Nothing is really special about Lithuanian music in the grand scheme of things. Every genre has its quirks, and every country has its differences in how it handles them, let alone music in general. However, the semi-underground pop scene from Lithuania is one of the music scenes that means a lot to me. The amateurish sound, along with the artists leaving personal notes in the J-cards, feels almost like reading correspondance between two people from a long time ago. If it weren't for these artists, I might be a totally different person.
These artists will never know I exist, which is totally fine. The only downside is that I can't express to them how much their music meant to me when I was 16, and how much their music still means to me now. I'm sure the people behind Ledi-Disko would be happy to know I've got almost their entire discography in my collection. I know none of them will read this, but to them I say: Sveiki, ir ačiū jums!
Also, sorry for pirating so much of your music. There's not much I can really do about that.
What better way to express my love for this kind of music than to share it with the world? I spent a few hours on this playlist, trying to figure out what songs I wanted in which order. I don't speak Lithuanian, so the meaning of the songs itself may not convey exactly what I want to show. Each and every song on this playlist is from one of the tapes I own physically, and the audio comes directly from my own rips (even if better versions are on the internet).
For this reason, I do NOT recommend headphones—my tapes are pretty damaged, so if you hate when the left and right aren't balanced, you won't enjoy it with them on.
When the USSR dissolved, the Soviet label Мелодия left Lithuania, so a lot of people had to use equipment that wrasn't as up to snuff. People would travel town to town themselves to promote their music, and piracy was everywhere. It wasn't until 1993 or so that record labels would begin to pop up again, and artists were given more commercial support. Even then, many slipped through the cracks.
There were also tons of studio projects at the time, and pretty much anyone seemed to be able to make music if they so desired. The idea of the VIA had totally dissolved by this point, and lots of artists would produce just one song and disappear. You would find these kinds of artists on compilation tapes released by each label, with a favourite of mine appearing on 3'as Smūgis from M.E.G.A. Records.
While this is mostly speculation, I also believe that the culture of Lithuania (especially at the time) influenced a lot about its sound. Like most post-Soviet countries, I can't imagine it was doing very well financially. That, and most Eastern European countries aren't afraid of minor keys and melancholy sounds—mix that with your standard europop or dance, and you've got something that can only barely be replicated by the surrounding countries.
