Laibach is a band full of ironies. When they started to play, they barely used music instruments, yet they became the only internationally acclaimed rock band from former Yugoslavia: Radio 101 D.J.-s didn't initially even want to play their music when I brought their first demo-tape released in 1984 (500 copies). Their political provocativeness yielded a ban on their performances in Yugoslavia, yet today they are the only band to perform in all successor states, unimpeded by ethnic boundaries - outliving the country that despised them for trying to preserve the concept which kept that country together.

I witnessed their historic performance at Workers University Mose Pijade concert hall in Zagreb, 1986: their trademark background movie theme for that event was combination of a film about post-war Yugoslav development and a hard-core porno. Coincidence allowed for Tito's speech against nationalism to overlap with a guy jerking-off his dick (close-up). The night after that performance, fleeing possibility of arrest, they started a tour around Occupied Europe' with a British industrial band, and made NME.

In the years since, they learned how to play (although singer still did not start singing), so today they sound as well rehearsed professionals. Still, their best compositions are remixes of other people's songs. They were always very eclectic: something like Europe's Marilyn Manson, sort of a moshing band for intellectuals with an attitude. Instead of calling their album Anti-Christ Superstar, they called their tour Jesus Christ Superstar and then they subtly played a remix of the March on River Drina (Serbian military march song, infamous in non-Serb parts of former Yugoslavia). The mostly American public at Irwing Plaza stood silent - chilled and mesmerized by the tune. It is the concept that counts - music is just one of the tools. Laibach is also a State. Neue Slowenische Kunst Staat. State that does not have borders since it does not have any territory. It is a global state and you can apply for citizenship.

Laibach has changed musically a lot: their new songs are more poppy and dancey, as if they also bought into that techno-rave craziness that rules Europe today- why not - even Bono's U2 came up with an album like that. Conceptually, however, they kept the same for more than ten years: they still start late whiling our time with their videos; they still blind the public with reflectors and fry fans intestines by extreme low frequency sounds.

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