And, indeed, I will ask on my own account here, an idle question: which is better—cheap happiness or exalted sufferings? Well, which is better?---Fyodor Dostoevsky ---Notes from Underground Fyodor Dostoevsky ---Notes from Underground Even now, so many years later, all this is somehow a very evil memory. I have many evil memories now, but ... hadn’t I better end my “Notes” here? I believe I made a mistake in beginning to write them, anyway I have felt ashamed all the time I’ve been writing this story; so it’s hardly literature so much as a corrective punishment. Why, to tell long stories, showing how I have spoiled my life through morally rotting in my corner, through lack of fitting environment, through divorce from real life, and rankling spite in my underground world, would certainly not be interesting; a novel needs a hero, and all the traits for an anti-hero are expressly gathered together here, and what matters most, it all produces an unpleasant impression, for we are...
Hope
To be human is to be a miracle of evolution conscious of its own miraculousness — a consciousness beautiful and bittersweet, for we have paid for it with a parallel awareness not only of our fundamental improbability but of our staggering fragility, of how physiologically precarious our survival is and how psychologically vulnerable our sanity. To make that awareness bearable, we have evolved a singular faculty that might just be the crowning miracle of our consciousness: hope.--
Erich Fromm
Uspavanka za Radmilu M. - Vlatko Stefanovski, LIVE
Vladimir "Vlatko" Stefanovski is a Macedonian ethno-rock jazz fusion guitar virtuoso.Wikipedia
Uspavanka za Radmilu M. is the sixth studio album by the Yugoslav rock band Bijelo Dugme, released in 1983. Uspavanka za Radmilu M. was Bijelo Dugme's last studio album recorded with vocalist Željko Bebek.Wikipedia
Vlatko Stefanovski(born January 24, 1957, in Prilep, Macedonia) is widely regarded as one of the premier guitar virtuosos, composers, and cultural icons of the former Yugoslavia and contemporary Europe.Best known as the founding driving force behind the legendary fusion band Leb i Sol, Stefanovski’s career spans over five decades, defined by a seamless synthesis of traditional Balkan folk idioms, jazz-rock, blues, and contemporary guitar craft.
1. The Leb i Sol Era (1976–1991)
In his late teens, Stefanovski—alongside keyboardist Kokan Dimuševski, bassist Bodan Arsovski, and drummer Garabet Tavitjan—formed Leb i Sol (meaning "Bread and Salt"). The band quickly evolved into one of the most vital, commercially successful, and critically acclaimed acts in the Yugoslav rock scene.
The Ethno-Rock Pioneer Phase: Their self-titled debut (1978) and Leb i Sol 2 (1978) pioneered a unique brand of "ethno-rock," combining high-energy electric rock and jazz-fusion with intricate, asymmetric Balkan folk rhythms (such as 7/8 and 9/8 time signatures).
Prog & New Wave Shifts: Subsequent albums like Ručni Rad leaned heavily into complex jazz-rock virtuosity, while the 1980s saw the band navigate new wave and pop-rock sensibilities before concluding their initial run with a string of vocal-driven pop-rock releases.
2. Musical Style and Guitar Technique
Stefanovski’s playing is instantly recognizable for its distinct tonal clarity, fluid phrasing, and deep emotional resonance.
Asymmetric Mastery: While Western rock largely relies on standard 4/4 or 3/4 meters, Stefanovski mastered the complex, rolling meters of Macedonian and Balkan folk music, translating them effortlessly into high-octane electric soloing.
Dual Identities: He transitions fluidly between fierce, high-gain electric fusion (he is famously associated with modified Fender Stratocasters) and delicate, deeply expressive acoustic fingerstyle playing.
3. Solo Career & Major Collaborations
Following the quiet dissolution of Leb i Sol, Stefanovski launched a diverse and prolific solo career, refusing to stay confined to a single genre.
Solo Releases:His debut solo album, Cowboys & Indians (1994), explored everything from ambient moods to acoustic blues, setting the tone for later acclaimed records like Kula od karti (2003), Seir (2014), and Taftalidze Shuffle (2020).
Acoustic Guitar Masterpieces:His partnership with guitarist Miroslav Tadić resulted in landmark acoustic albums like Kruševo (1998) and Treta Majka (2004), which stripped Macedonian traditional music down to raw, intimate acoustic arrangements that received global critical acclaim.
Global Collaborations:Over the decades, Stefanovski has shared the stage and studio with an international roster of top-tier artists, including Tommy Emmanuel, Stochelo Rosenberg, Gibonni, Jan Akkerman, Theodosii Spassov, Bojan Zulfikarpasić, Manu Katché, and Tony Levin.
4. Film, Theater, and Orchestral Work
Stefanovski is an accomplished composer for dramatic arts.He has written scores for numerous award-winning films (such as Stole Popov’s Gypsy Magic and Yeşim Ustaoğlu’s Journey to the Sun, which won awards at the Berlin International Film Festival), theater productions, and ballets.
As a soloist, he has also performed alongside major European symphonic institutions, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the MDR Leipzig Symphony Orchestra, and the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra
"Sedam osmina" (Serbo-Croatian for "seven-eighths") in music refers to a 7/8 time signature, often found in Balkan folk music, where a measure contains seven eighth notes
The 7/8 Time Signature: It is the technical name for septuple meter. This complex, asymmetrical rhythm is a fundamental characteristic of Balkan folk music, often divided into patterns like 3+2+2 or 2+2+3.
"Solsbury Hill" by Peter Gabriel: Often cited as the most recognizable pop song in an odd meter, it is written primarily in 7/4 (which shares the same 7-beat feel as 7/8).
