Kalemegdan Disk - ROCK FROM EASTERN EUROPE

Tracklist

Side A

1. Ula ulala 3:48
2. Skidaj se 3:45
3. Uzalud pitaš 4:45
4. Nada 2:15
5. Tajni grad 6:06

Side B

1. Bi mogo da mogu 5:02
2. Čudne misli 4:31
3. Samo na čas 4:09
4. Uhode 6:02

Full album at YouTube

Croatia Records Release Information

Continuing releasing Haustor’s original albums on deluxe vinyl reissues, Croatia Records presents a remastered edition of their last album “Tajni grad” (Secret City), their last studio release.

Originally released in 1988, “Tajni grad” was a kind of summary of Haustor, one of our best new wave and certainly the most special Zagreb band of the 1980s. The debut album “Haustor” (House Door) was carried by new wave enthusiasm, “Treći svijet” (The Third World) had a move towards Caribbean and South American sounds, while “Bolero” (Bolero) introduced elements of hard black funk and a more modern production. “Tajni grad” combined elements of all three albums, but also offered new visions of Haustor.

Darko Rundek, the leader of Haustor, reflected on the album: “Although it was not said and although we later tried to make another album, I think we all felt that “Tajni grad” was the last album of this group and that it brought a kind of summary. The fact that the recording artist, as on the first album, was Hrvoje Hegedušić contributed to this, which also “closed the circle”. We still served Haustor, but we gradually said goodbye to it, because other paths were calling us. From today’s perspective, Haustor’s discography and life path seem consistent and rounded to me. We could hardly have done better. It’s a good feeling and I am grateful for it.”

Along with Rundek, Zoran Zajec, Srđan Gulić, Damir Prica, Julije Reljić, Nikola Santro, Igor Pavlica and Marino Pelaić participated in “Tajni grad” while Srđan Sacher, Jurij Novoselić, Robert Lovrić and Branko Bogunović appeared as guest musicians.

Songs from the album such as “Ula ulala” (Ula ulala), “Uzalud pitaš” (You Ask in Vain), “Bi mogo da mogu” (I Might Be Able to) are, according to Ilko Čulić, “evidence that Haustor was trying to attract a wider and more numerous audience during that period, but it did it in its own way, without the market calculations and compromises that were unquestioningly accepted by some other bands that emerged from the domestic new wave. That is why instead of limited-life hits, we got evergreens that today represent an almost unavoidable part of Rundek’s concert repertoire and a permanent guarantee of his popularity in former Yugoslavia.”

About the album “Tajni grad” Boris Jokić wrote: “Rare are albums that successfully resist the nostalgic optics of “better days”. Those that time does not reveal or necessarily improve. Works that, although created at a certain moment, do not fall into the trap of generational albums. “Tajni grad” is exactly the kind of album that, if you give it a chance, retains the ability to change your view of people, society, love, hometown and art with its freshness and breadth. On “Tajni grad” the band is still brave in pushing boundaries, experienced in knowing that compromises in art are a path to triviality and certain in knowing that one should not run away from the audience but rather approach it.”

The album was remastered from the original tapes by Goran Martinac at the Croatia Records Studio, while the lacquer cut of the album was done at London’s Abbey Road Studios by Sean Magee, winner of the Grammy Award for the Beatles’ “Mono Box Set”. A download card with a code to download the mp3 version of the album is also added.

In addition to the 180 gram vinyl, the album also comes with an exclusive booklet containing texts by Ilko Čulić, Boris Jokić and Ante Tomić and an interview with Darko Rundek. The booklet also includes previously unpublished photos of Radomir Sarađen and Slavica Subotić, whose photos were also on the original edition of “Tajni grad”, as well as illustrations by Darko Rundek, created at the time of the original publication of the album. Darko Kujundžić is responsible for the artistic design of the reissue.