Two dots, joined by a line, detached by a crime.

Long time no see, summer time has been keeping me busy. Enjoy this tune!

Feeling Without Touching

Glass Candy - 'Feeling Without Touching' from Travis Peterson on Vimeo.

Remixed Morcheeba

even though we know its forever changing
even though we know we lie and wait
even though we know the hidden danger
i hope its not too late

Hot Hot Chip

I've been spending the hot summer days on Belgrade's steamy asphalt listening to a lot of Hot Chip. Enjoy!

Hot Chip - Made in the Dark
Hot Chip Feat. Bonnie “Prince” Billy - I Feel Bonnie
Hot Chip - Touch Too Much (Fake Blood Rmx)

Mixers, Blenders, Shakers. Festivals For All.

I have been recovering from the 5-day festival "Mikser" for the past 3 days and things not look promising. I feel tired, unproductive and, by the looks of it, I am going to need a couple of more days to get back to myself. This time, I think it was well worth it though.

I knew that the festival was going to be a peculiar one, judging by its location. As I approached the gray scary-looking humongous wheat mills in an abandoned industrial zone of Belgrade, I could not imagine what was coming. Labeled as a Design Festival, Mikser (meaning mixer, like the one used for cooking) is much more than that. It seemed to me that it threw various aspects of the youth's subculture and social life in a bowl and literally mixed it into something very delicious, of universal taste. The way the industrial site was utilized for all of this was inspirational. Each day's repertoire offered a perfect blend of education, creativity and partying. Every day, I would start of by exploring the expo and talent zones, the former one mixing design talent with industry and the latter one, set in the midst of the "scary" silos towers, reserved for independent artists and designers of all sorts. Then, I would listen to a lecture or visit the open air "kino" to see a documentary. Hopping from one "zone" to another, I would stop by the graffiti artists' stand, the tattoo stand, artisan workshops and - possibly the highlight of the festival - a hanging tunnel made up of packing tape that made you feel like you were in outer space when inside. The designers were all there and happy to talk about their art which was awesome, particularly for us non-artists. Filled with positive energy and ideas, I would watch the pink sun set behind the Danube and wait for the colorful selection of music performances to begin. Day after day, I got carried away and began taking this type of life for granted, as if it would not end.


Oof, fortunately, festival season is open in Serbia! Some of the festivals coming up or happening as we speak are Cinema City and Exit in Novi Sad, and Refract Festival, Belgrade Design Week, Japanism Festival, Nitrate Film Festival, Belgrade Summer Festival (BELEF), International Folk Festival, Beer Fest, the Boat Carnival, and many more in Belgrade.

I think I'll manage...

"Super-duper-natural"

Yesterday, I went to a festival called Supernatural, where the point was to promote sustainability through amusement with various band and DJ performances. In order to enter, we had to swap 3 cans, 3 plastic bottles and 3 magazines for 1 ticket. Everything seemed so idyllic, the Kosutnjak forest was full of beautiful people throwing frisbee and playing badminton to electronic music. However, as the day unveiled, it started getting colder, the happy pretty people got drunker and the green surfaces turned gray. Covered with trash.

"Well, they're going to have people clean it all up afterward either way", a friend of mine tried to make me feel better.

That's not the point. If one of the goals was to acquaint the Serbian youth with one of the easiest forms of waste management, then why was it difficult to set up recycling bins apart from the ones behind the bars and the one set that I spotted at the very entrance of this large two-stage festival? Moreover, water was only sold in plastic bottles and the bartenders were given orders to pour it out of the plastic bottles into plastic cups. I saw the bartenders dispose the original drink beverages - cans, water bottles, juice boxes and other glass bottles - into recycling bins but what about all of the plastic cups? I found myself having to put them down on the grass upon finishing each and I am not sure if the cups that covered the grass by the end of the night were recycled. Regardless, we generated much more waste than needed.

I felt like a fool walking my way out of the forest and to the bus stop. This, too, was one of the ways to decrease waste. A great one, I must say. The festival was made to be inaccessible by cars and the visitors were pushed to walk to and from the party in the beautiful spring weather. As much as it "added to the experience" on the way there, it felt rather silly on the way back.

Thank you forest, I've trashed you, and now I am walking home to feel good about it all.

France in Springtime - Tecktonik Everywhere

I am looking forward to catching more Tecktonic dancers with funky outfits and Mohawk hairdos on the streets of Lyon, for May Day (International Workers' Day) holidays. Tecktonic is a relatively young street dance, originating in the Parisian suburbs in the 2000's, consisting mostly of arm movement. It's static in the sense that the feet do not move as much as in other forms of dance, yet so hectic that it is difficult to tell what the dancer is actually doing (I realized this when secretly trying to replicate in front of a mirror at home). It's surprising how much our arms can twist and twirl!

Here's the video for A Cause Des Garcons by YELLE with Tecktonic in it (you can download the original version of this song, along with 3 remixes in a zip file, here):

The creators of this dance (two guys are considered as creators because they catalyzed the movement by organizing massive Tecktonic parties, hosting 8000 people at a time) actually copyrighted it and made Tecktonic into a trademark. Tecktonic has "grown" from a street dance to an industry, offering many branded products from t-shirts and backpacks to energy drinks and Play Station games.

However, this witty way of making money has been criticized for robbing the youth of its movement. "When you're young, you dance to tell your parents 'I'm a free man! I've got my sexuality, my desires and they aren't yours!' You dance to express your freedom! But, here, it's not this kind of dance. Because it's a commercial dance. It's a safe dance. No sex, no drugs, no alcohol… It's anti-rock 'n' roll! It's a Sarkozy dance!" - says Vincent Cespedes, a young French philosopher and writer, for BBC News.

Dance!

DJ Mamy Rock - She loves to see the kids enjoy themselves!

A new London diva has been born - Mamy Rock is a 70-year-old retired widow who, after attending her grandson's birthday party at a "disco", fell in love with electronic music and the dance culture. She put on a pair shades, big earings and a sparkly Adidas track suit and began DJ-ing. This reminds me of the women in Southern Serbia who launched a house painting business but also of my 87-year-old grandpa who, having heard some electronica from my computer, thought it was very "interesting and modern" music.

Mamy Rock's style is a bit too commercial for my taste, but she seems to be very popular - she performed at the trendiest Cannes Film Festival parties. Not surprisingly, the night her grandson's birthday, when she had just been Ruth Flowers and not Mamy Rock, the bouncers gave her funny looks and tried to talk her out of entering the club.

Why do we slam doors on others, and ourselves, based on what "category" we belong in? When I was little, I dreamt of being a jokey or a cashier. Ever wonder what direction your life would have taken if it weren't for the clearly defined categories that mapped most of it out for us?

Hello Spring, Long Time No See

Looking Forward to Hearing MODERAT Live

I have been waiting for oh so long so see Moderat perform. The day is finally approaching. The trio, consisting of Apparat and Modeselektor members, is coming to Serbia in July for a live show at the Exit Festival's Dance Arena.

Moderat "Rusty Nails" from Pfadfinderei on Vimeo.

Some of my other favorites at this year's Exit Festival:

The Twelves
Boys Noize

Crystal Castles

SebastiAn

Mika
Antenat
The Bambi Molesters

To see the full list of performances at the 2010 ExitFest, click here.

Maki, Maki, Marushka

If you ever fancy an Eastern European Marija (Maria), you can impress her by playing/singing this song to her:

Bloodgroup - Hips Again

Air - La Femme D'Argent

Balkan Beat Box - Joro Boro