Rundek Cargo Trio (FR/CH/HR/BA)

During the early 1980s Croatia's capital Zagreb was unique in Central Europe in producing a Punk / New-Wave scene that was both massively popular and genuinely homegrown. Far from being a marginal subculture, it defined a generation. One of its central figures was Darko Rundek (born 1956), whose band Haustor produced a sophisticated mix of post-punk, reggae and intelligent pop.

In 1991 Rundek relocated to Paris, where he made music for several theatre plays, while also working on his first solo release. His hiatus as a recording and performing artist came to an end with a triumphant release of his 1997 album Apokalipso, an infectious blend of world music, jazz, chanson and thinking-person’s rock-and-roll.

While touring and promoting Apokoalipso (a wordplay on apocalypse and Calypso) and its 1998 follow up U Sirokom Svijetu (Throughout The Wide World) Rundek and his touring band metamorphosed into the Rundel Cargo Orkestar, a multinational unit whose albums Ruke (Hands) and Mhm A-Ha Oh Yeah Da-Da, released in 2004 and 2006 respectively, included some of the most eclectic and deftly crafted songs around.

In 2009 Rundek distilled the Rundek Cargo Orchestra to Rundek Cargo Trio with the aim of bringing his music closer to audiences through the intimacy and transparency that this basic formation affords. Alongside Rundek himself, the trio is comprised by the Swiss violinist Isabel and the Franco-Bosnian multi instrumentalist Dušan Duco Vranic.

Rundek Cargo Trio's first album Plavi Avion (Blue Airplane) breaks away from the usual structures to explore the more open, improvised and storytelling landscapes. The songs' loose arrangements leave the room for each of the three musicians to imprint their own expression on the music; The magnificent Isabel's processed violin provides a dazzling array of sounds, from the Hendrix-esque guitars to the double bass; Seated on a cajon, Duco plays the piano, accordion, samples, percussion, ukulele all the while singing the background vocals; Rundek provides the acoustic and electric guitars, the voice and the poetry.

http://wimp.no/album/5434440
http://darko-rundek.com/