The Jimmy Barka Experience are named after Džimi Barka, character from an old Serbian film called When I'm Dead and Gone and played by Dragan Nikolić. Their first on-stage appearance was back in 2010. Since then, they've been around the block a couple of times and even opened for Ursula Rucker, Gramatik and Parov Stelar on occasion.
Punčke (Balkan Express 176)
Google them, and you will mostly find Punčke billed as a punk band. But that is not nearly the whole story. They could just as well be described as an alt-rock, indie or maybe even grunge band. All of this is by design, as they are actively eschewing a single descriptor.
Blaž Mencinger (Balkan Express 175)
Blaž Mencinger started out as a guitarist in a jazz band. Which is about as weird a career move as you can make in Slovenia. I mean, jazz bands are literally nothing short of an expensive hobby. But by late 2020, he was already making a name for himself as a singer/songwriter.
Smetnaki (Balkan Express 174)
Nominally, Smetnaki straddle the cross-section between ska, punk and funk. The band themselves insist that they are not bound to any specific genre. But listen closely and you'll hear jazz in all its forms. Check them out on this week’s Balkan Express
Brainswitch (Balkan Express 173)
Brainswitch are a five-member outfit from Mostar, one of the oldest and most iconic cities in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Known around the world for their Ottoman-era bridge and its tragic fate and resurrection, the city is also home to contemporary sounds that could be placed in Berlin or New York, just as well.
Kawaski 3P (Balkan Express 172)
As a seven-member act and with a wide variety of musical instruments at their disposal, punk turns out to be a very broad description of Kawasaki 3P and their music. Check them out on this week’s Balkan Express.
Kanda, Kodža i Nebojša (Balkan Express 171)
This week, Balkan Express makes a stop in Serbia to take a look at band named Kanda, Kodža i Nebojša. While they are usually billed as an alt-rock band, their music encompasses everything from funk, soul, reggae, jazz and, yes, alt-rock
Arhangel (Balkan Express 170)
This episode of Balkan Express takea a look at a foundational piece of North Macedonian rock music. Arhangel is an alternative rock band led by Risto Vrtev which has had massive influence of the Macedonian rock scene.
AKA Neomi (Balkan Express 169)
When does a band stop being a band and/or becomes another band? While maybe not holding the answer, Slovenian indie-pop-trip-hoppers AKA Neomi sure know how to pose the question. More on this on this week's Balkan Express.
Vrpca (Balkan Express 168)
Music of Vrpca is, for the lack of a better word, urban. If it weren’t for the language, you might have well mistaken then from any of the alternative rock bands this side of the language barrier. Check them out in this week's Balkan Express.
Damir Avdić (Balkan Express 167)
To bill Damir Avdić as a musician is doing a great disservice to every other aspect of his work. But seeing as Balkan Express on Ara City Radio is primarily intersted in music, this is what we're focusing on that. And at any rate, his music is integral, or at least complementary to his other works, as well.
Ničim Izazvan (Balkan Express 166)
Completely unprovoked, this week Balkan Express made a stop at Ničim Izazvan. A nine-member indie-pop act from Serbia, they've been around the block one or twice. And their distinctive sound and lyrics separates them from the rest of the field.
Chui (Balkan Express 165)
Boldly going where no band has gone before, Chui are an amazing mix of jazz, electro, hip hop, rock and science fiction. As well as science fact. A musical gem if there ever was one, this Croatian band more than deserved its place in the Balkan Express orbit.
Gušti (Balkan Express 164)
Today it seems weird, to borrow a phrase, thinking that it took Gušti this long to step behind the microphone and do his thing. But such is life. Check out this week's Balkan Express to learn more about this prolific singer/songwriter.
Koala Voice (Balkan Express 163)
Koala Voice were the very first band featured on Balkan Express. That was back in the early days of the pandemic. In the mean time, the band released two more albums and have morphed from an up-and-coming band into a mainstay of Slovenian indie scene.
Them Moose Rush (Balkan Express 162)
Them Moose Rush, a Croatian alt-rock band, occasionally sound a bit like Björk, but less suicidal. If you’re into math-rock, then this week’s episode of Balkan Express is for you.
Crvi (Balkan Express 161)
Crvi are not your usual fare of Balkan alt-rock. Too peculiar to be mainstream and yet not in-your-face shockingly different, they stand appart by leaps they make with every album and every single they release. Check them out on this week’s Balkan Express on Ara City Radio.
Masharik (Balkan Express 160)
Masharik hail from Radovljica, a town in North-Central Slovenia. They are a curious combination of old and new music as they carry more than a few references to the flower-power era, both musically and visually. Check them out in this week’s Balkan Express.
Pseća Plaža (Balkan Express 159)
Pseća Plaža hail from Croatian capital of Zagreb. And although they’ve been around only since 2016, they went through several lineup changes, eventually stabilizing as a five-member act, doing psychedelic surf rock. And yes, that’s a thing.
Masayah (Balkan Express 158)
Masayah is an outlier in the small hip-hop community of Slovenia. Not only because her unique dedication to her work but also because she didn’t really start out as an inveterate hip-hop artist. Check her out in this week’s Balkan Express on Ara City Radio.