MENT, the club festival of many genres will take place at eight venues in the beginning of February. During three days, festval will host over 50 performers from more than twenty countries. MENT focuses on new music forces, wherever they may be. On good bands and producers, whether Siberian rock ‘n’ roll, Belarussian post-punk, Estonian folk, Croatian psychedelia, Serbian Americana, Austrian electro pop or Slovenian noise.
The festival will also include an international music conference, dedicated to networking, educating and presenting different views regarding various music business topics, creation and exchange.

In the frame of the festival MENT we will host in Stara elektrarna:

photo: Marija Strajnic

ANA ĆURČIN (Serbia)

February 4th at 9.15 pm

Born in Baghdad, grew up in Moscow, now living, composing, playing and singing in Belgrade, no wonder this young Serbian singer-songwriter has developed her own blend of Americana, folk and dream pop into a special musical atmosphere. Her deeply expressive songs have already touched audiences all across the Balkans, where she has established herself as one of the most promising artists in the growing regional singer-songwriter scene. Her performances include Waves Vienna and a tour in Croatia, Italy, Switzerland, Hungary and Russia, the latter together with Stray Dogg frontman Dukat Strajnić. Her debut album “Sketches of Belonging” is coming out any time now.

More: http://anacurcin.com/
 

STRAY DOGG (Serbia)

February 4th at 10.15 pm

As beginnings go, Dukat Stray was alone at first, recording his demo tapes on a Skype microphone. Later more and more members joined and Stray Dogg became a band. A band fond of Americana, with a singer-songwriter style, full of rich arrangements featuring violins and piano. Soon a debut was in the bag and the second album surprised with a guest appearance by Devendra Banhart himself. But this was just another part of the puzzle. In 2013 Stray Dogg was named Best Band in Serbia by the national TV station, which was great praise for such a young band. ‘’Come Along Wind’’ is the name of the new album released in October 2015. A must hear, in Ljubljana for the first time.

More: https://straydogg.bandcamp.com/
 

BOWRAIN (Slovenia)

February 5th at 9.15 pm

“’Far Out’ is reminiscent of the work of Thom Yorke, Four Tet and Massive Attack. This is not just another debut album,” says Dutch webzine Festivalinfo. In addition to such stunning reviews, you have to know that Bowrain aka Tine Grgurevič is a Slovenian composer, pianist and producer living in Amsterdam. That comes as no surprise once you learn he actually started his career as a talented jazz composer, recording his debut in Philadelphia. But jazz is only one aspect of his life. He’s definitely keen on experimenting – for example with his live act “Duet with Slavoj Žižek”, a dialogue between his piano and philosopher Slavoj Žižek’s speech. He has been releasing music as Bowrain since 2014. This name represents his electronic experimental vision, which will shine from his third album. “Distracted” is still in the works and will be a collaboration with Ljubljana based guitarist and producer UM and Amsterdam based drummer Robert Nitschke. His live performance at MENT will also be accompanied by Andrej Šeligo aka MoTh on visuals.

More: http://bowrain.org/

MAARJA NUUT (Estonia)

February 5th at 10.15 pm

The enchanting music of this lovely fiddler and singer combines traditional dance tunes, songs, and stories with live electronics, creating a space where minimalism and experimental music meet Estonian musical traditions. Maarja is searching for a lively and relaxed state like a cat ready to pounce. She says this state “gives rise to music and makes me want to prolong being in the moment while altering ways of seeing, hearing and perceiving”. In the spring of 2013, she released her debut album “Soolo” that generated quite a bit of buzz in Europe, including many glowing reviews and a surprise Twitter shout-out from Duran Duran frontman Simon LeBon. Maarja’s second album is to be released in early 2016.

More: https://soundcloud.com/maarja-nuut

Programme of MENT Ljubljana: http://www.ment.si
Tickets: http://www.ment.si/tickets/