Dive into a literary rock’n’roll adventure by three authors! Journey through Estonian punk revolution, anecdotal rock trivia, and the secret history of Kosovo’s underground.
The event is in English.
J.M.K.E.’s To the Cold Land by Brigitta Davidjants
This 33 1/3 series book examines Külmale maale (To The Cold Land, 1989) by J.M.K.E. – Estonia’s most legendary punk outfit. The album’s significance spans multiple sociocultural contexts from its release to today, maintaining its relevance for 35 years and crowned the finest Estonian album ever by 102 music critics in 2014.
J.M.K.E.’s journey illuminates subcultural organisation not just within Estonia but throughout the Soviet Union, where popular music and alternative movements endured decades of censorship. The narrative reveals popular culture’s pivotal role during Estonia’s transition from totalitarian rule to early capitalism, and from traditional subcultural frameworks to post-subcultural society.
Useless Music Knowledge by Hannes Tschürtz
A treasure trove of anecdotes and behind-the-scenes tales from the golden era of pop and rock music. It brims with delightfully obscure trivia (such as Cher once babysitting Anthony Kiedis), utterly mad revelations (including how Dirty Dancing unwittingly catalysed the rise of hip-hop, and the bizarre legal saga when Fleetwood Mac took Fleetwood Mac to court; and quirky punchlines to settle pub arguments (like the fact that ZZ Top—perhaps mostly renowned for their facial hair—are three people, of which one has no long beard. The guys name, however, is Beard.
Memoir 5/5 by Ismail Myrseli
This ethnomusicological art book covers a period from the first anti-fascist alternative music festival in Prishtina during Yugoslav times, called “Boom Festival”, to the present. It consists of tailored history, narrative, memoirs and diaries from five musicians and music professionals from Kosovo and Serbia from the 1980s until today, concentrating on different ways of storytelling and approaches to hostile national relations through shared experiences and musical information for Kosovo and respective ex-Yugoslavian areas. The author has asked different musicians what they do from 5 PM to 5 AM. 5/5