KING RAT RADIO

GERIAUSIOS LIETUVOS DAINOS (1990-IEJI)

One of the things that got me so into music preservation (and just music in general, really) was the music scene in Lithuania following the fall of the USSR. At some point I hope to make a long list of artists from this region and era that I really like, but that would take a lot of work! I actually had a forum thread like that for a while, but I haven't been active there in ages.

Lithuanian music from this time has a very amateurish feel to it. Due to the fall of the USSR, the label Мелодия (which basically recorded, pressed, and published records for a good portion of the USSR) left the country, so they had to start with less good equipment. It wasn't until 1993 or 1994 that official releases became common for all artists, since before then people would go place to place and give people the tapes themselves. This unfortunately means that the early part of this scene is difficult to research, but I'm sure the Lithuanians themselves are more aware of it.

Instead, for now, I'll introduce you to some that seem to be popular with people on the 'Net:

LEDI-DISKO (1995-1996)

Ledi-Disko or Ledi Disko was a studio project cover band. Her 1995 album, Šok su manim, covers mostly songs by the Russian band Мираж and the singer Natalia Gulkina. Her 1996 album Supermergaitė is still mostly covers from what I remember, however not all of the songs have been identified yet. She appeared on three compilation tapes, and I own almost every appearance of hers on tape.

I've uploaded her two albums to my Blogspot, but some people have re-uploaded them to YouTube, so you can check them out there. Additionally, the channel Ultradiskopanorama has a handful of high-quality rips from these same albums, as well as the 1995 version of 'Supermergaitė'.

She appears to be mostly popular with people less familiar with the scene (including foreigners), since she's barely even a footnote in media from her time. Ledi-Disko's identity is completely unknown, and to this day nobody seems to really know who sang for it.

MILEDI (1995-2002)

Miledi is a pop duo consisting of Antonijus Žilinskas (Tonis) and Živilė Žilinskaitė. Their music has a similar vibe to Ledi-Disko's 1995 music with their usage of synthesizers, but their style is distinct. Most of the songs have Tonis as the main vocal, while Živilė is background vocals. They also occasionally cover songs, though as far as I'm aware most of their songs are original.

This group is much more accessible, since Tonis has an active music career and also has allowed for Miledi's music to be uploaded to YouTube (I believe on his own and through YouTube's music streaming). As of writing, I've discovered that Ledi-Disko actually did a cover specifically of Miledi's version of 'Jūros daina' (which is in itself a cover of 'Белый песок' by Lyuba Orlova). I wonder if Tonis had anything to do with this!

CASINO (1990-1995)

Casino was a lot more well-known than the other groups in this list. Having started before official labels became more of a thing in Lithuania, a lot of their early history is murky. There are lots of unofficial releases you won't see on places like Discogs, but they have enough official releases to make up for it. Their music style is much calmer and more pop-oriented than the more disco style artists here. The singer of the group is Audrius Dakinevičius.

This group has concert footage available on YouTube, which is always really exciting for groups like this!

SONICLOVE (1994-1997)