Miha Kralj, the legendary pioneer of Slovenian electronic music, who was once called the Yugoslav Jean-Michel Jarre, will debut his long-awaited new album Parallel Mirror, the first in almost thirty years, in Šiška in April.
Almost exactly ten years ago, the now-defunct French music-producer tandem Daft Punk released the electro-pop album Random Access Memories, whose title perfectly summarizes the course of Miha Kralj’s career. Random access to memory is something that has accompanied Kralj throughout most of his solo career, which began in 1980 with a trip to the Andromeda constellation. On the way back, he composed an odyssey (Odyssey, 1982) and immersed himself in electric dreams (Electric Dreams, 1985) for 38 years. For a long time, it seemed that he would never wake up from them, until accessibility and coincidence plucked him from memory and brought him through a time loop to the films Tehnika Ljudstvu and the biography Electric Dreams. The past is thus archived and Miha Kralj turned again to where he had always been placed – to the future. Instead of looking in the rear-view mirror, he will present a parallel view, a new full-length album. Parallel Mirror will be performed in its entirety at the premiere concert at Kino Šiška.
The year 1985 was very eventful in Slovenian popular music. The band Bazar won the MMS competition with the song “Dober dan”, Martin Krpan won Pop Delavnica with the song “Njen trenutek prihaja”, Janez Bončina Benč came out with “Ob šanku”, Rekapitulacija (1980-1984) and the debut of the group Laibach were both released, the group Videosex released the album Lacrimae Christi, the collective Borghesia the album Ljubav je hladnija od smrti, the group Miladojka Youneed and the dance disco duo Moulin Rouge both formed … Miha Kralj was also in full form, realising his third solo record in five years, Electric Dreams, and there was no indication that he would pull the plug as the solitary man surrounded by synths and laser beams. In the face of many more and less predictable circumstances, this happened and only his memory remained, occasional run-ins on the terraces of hotels or dance events, which he accompanied with his electronic components, which was unacceptable for many. In his own way, he retreated underground. He became a character, and cut through the media ignoring by occasionally writing songs and performing at various festivals (Duo Error). At the same time, he was engaged to write various soundscapes and jingles for theatrical activities. Over the years, even his “Andromeda” fell silent during the Planica sky jumps.
Random access to documentary memory stopped musical astronaut Miha Kralj on his way to oblivion. From the margins of recognition, he became more and more involved in our musical and cultural everyday. This encouraged him to start designing, connecting analogue and digital circuits into small electronic sound symphonies, in which he incorporated some of his classic space futurism (“Spiral Galaxy”, “Alien”, “Space Cowboy”) with a human face (“Human Age”). These are all titles from the upcoming album Parallel Mirror. In doing so, Kralj maintained the same way of working as in the past – alone and in his own way. The new album, which will be premiered on April 6, has been in the making for six years. Miha Kralj, not his hologram, will stand on stage, surrounded by forty analogue and digital sound synthesizers. Welcome to the parallel mirror.
Foreword: Gregor Bauman
Tickets on sale online and at Eventim outlets.
Organisation: Kino Šiška.
