Retsepti--რეცეპტი--Reissue of Powerful Georgian Post-Punk band

I found out about Retsepti accidentally, when I was buying a Pointed Sticks Xmas single from La-Ti-Da records. I was browsing their website and was looking at the Supreme Echo catalog, a reissue label that they help distribute. They put an album out by a Georgian band.

The City reined by Wolves

So I saw the 2006 anthology CD by Retsepti that they put out and I really thought that it would be worth listening to, though I had no idea what I would be getting precisely. Buying music blindly can be a hit or miss proposition, obviously. I had heard no hype from any source about this recording, but as it turns out my musical intuitions panned out. Though the vocals are all in Georgian, which leaves me at a bit of a disadvantage, this is a strong collection of post/punky new wave goodness. And though you can certainly make comparisons to other bands, this is by no-means cookie-cutter imitative music.





The first thing I noticed of course was the elaborate packaging. I have to imagine that it wasn't easy for this project to come to fruition for a label in British Columbia, Canada to release an album from a former Soviet Republic halfway around the world. Jason Flower at Supreme Echo states in the liner notes that "this has been the most challenging and painstaking release to-date." And no doubt there was, beyond a belief in the powerful music of Retsepti, a great deal of economic bravery. If this was a movie instead of an album, which required getting backers to fund it, the concept alone would probably doom this to a thumbs-down. Who would be your market for this, who would buy this release? Not even where's the single here. So obviously a labor of love--a recording that they felt the world needed to hear, and I am in complete agreement. You have to admire people who undertake projects like this. Clearly this collection was intended for an English speaking audience. The song lyrics have been translated into English. There apparently was some restoration work that needed to be done on the music, but as far as questions exist about the sonic quality of the recordings, the music sounds pretty good for me. Nothing was added or dubbed in.

Of course, playing this sort of music must have entailed a great deal of bravery and idealism in the face of oppression. The consequences of speaking your mind over there is probably incomprehensible to a person like me living in the USA.

The Band:
Lado Burduli--lead vocals, guitar
Zaza Sakhamberidze--guitar
Kakha "Josef" Gugushvili--bass
Shalva Khakhanashvili--keyboards
Vova Vardaniani-drums
Sandro "Kirpicha" Kapanadze--saxophone

In trying to describe the band, its almost hard to pin them down, because the songs were recorded over a number of years, and stylistically the songs vary a bit. What is consistent however, are the powerful, tortured, angst-filled vocals of Lalo Burduli. These guys really meant business judging by the music. That must have been a pretty tough era to live through--though the yoke of being a republic in the Soviet union was thrown off during their existence, the transition must have been harsh. As far as the music goes, the band play their instruments with a great deal of competence, with some fairly spectacular guitar work. In a lot of ways the songs I like best on the collection remind me of Adrian Borland and the Sound, or maybe The Chameleons UK. They remind me of early Wire in some places. One of the songs with saxophones had a sort of pop quality that made me think he may have been a Bowie fan. But overall, there is a beautifully ominous tension to the music and when combined with Burduli's fervent singing, there is some great music being made. This album was way way better than my expectations.



There is a long interview with Burduli in the liner notes, very interesting. He definitely seems to be a lifer, rebellious, independent in his opinions, unrepentant yet still a little idealistic. I spent only a few days in Georgia in the 1980's when it was still a CCR, and I was pretty amazed by the country, the culture, the people, the great cuisine and wine. I had an idea of how things were in Russia but for me Armenia and Georgia were a blank page for me--I had no preconceived ideas. I guess I was smitten in the same way Russian writers over the past centuries have spent time in this area to the South and written about it. So maybe that was why I was drawn to this recording initially. But ultimately I was rewarded with my purchase because this music is pretty terrific.

Of course, what is interesting to me may not be to you. This music might not be for everybody, but if you like to hear new things (or in this case a new old thing), this might be just thing to give your jaded ears some relief.