EUROPA | VINYL RECORD (LP)

This double-LP, Europa, is dedicated to and inspired by events in 2015 and 2016, which saw the specter of global crisis come knocking at Europe's doorstep. During this time, more than a million migrants and refugees fled their homes in the Middle East, Northern Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and other conflict ravaged areas in search of a better life. For many, hopes of a future for themselves and their families lay in continental Europe. As already said about the preceding 12" single with the same name (MALKA 014EP), one of the most well-trodden paths on this journey was the Balkan route, a trail leading through Turkey, Greece, and the former Yugoslavia. This route was not without it's dangers, and the dreams of thousands upon thousands were dashed by impassible security fences and discordant EU politics, as one by one they were turned away at borders, or worse, forcibly returned to their countries of origin. Europa was recorded during long jam sessions in Belgrade as the media spotlight started to dim. The city became the purgatorial destination for a large number of migrants, whose journeys had been cut short. This double LP reflects the atmosphere of disillusionment and uncertainty about the future, which descended on the Serbian capital. Dark and melancholic saxophone playing on top of heavy kicks and Mediterranean percussions dominate the epic, 17-minute title track. The collaboration with Jerusalem In My Heart (Radwan Ghazi Moumneh) continues the melancholic atmosphere, adding JIMH's signature delayed balama sounds, to create a 12-minute emotional journey, tearing away abstract concepts of "longing" and "home" with ever growing tension and magnitude. Genre-less, illusive and not easy to categorize, Tapan's debut album on Malka Tuti is an original soundtrack of a fragment in time and space, capturing a moment and transcending it musically for the rest of the world to experience. The first LP is one-sided; side B is silkscreened. Comes in a black-on-black cover, including an insert riso-printed photo.