Today’s episode will be a bit of a digression. Not because it would not deal with any Balkan or ex-Yugoslav band but because it will deal with a whole lot of them, indirectly. About fifteen years ago, a DJ collective re-discovered Yugoslav funk and swing of the 70s. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Tetkine Radosti.

Tetkine Radosti, best translated as Auntie’s Delights, are a side project of Good Foot, a collective of three Slovenian DJs: Borka, Bakto and D-Wood. Borka and Bakto were a DJ duo ever since the turn of the millennium, while D-Wood joined the collective some time later.

Good Foot were all about mixing funk beats, electro pop, rare groove and occasional jazz track into seamless sessions of pure auditory delight. But when they stumbled across Yugoslav swing and funk of the 60’s and 70’s, Tetkine Radosti were born.

The sound of Tetkine Radosti is not pure. Quite to the contrary. It, in fact an eclectic mix of funk, disco, porn music, psychedelic avantgarde and weird movie quotes. As such, it perfectly encapsulates the Balkans of the era.

The wonderfully weird thing about Tetkine Radosti is that they actually have to raid long-forgotten stashes of vinyl, singles, LPs and EPs, usually fogtotten in some dusty corner of a non-descript antique shop. But in there, they will find rarities by otherwise well-known artists, and mix it all together into their signature sound.

According to Tetkine Radosti, most of these songs are little more than Yugoslav renditions of popular English songs of the era. However, they do tend to have amazing intros, which is more than any self-respecting DJ could ask for. Add a couple of cultural references and you’ve got yourself a proper mix.

Tetkine Radosti release track every so often, in accordance with their leisurely pace. But the collective is active, contributing music and mixes to public radio station in Slovenia and holding live events every one in a while. Which, of course, it the best way to experience them anyway. So if you’re ever in Ljubljana, ask around for Tetkine Radosti.

And that’s all the time we have for today. Check out Tetkine Radosti on BandCamp, SoundCloud and wherever you get your music from, and Balkan Express will be back next week.