Set against the backdrop of the Bosnian War, it has all the plots and subplots that make Hollywood movies appealing to the mainstream. It has the bombs, the violence, romance, special effects and a great cast that would encourage mainstream moviegoers to watch it. It also has the Bosnian War itself, as a storyline which is not very mainstream and even if it were so, it would rustle feathers in communities, which are linked to the war. Those who remain blind to what happened during the years of Balkan bloodletting may find In the Land of Blood and Honey yet another intriguing war movie, which would successfully arouse devious emotions that have been explored in other mainstream war movies as well.

The fact that Angelina Jolie has attempted to use the Bosnian War as a theme makes many curious as to what the reactions of those involved in the actual war would be. The hunters and the hunted of the Balkan Wars of 1990s shall feel genuine reawakening of emotions that are still rather fresh in memory. It hasn’t been long after the last couple of bones were found in a desolate grave in the beautiful mountains of Bosnia. These bones are rather young, and if their owners were not murdered and killed, the bones would still have carried the weights of living people, some of whom would still be in their teenage years.

Angelina promises that though the movie uses the done-to-death Stockholm syndrome plot, it has something to offer to everyone, and will offer a wide landscape to explore the possible effects of war on human relationships and behaviour. She admits that it is a complex plot, made more complex by the reality of the theme which is bloody, disturbing and full of wounds that are still not healed. Tragic as it is, movies that explore the effects of Balkan War on the people of former Yugoslavian people have mostly been critically acclaimed, and managed to rustle emotions of people who were involved in the wars, or those who passively or actively participated in it, and endured it. These are the very people who have seen their lives being destroyed right in front of their eyes, and these are also the very same people whose memories are scarred with the sounds of gunfire, of screams of rape victims, and of people dying. The rest of the people either saw these movies as ‘just another war movie’ or worse, ‘amazing movies with great special effects’.

Jolie who has worked closely with the people of the Balkan region and the victims of Bosnian War has the luxury of personal experience with her film theme, celebrity status, financial strength and access to technology and marketing. This undoubtedly gives her an edge over other big names in Hollywood, who might have all the above correlates but for personal experience. In the Land of Blood and Honey will pique those stuck in the cycles of conflict and hatred, arouse the interest of film critics and grab the attention of mainstream audience.

Bosnian writer Ivo Andric had captured the Balkan mood quite prophetically in his short story ‘Letter from the Year 1920‘. The first-person narrator of the story reflects on the nature of human hatred which is seen as a correlate of fear and the driving force behind wars, particularly in the Balkan region.

The story is rather ironic in nature for the fear experienced by the Jewish doctor towards Bosnia and its feuding peoples made him leave his beloved country, for he was repulsed by the organic hatred which surrounded him. Eventually, hatred of other people takes his life, when he mortally wounded while treating his patients in Spain. Hatred, Ivo Andric felt, would consume those who hated it, and also those who loved it. Ivo Andric described his own understanding of wars, religious violence and hatred in the Balkans, and centuries of suspicion and take-it-for-granted sort of hatred, which according to him, gave the people of Balkans a purpose to live.

The Balkan region has curiously been a microcosm of human culture itself, for it has been the scene of all the hatred, love, prosperity and devastation that humankind has ever known. Prophet that he was, the hatred that he describes Letter from the Year 1920 convulsed the Balkan region again during the 1990s. This time, the hatred was acted upon as revenge by those who were blinded by their state of victimization. Thus, the victims of yesteryears become the perpetrators of today, and the victims of today would perpetrate atrocities against victims of tomorrow.

A part of this dark tale of hunters and the hunted will now be captured on the celluloid by Angelina Jolie in her movie which shall explore the relationship between the female, Muslim and Bosnian protagonist and her Serbian, male captor who eventually becomes her lover. Caught in the cycle of hatred as they both are, they make for a wonderful storyline that will entertain the audience across the world. The tragedy however is movies that have themes of recent wars usually entertain the larger audience, and remain a topic of discussion for a few weeks or months. The real wounds are either aggravated, or healing wounds are scratched again to bleed a bit here and a bit there. What is not tragic is that both big and low budget movies provide landscapes for people to study human behaviour, and how many of our thoughts and actions have been thought and acted by generations of people, and will continue to be.

Electronic music was dead, you thought. Well, all that one thinks needn’t be true, and just because they are not visible on the top radio stations or on the hit lists does not mean they have their takers. In fact, electronic music, electroclash & seedier versions of electroclash like electroporn, electrocrap etc have continued to be popular in spite of Peaches’ mainstream decline, not that she is the only ambassador for the genre. In an age where artists are expected and implored to be politically correct to suit the tastes of a bland mass audience, electroclash, electroporn and other sub-genres of electronic music are surprisingly popular, if one just looked around.

Garbage for instance was one of the most famous alternative rock bands to experiment with electronic noises, and sounds. That inspired several musicians to try their own versions of electronic music, and Junksista is a promising band in this genre. Hailing from a small town in Southern Germany, Junksista (the lead singer goes by this stagename, apart from Junksista being the band’s name)  grew up listening to Garbage and was heavily influenced by their electronic beats and bass guitar riffs. A stylish electro-porn sound, sexually explicit lyrics, heavy bass and synthesizers and a sprechgesang lyrical style have ensured that Junksista will grab the attention of those who love electronic music.

Grab attention, she surely did. With their first EP ‘Click Me’ and with the album ‘Cunt Rock’, Junksista has got quite a cult following of her own, and she works with her long time friend, band-mate and producer, Boog. Boog is not only the producer of the band Junksista, but also helps with fine tuning music, and plays the guitar. “Gaywhorebourhood,” inspired by a weekend trip in Amsterdam could just be one of the most popular tracks by Junksista so far, and is reminiscent of kinky people dancing away in gay clubs dressed in tight rubber, PVC and collars. Junksista does not like to carry the baggage of writing about how life sucks, or how life is unfair. While she acknowledges that life can be truly unfair through her dark guitar riffs and industrial beats, she also makes music fun with pornographic lyrics.

Perhaps, electroclash can bring porn and music together, and finally give them both a space they deserve in the realm of art. At the basis of every song is ridiculous humour, and a tendency to ‘not care about anything’.

In this interview, Junksista, aka Diana S. reveals her plans to take over the world, make the next album, her views on electronic music and music industry in general, and how badly she wants to perform live at a Garbage concert.

JC: Much of your music is heavily influenced by Peaches’ version of Elctroclash, and Garbage’s version of sophisticated and stylish electronic music. With Garbage’s new album coming up, we are not really sure what the sound is going to be. However, one could say that electronic music is dwarfed in popularity when compared with other dance music genres that are currently popular. Do you see that your style of music could revive electronica?

Junksista: Obviously I´d love it if we could revive electronic! Haha, wish us good luck with that! Yeah dance is everywhere! I mean even RnB artists converted to dance music…WTF? It seems to be the best way to sell music these days. That explains why all these recent dance songs sound, like they were cooked according to the same recipe. And it will be going on until someone brave comes along with something new and then everyone else will copy it. I think there still is really great electronic music out there. You just won’t find much of it in the charts and on the radio.

JC: How relevant are musical trends to you, especially when you are growing as a musician? It goes without saying that the journey uphill can be nerve-wracking and difficult, to say the least.

Junksista: I don’t give a flying fuck about trends.

JC: Many 90s musicians have begun to produce and record music on their own. This is mostly because the mainstream record companies find it difficult to market what they consider isn’t popular. Would you ever ‘tone’ down your style of music to make it more appealing to the larger market? An album name like ‘Cunt Rock’ definitely would attract the bashers.

Junksista: I don’t know if that would help to reach a larger market. If we tone down our music, won’t it be more random then and drown in this ocean of random music out there? So far our experience is, that we’re reaching exactly the kind of people we wanna reach. Just not enough of them so far!

JC: The kinky and explicit lyrics are honest, and straight from the heart. Was it difficult for you to be yourself, and did you meet resistance from the mainstream groups?

Junksista: I don’t think the lyrics are straight from the heart – they are straight from somewhere else, if you know what I mean! Haha!
The thing is – I am having fun writing those lyrics. I rarely feel like writing deep and meaningful stuff – leave alone political content.
Life is unfair and love is a bitch, at least music should be fun!

JC: Describe an incident that made you more skeptical about the way things are, in the music industry.

Junksista: I could write a lot about this, but basically it comes down to this: right now we are spammed with so much trashy, unoriginal music and it’s a result of the fact that the music industry doesn’t care if something is original or artistic. They consider artists and music as a productand rate it by how well it can be sold. It’s a shame that many talented artists are starving out there cuz they simply can’t find a way to reach a larger audience.

JC: Your musical and lyrical style could make you an alternative gay icon almost immediately. Do you think electroporn/electroclash music would find popularity among the mainstream? If it did, would it defeat the purpose of being ‘alternative’?

Junksista: In a perfect world, it would be mainstream and everyone would listen to Junksista all day long. Haha, but seriously, we don’t waste any thoughts on the question “Are we still alternative enough?” “Can we do that song, or will it sound mainstream?”. Hipsters can torture themselves with these questions and decisions but we just do what we do best and we hope that as many people as possible will enjoy it. If that would make it mainstream, I´d be fine with it. We won’t rest until our music is played in every gay club worldwide!

JC: Why the name ‘Junksista’? It is ironic, but I call one of my friends ‘Cuntsista’

Junksista: Oh my god, Cuntsista…I should have thought of that!! Of course I needed a name related to Garbage. And let’s face it – Junksista sounds cool. It was also my DJ name.

 JC: Tell us about other bands, musicians that you like and those who have influenced you.

Junksista: As trashy as it sounds, but all this 90s Eurodance influences me a lot. Stuff like 2Unlimited or Culture Beat. It was the music of my teenage years and I just can’t stop loving it. I am also a huge fan of (obviously) Garbage, Björk, Goldfrapp, Simian Mobile Disco and The Kills and some 80s bands like the Bangles, A-Ha, Billy Idol and Cyndi Lauper. Boog, the other half of Junksista is a true rocker and unbelievably great guitar player. He is into stuff like Trivium, Killswitch engage and many 80s rockbands. I still think it’s amazing that the two of us can actually work together and agree on the result!

JC: Which unknown, struggling musicians would you like us all to listen to?

Junksista: Well I don’t think they’re struggling, but hey – everyone should check out the Vinyl Black Stilettos! It’s mega catchy, really well produced and the singer is super-hot! We found each other on Twitter and I stayed in touch with front Lady Laura D.! We remixed a song for them and all of us like liked the result so much, that we decided to record an EP together. That’s actually the next thing we’ll release and I am very excited about it. We´ll play a gig together in London on the 8th of October and we’ll play one of our new songs together.

JC: What’s your second album gonna be like?

Junksista: It might feature more guitars! When we recorded the first EP, we didn’t even plan to play live. Now that we know we will, we want it to rock more!

JC: What do you think of the famous ‘noir’ incident that Shirley Manson endured?

Junksista: If you mean that Geffen Records turned her down cuz her material was too noir then this is what I think: either the material wasn’t that good, or it was and Geffen Records just didn’t think it would sell well. But I guess we’ll never know. Also she could have released it on her own. That’s what many musicians do these days.

JC: How excited are you about Garbage’s new album, and what do you think the sound is going to be like?

Junksista: I am mega excited! And I have no idea at all what it will sound like, Haha! I am trying not to expect anything, just be open to whatever they’ll present us!

 JC: It is clear that you love Garbage, and that you want to perform with them. Which Garbage song/songs would you like to cover, and what would you play if you got an opportunity to open for them?

Junksista: I will make a statement now: Junksista won’t ever cover anyone. When I like an artist or a song, I just want to listen to it – I don’t feel the need to prove that I can also do this song or even improve it. When I heard Placebos cover version of “running up that hill”, I thought “Gimme a break!” I am not saying that it`s always bad and wrong to cover – I heard a great version of a “The Knife” by Gossip and I usually like it when Marilyn Manson covers a song.  Also I´d probably be up for a parody of something that is already shitty.

If we’d open for Garbage we’d simply play this cool show we’re preparing now. We added lots of guitars to all the songs which make them just bigger. I don’t know any electro band with a guitar player like Boog in them, so I think we’ve got an advantage there!
Of course I’d be thinking the whole time “Holy fuck, are we really opening for Garbage right now?”

(c)lick me EP by Junksista

Chérie – The imaginary war remixes by Junksista

Don’t say no by Junksista

The great Deal (Junksista remix) by imaginarywarofficial

Watch out for more on Junksista, and the next time around, it is going to get only more exciting! Meanwhile, do join the ‘Junksista for Garbage Support Act Group on Facebook’ that’s been screaming for attention from the evil people in Garbage to let Junksista open for them. Or go ahead, and Tweet till Butch Vig, Shirley Manson and other darklings get the message that Junksista is here to stay, and that she and her fans will do anything to open for Garbage.

About Shirley Manson’s debut album being too ‘noir’, she gave away many of her songs on her Facebo0k for free, and they were all gems. That makes many of us think that her debut album was not commercial/mainstream enough for the record companies to package, market and sell.

I always wanted to be like Gwen Stefani during my childhood and probably she and her spectacular band No Doubt helped me to listen to you more. It is quite funny in fact. There was a time when the No Doubt and Garbage fan boards used to be active. Really active. Back in those days, we did not have Facebook or Twitter or even Blogs to network and communicate with other fans. The fanboards served the purpose of being a tool to communicate with others who listened to similar kind of music.

Most No Doubters in 1999 and 2000 were also Garbage fans, which I think is quite true to this day. I was more into No Doubt than Garbage initially, and I think I have a few funny confessions to make. Let me tell you a few dark secrets about myself. I would get pissed off when people would compare you with Gwen Stefani, and how Garbage was cooler than No Doubt. When you are 14/15, such comparisons can trigger off strong emotions. I registered myself on the pink Garbage fanboard (Ah, how I miss it!) and began to participate on the forum.

I couldn’t keep my bitchy mouth shut, and started threads like ‘Holy No Doubt and Garbage War’, which served the purpose of not only being the star of the board for a few minutes, but also fed me with enough fodder to believe I could start a revolution to prove that No Doubt was somehow so much cooler and better than Garbage.

I mobilized a few No Doubters, and I don’t really remember the names. One was a 12 year old girl who wanted to look just like Gwen and used to tell me how I could train my voice to sing like her, but my voice ‘broke’. She and I went on a rampage on the board, and one of your greatest fans Walid Awadh, who went by the name ‘mysteron’ on the pink board would remember the details.

The number of tunnels that I walked through, and the number of ‘darkened halls’ I have lived in have faded my memory so much so that I don’t remember what my nicknames were on both No Doubt and Garbage fanboards. While No Doubt continued to be one of my favorite bands, I began to listen to you, Shirley Manson more often. Ah, let me also tell you how I ended up listening to you and just you. In a fit of rage and madness, one day I burned all my photographs and tapes.

When I went to the local music store in a town that I lived in India, they only had Garbage, the self-titled debut album. I was happy to get back one of my burned tapes back and being poor as a church mouse that I was, listened to the album day in, and day out for about 3 months. When I could manage to purchase Version 2.0 and Beautiful Garbage, I was lucky enough to find most of the other tapes which I had set alight as well. Thus my tape collection continued to grow, and so did my scars.

The more I listened to Garbage, the more comforted I felt, and gave me the strength to fight my demons and my scars. When Bleed Like Me was in stores, I had a CD player finally and that album strangely prompted me to consider majoring in psychology. Until today, I have not come across a simpler, more minimalist and stronger song that depicts mental illness in all its forms and in all its incomprehensibleness.

Garbage as a band helped me to discover new music, and I began to listen to Hole, PJ Harvey, Radiohead, Tori Amos, Marianne Faithfull, Blondie, Nico and before I knew, a whole new world of music opened up right in front of me. One cannot of course ignore the importance of Internet as a medium in helping listeners find the music they want in places they may not be physically able to purchase. Moreover, physical tapes and CDs are redundant now, and I thank the darkest of angels of that.

The last 11-12 years of being your fan has not only helped me to fight my own demons, but I have found other musicians, bands and writers who think like you, sing like you and feel similarly about the way things work. I know, that is a really vague way to put that across, and I don’t think I am even making sense anymore.

What prompted me to write this lengthy, almost confessional and probably naive post was your birthday. I had typed the first few lines of this blogpost on my cellphone in an attempt to put it on your Facebook wall. The damned phone would not allow me to type beyond a certain number of characters. How could I show my gratitude, love and say thanks to you in just a few words? Thus, I had to write this letter-sort-of-thing which may not make sense, may appear juvenile (Aren’t we all?) and fanboy-ish. I don’t have any qualms in saying that this could be the most subjective piece I have ever written, and I mean every word I say.

Apart from introducing me to a world of new genres, artists, and subcultures, you and the boys, and No Doubt (I hope they release their album soon!) have been extremely important in shaping me in becoming the person I am today. Like I said initially, many of Garbage’s songs are life-savers. A few of them continue to save mine. And you continue to be a catcher in the rye to me and other darklings around the world. I shall stop my praises here, before I appear too corny. Happy Birthday Shirley Manson!

Official Site of Garbage, Garbage on Facebook, Garbage on Twitter, Shirley Manson on Twitter, Shirley Manson on FaceBook,  Butch Vig on Twitter,

‘Nihilism!’, one might accuse but Parade encourages the listener to believe in something that is worth fighting for, as the lyrics of the song puts it “it doesn’t matter who you are’. Unfortunately, human culture has always insisted that it truly matters how you live, what you believe in, what you drink, what you eat, what you do not eat, which position you like it the best, whether you are circumcised or not, whether you are born with a penis or a vagina, and so on and so forth.

While ‘human values’ teach us that all these qualities and more are important and create the ‘essence’ of a person, and the reason for one’s existence, Parade suggests that while life could be pretty meaningless, it could be made worthwhile if you could believe in something that is ‘worth fighting for’. Thus, if you choose to fight for yours or your friend’s right to keep a child’s body intact, that could be a step away from the ‘parade’.

If you believe that it is worth fighting for your right to stay healthy in a country where appointments are given 3 months after you report falling sick, then you are again moving away from the ‘parade’. Being unconventional and not conforming to accepted social and cultural norms could just be the most powerful tools to ‘believe in something that is worth fighting for’. However, that certainly would not include manufactured belief systems like religion, cults, fascism and sometimes, even science to an extent.

The flipside of course, is that we never learn from history, and the parade continues in different forms and names. Ka-boom!

Parade on YouTube

Eastern Europe has this curious ability to produce some of the best electronic and dance musicians in the industry. While the 90s were rather traumatic for those in the region, the last decade and the present one has seen a number of young and promising artists, who seem to be helping in reviving electronic music, and at the same time boosting tourism in the region. One of the promising and young artists from the region is Igor Garnier. Igor is a Serbian DJ, music producer, songwriter and remix artist who is one of the hottest names in the Belgrade club scene. In fact, many clubs abroad have begun to play his numbers too, and his popularity rests heavily upon the sound technical and musical background he comes with.

The 21 year old DJ began to play piano at the age of 6, and attended the Music High School, after which he majored in Sound Engineering at the European Music University. An eclectic combination of music theory, sound engineering, professional equipment and a zest for promoting Belgrade club scene to a larger International crowd has prompted Igor Garnier to experiment with moods, beats and tunes. Of particular interest are the numbers ‘Belgrade People’ and ‘Milka Canic’.

Igor Garnier feat. Minja – Belgrade People is a club track that doubles up as a way to project Belgrade as a friendly city which welcomes people regardless of colour, race or nationality. In fact, the song quite reflects the situation of Belgrade, which is usually perceived by foreigners as a post-Yugoslav city which may not be very friendly. On the contrary, Belgrade has been listed as one of the best places to party by the Lonely Planet, and it is popular among most Europeans looking for a great time.

Milka Canic supervises the popular show TV Slagalica and could perhaps be the most popular Serbian meme. The video features Milka Canic with her trademark smile, uttering Dobro veče (Good Evening). Milka Canic has remained popular and has been an idol for generations of Serbians who have witnessed some of the most unfortunate incidents in history. Igor Garnier’s Milka Canic reflects the optimism, and the carefree abandon which is what Serbian culture is all about today.

Artists like Igor Garnier, club music and parties could help Belgrade and other cities in Serbia to draw more tourists. For most young people now, Belgrade does not evoke images of tribunes, NATO and bombs. Instead, it is the place to be seen at, party, dance and witness the growth of a a new era in the history of electronic music thanks to DJs like Igor Garnier.

Igor Garnier on Facebook, Twitter

Marc Schmitz, a Berlin-based artist shall hold an art show at the Kai Hilgemann gallery in Berlin and is titled ‘EDEN’. The show is a visuo-sensual experience with neon works, new paintings, and installations. The installations are particularly poignant and seem to acknowledge the dichotomies that bind human experiences. The installations include two knot works made from camel hair, pearls and rubber project from the wall in about 40 cm height and cross the gallery’s floor.

The artist’s previous sculpture from Baku N°5 could be seen at the back, and a clock from the 70s, picked from a bank is installed as well. EDEN perhaps seeks to encourage people to question the quest for balance, perfection and order in a space that allows freedom to ‘feel’.

As abstract as art could be, EDEN could be a gentle critique on values that are priceless to the human existence. The gallery would feature Marc Schmitz’ various works and could be a semiotic from as blatant as the art market to something as surreal as the incomprehensible desire for order. The art show would open on the 18th of March, 2011 and would be open till the 23rd of April, 2011.

Marc Schmitz is a German artist based in Beriln who has participated in group and solo exhibitions all around the world. He is most recognized for his non linear perspectives.

Galerie Kai Hilgemann is located at Zimmerstrasse 90/91, 10117 Berlin

The gallery can be contacted at Tel +49 30 20453396 . info@kaihilgemann.com

“Don’t touch Me, You’re Too Hot”, could be Debbie’s way of saying that music could be made and sung without writing lengthy poetry, and still get you obsessed! Of course, this is from her solo album “Necessary Evil” released in September 2007.

While Blondie fans wait for the new album to arrive or at least be announced, it could be a good idea to play this all day and night!

Image

Paintings and art works by artist-couples could be a great way to study if each other’s love could play any effect on the art they create. The entanglements and bonding of emotions could be reflected in the art that an artist-couple could create. Studying the influences of lovers on each other’s art could be something that only an observing eye could feel, but not “decipher”.

This deciphering comes naturally and thus the idea behind the theme: Art is accessible and is not difficult to understand. Themes like these make art more attractive and less intimidating as an average Joe would assume art to be. This exhibition surely is going to be one of the most exciting, and would take place from the 21st of May.

For instance, a couple of decades ago, artists had to depend upon galleries and curators in order to find a venue for exhibition but the virtual world has allowed artists to be self dependant and even find ways to make exhibitions innovative and more.

The relationship between contemporary art and the internet is something that could be studied “as and when it happens”. With that in mind, the month of May shall witness a novel exhibition and what makes the exhibition special and connected to the Virtual world is something that would be revealed by the artists involved to us sooner or later.

We are not sure if we could reveal the information about this exciting exhibition featuring contemporary art in a few hours, days or a couple of weeks. It shall however take place in the month of May and could change the way people perceive art, and the way art reaches people. Thanks to a bunch of artists, we may perhaps be on the brink of witnessing some real changes in the way contemporary art is going to evolve. More to come soon!