II - DEJANJE

The second album of SEDMINA was released in 1982. The band featured the same line-up like on the debut. However, the arrangements are somewhat different, offering longer tracks and more psychedelic, acid-folk sound. Unlike the debut, this one does not attract a listener on the first attempt, but several listens are needed to grasp the feeling. The performance is done with mastery and confidence. The leading instruments are clarinet, violin (and viola, probably because I cannot quite tell the difference) and saxophone, with backing acoustic guitars. Melody lines invoke the medieval or baroque ballads of typical European and Mediterranean musical legacy, but occasional hints of even American folk tunes are also present. "Ciganka" ("Gypsy Woman") is very dylanesque lively folky tune with violin. The epic "Circus" brings an extended violin solo with some eerie, melancholic passages turning more optimistic at the end of the song, with Veno's vocals and saxophone. "Pav" shows the incredible abilities of Lado Jaksa playing outstanding clarinet solo party. Closing "Kolo" brings a drunken, quite morbid and strange tonality, sounding like they had been tuning their instruments along the way - very trippy and mind-bending. The second half of the song is more optimistic because the rhythm is stronger and violin is accompanied very nice solo on acoustic guitar. "II dejanje" is a very dark album. It is also not very accessible and requires attention and patience. At times, it contains rather noisy and cacophonic moments which may force you to stop playing. It is demanding. But we are talking here about "progressive" and "experimental" music, aren't we? This album deserves a lot of guts from listeners. And from reviewers it also deserves something - a recommendation. It is simply not an average folksy troubadour "cry baby". 4,5 stars!

This group along with some Vlatko Stefanovski's records are my first introduction to the music coming from the area of former state of Yugoslavia. I must admit that my first impressions are quite positive. I feel open to artistic, moody and serious music, and these qualities appear quite strongly on this album. There are some uplifting and positive tunes here like euphoric opener "Gledalis", and "Ciganka" which has the spontaneous feelings of the constant travelers' lifestyle shining from it. Then here are also some more oppressing and dark songs like "V Polju Gre Psenica V Klas" which sounds like witchcraft enchantment to my ears, being my favorite tune on this record along with the song "Fotograf", which is really tender melodic number for the guitar and passionate female voice. "Circus" is also quite fragile tonal poem, containing some surrealistic psychedelic scenes in its end. Along with this song there is another nearly ten minutes long track here called "Kolo (Za Dusko)", which melts disturbing and beautiful harmonics creating a intoxicating nightmarish feeling, before turning into more delightful straits. Some violin and clarinet melodies here resemble scales which I have heard in Gypsy music and Jewish Klezmer music. The lyrics are incomprehensible to me, but the voices paint long melodic passages working perfectly as just melodic instruments, so this doesn't manage to ruin the experience, though it of course leaves one element not understood. These characteristics melt with classical European acoustic guitar playing creating textures which are quite new and exotic to me. Also the presence of male and female vocals creates an interesting erotic tension to this music. I would recommend this album and the band for anybody interested in artistic and moody psych oriented folk music. Thank you Seyo for introducing this band to me.

There are several noticeable differences in this album over Sedmina’s debut two years prior. First, the vocal interaction between Veno Dolenc and Melita Osojnik is much less about folkish harmonies, and much more about alternating, almost call-and-response pairing. The overall tone has also moved away from languid, traditional and acoustic guitar-driven storytelling type of arrangements, to much more string-intensive compositions featuring alternating violin and viola; and also the clarinet is featured much more prominently here than in the first release.

That said, these are positive progressions of the duo’s music, and the sometimes-flamenco sounding, sometimes-Slavic leaning sounds make for a richer experience overall. And for the first time there are some noticeable breakouts of instrumental solos and duos scattered throughout – violin on “Ciganka”; clarinet and viola on “Circus”, which would also prove to be the longest composition the band would ever record at more than nine minutes; and clarinet for the better part of “Gledalisce”.

Veno Dolenc’s vocals are featured more prominently here as well, although he seems to have found conviction in his singing which is more pronounced and confident than the first time around.

There are even some improvisational jazz touches to be found, particularly on what appears to be the reworking of a traditional tune with “Pav”, and with the closing “Kolo (Za Dusko)”, which also presents interplay between the clarinet and violin, played by Lado Jaksa and Božidar Ogorevc just as they were on the first album.

The change in tone and composition here reminds me a little of the way Bacamarte evolved between their first and second albums, with this comparison also showing more influence by the male musician and a tendency to use the female voice to complement rather than augment the songs.

This is an interesting development of the Sedmina sound, and one that unfortunately would not have a chance to evolve further as the couple split in the years following this release. Sedmina would resurface several years later, but by then Dolenc would have a new wife and only Božidar Ogorevc would return with him for a third album.

The first couple of times I heard this album I had some difficulty getting into it, as I had come to expect the type of harmonic duets that made the first release so appealing. But this one has its charms as well, which repeated playing manages to coax out. Another highly recommended work for prog folk and world music fans, and another four star performance.

peace

The transition between SEDMINA's debut of more less straightforward and catchy Slovenian folk music to this quintessential prog folk album is remarkable given the scant interval of 2 years. When one considers that prog was truly in its dark ages in 1982, one can't help but wonder what possessed Melita and Veno to wrestle with that dinosaur. My impression is that, like many artists we identify as prog, they weren't willfully electing that route, but had become more comfortable with their musical relationship and their popularity, so did consciously attempt more challenging music. As others have noted, the evolution is so dramatic that one can't help but feel disappointed at first, the innocence of that debut wholly supplanted by sophisticated compositions and vocal and instrumental arrangements.

Luckily the album does have one immediately lovable number, that being the divine "Ciganka" (which means Gypsy in Slovenian), with a dazzling tune and intertwined voice, clarinet and acoustic guitar. It expands upon the earlier experience and, truth be told, if every track here shimmered in this fashion, I would award 5 stars, as it should have been an instant folk classic. It's worth noting than in 2010 reunion concerts, this was the representative from "Dejanje". With this hook into the album, the pleasures of the other more oblique numbers are granted space to unfold slowly but surely.

"Circus" is the better of the two longer pieces, and is structured like a suite, with several loosely connected themes. But "Pav" shows that they can stuff just as much in a more compact deliverable, the relatively straightforward vocal segments contrasting with lively Klezmer-ish instrumental passages. "Fotograf" falls appealingly between the less and more intricate efforts.

I know it isn't geographically appropriate and one can probably find better similarities with groups formed by couples in neighboring villages, but I still think the analogy to some of the folkier Basque prog that emanated from the post-Franco era in Spain. A parallel with ITOIZ is worth signalling in that they transitioned from largely acoustic folk to full fledged folk accented prog between albums 1 and 2. Moreover, the tribal nature of the vocal arrangements and the incisive strings remind me of some of other Basque bands like HAIZEA and ERROBI.

Sadly, this was the last SEDMINA album for almost a decade, and the dissolution of the marriage meant than Veno carried on without Melita, so "Dajanje" remains the most evolved recording involving both artists. One can't help but wonder what the third act might have been if they could have at least mended their personal differences to carry on professionally. Highly recommended.