000 mixer with a couple of Technics SL-1700 MK1 turntables.

What were the first and last records you bought?

Vanja: The first one was by one pianist Tatiana Shebanova, interpreting C.Debussy, called Images, Pour le Piano. The last was Ultra Urcanum – The Silence Inside.

Luka: The first was Jimi Hendrix – Are You Experienced? and the last was Yello – Toy.

If this mix was an edible thing, what would it taste like?

'Bajadera' – chocolate nougat mixed with hazelnuts and almonds. The taste of our childhood, one of the favourite sweets in the former Yugoslavia.

One record in your collection that is impossible to mix into anything?

Frank Zappa – Zappa in New York

Upcoming in the world of Discom?

We have a new release: Consequential – MicroComposed 1980-86, an Italo disco/synth-pop LP compilation of 10 previously unreleased tracks by two Yugoslavian electronic music pioneers, Zoran Jevtic (DATA, Sizike, Master Scratch Band, Digitron) and Nikolaj Bezek (the founder of one of Yugoslavia's first purely electronic music-oriented studios, in Serdar Jola Street, Belgrade).