Bastion

Stunning reissue of this 1984 gem full of new wave and synth-pop. Originals sell for £100+. ACC Records is proud to present the reissue of Bastion’s self-titled LP, one of the most scintillating and coveted records of the Yugoslav 1980s. Recorded in Skopje in 1983 and originally released on the state-owned PGP-RTB in 1984, Bastion is the only remaining document of the short but extremely sweet collaboration between singer-actress Ana Kostovska, composer and musician Kiril Džajkovski, bassist Ljubomir Stojsavljević and film director Milčo Mančevski. One of the first electronic bands in the Republic of Macedonia – hailed by the press as “Macedonian electropop sensation” – the four young artists crafted a quick-footed jewel of eclectic, expert synth-wave, genre-curious yet grounded in a bright, glamorous pop sensibility. Bastion moves between crazed stadium bubblegum and a serious, seductive solemnity: whirlwinds of womanly wave such as Hollywood and Mister Kompleks open onto the dark electronic landscapes of Deca Sunca and Mesec u Šolji, while Molitva lifts the record into a soulful, torch-lit, and typically Macedonian mysticism. Across the record, Džajkovski’s luscious, sparkling synths and Stojsavljević’s dexterous bass tease and sustain Kostovska’s vocals as she croons, chants and coos her way in and out of one of the freshest, most surprising records to have ever come out of Eastern Europe. ACC Records is a new imprint born out of Flora Pitrolo’s radio show A Colder Consciousness, broadcasting since 2011 on Resonance FM (London) and Kanal 103 (Skopje).