live
After the two latest studio albums with Cargo Orkestar and
their respective tours, culminating in the amazing
'Live at Youth Club - Belgrade',
DR turned his attention to his long-standing dream of a
Trio and realised it with Isabel playing violine and Dutso
on many instruments.
The Rundek Cargo Trio's first album
BLUE AIRPLANE has been released by MENART - Zagreb, November 2010.
The promotional concerts took off in Scandinavia, landing in the ex-Yugoslavian countries at the end of November and through December.
Concerts and tours have started again in the Spring,
followed by Summer festivals. More than 50 since the album release.
Autumn and winter will be calm. Resting and preparing new adventures. Next tours are waiting for springtime. Check dates soon.
| Sat 14 Jul 12 | Rundek Cargo Trio |
Ulm/Germany |
INTERNATIONAL DONAUFEST 2012 | 20h |
concert |
reviews
Hrvoje Horvat/VIJESNIK
20th of December 2010
High-flying times
(concert of Rundek Cargo Trio in Tvornica/Zagreb 18th of December)
In the space of three hours Darko Rundek delivered one of his best concert versions ever, fascinating by the ambition and ease of performance of a highly complex program.
He also proved that as an experienced musician he is not afraid of risk taking, and whatever the concept may be he knows how to reach an audience and give them a top quality author's soirée.
Dušan Vranić is the key collaborator in charge of the sound of the band (he plays percussion, keyboards, samples, ukulele and accordion).
Isabel on violin fills the role of main soloist, and the use of sound processors significantly widens her sound spectrum; sometimes one would believe she is on electric guitar for example.
The streamlining of the band has reinforced the engagement of the Trio and opened the way to fine instrumental nuances that we couldn't hear in the Orkestar. Of course, each musician has to give more and be more concentrated than usual; but the ease with which it is done demonstrates that this concept is a natural progression of Rundek and his collaborators rather than the pretentious choice of an “artist”. The songs from the new album with their intimate atmosphere and superb lyrics functioned impeccably before an audience of fans, but we were curious as to how the hit songs from earlier big band albums were going to function in the second part of the concert.
The result couldn't be better. Like Pete Townshend of the Who, Rundek passionately led the story on acoustic guitar and vocals. Well known old favourites like Ena, Ruke or Apocalypso appeared in a new and more direct form. The audience was immediately on its feet for a great party, undoubtedly richer than the coming New Year's feasts.
The Trio delivered the essence of every song, and even the most demanding and ambitious passages where done with pleasure and ease.
John L. Walters/GUARDIAN
Live review: World Music / Rock
Darko Rundek & Cargo Orkestar
Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, London
Friday 12 May 2006
'I will move to Cuba,' croons Darko Rundek over a gentle Latin rhythm, with pizzicato violin and acoustic guitar. 'There are no big billboards all around, no-one is starving and there is no democracy.' Rundek is a craggy Croatian troubadour, now based in Paris. His band, the seven-piece Cargo Orkestar, can play anything from fractured funk to white reggae; from Balkan bluster to ambiguous ballads. The sound is spiced by Isabel’s soaring, proggy violin and fine brass. Drummer Dani Pervan is particularly good, holding a very disparate set of rhythmic approaches together with superb musicianship.
Rundek declaims songs, in Croatian and English, that can be emotional, detached or both. While he sings, images appear on the screen behind: magazine cuttings, war-torn former Yugoslavia, Communist holiday seaside resorts, 'found' snapshots and typewritten translations of Rundek’s lyrics (which is how I know what the song Kuba is about). The visuals are wrangled by film-maker Biljana Tuturov, whose 'trash' methods are light years from slick MTV trickery; she pans a lightweight camera across prepared sheaves of pictures and texts, producing a visual counterpoint that adds meaning without distraction, hinting at the poetry of Croatian-language songs such as Highlander, Ghosts and Mill Reggae: 'I like to face my bad days all by myself.'
The Cargo Orkestar’s sleazy, broken rhythms occasionally recall Rapture-era Blondie or Talking Heads. Wanadoo, his internet rant-chant, has the mad angularity of XTC and David Byrne. Rundek is a 1980s survivor himself, having led new wave band Haustor in old Yugoslavia, and many in the audience demand his old songs. Rundek’s subsequent work in the theatre, plus Parisian exile, have added depth and detail to the energy of his old modes, but he can still play the silver-haired, ravaged rock star, whipping off his shirt to reveal a skinny, pallid torso. He can sing, too, as slower numbers such as Senor reveal. The whole event is unpredictable, thought-provoking, highly musical, and a bit mad, just the thing to provoke a new Cargo cult.