Prazsky Vyber Ber CD

One of the most fascinating Czech rock albums of the 1990s. Fifteen years after making the previous disc, Straka, listened to by their fans on copied tapes, and a decade from the beginning of the band's official concerts, ?ok, Kocb, Kryp?n and Pavl??ek got together again in the Sono studio (a splendid sound conjured up by Karl?k and Cimfe) to record a dozen new songs. The traditional co-creators, Kocb and Pavl??ek, offered merely in part the traditional Pra?sk? v?b?r eccentric material, with their musical and human experience, as well as cooperation with the lyricist Vlasta T?e?k, shifting things into an ironic or slightly melancholic postrevolution seriousness. Many may recall the video-supplemented hit Melem nemelem, vechno semelem, yet listening to the album as a whole is highly recommended: From the introductory, almost Southern bluesy To? vem to ?as through the collectively heartfelt Ach jo, jak j jsem l?nej to the final Pavl??ek guitar bonanza St?n, it contains more than fifty minutes of wonderful music. The live recording of Melem, nemelem..., made during last year's concert tour, serves as proof that Pra?sk? v?b?r's 1997 pieces are still vital and well worth rediscovering on the new Supraphon CD re-edition.