Hala Strana is the name of a recording project of American musician
Steven R. Smith. Smith began recording under the name in 2002 as an outlet which allowed him to explore the traditional music of
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...
more fully than possible with his solo work. Although numerous musicians have contributed to the project, including
Glenn Donaldson
Glenn David Donaldson (born January 28, 1972) is an American musician most notable for his band The Reds, Pinks and Purples. The band's fourth release, ''Summer at Land's End'', was Bandcamp's album of the day on January 28, 2022.
Early life ...
,
Loren Chasse
Loren Chasse is an American musician, sound artist, field recordist and teacher, most notable for his association with Jewelled Antler and his work with Thuja, The Blithe Sons, The Child Readers, Of (band), Of and many others. He has been called "o ...
, and Darren Ankenman, most Hala Strana recordings are solo productions. His recordings have included such diverse instruments as
hurdy-gurdy
The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-turned crank, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin (or nyckelharpa) bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar ...
,
bouzouki
The bouzouki (, also ; ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', , from Greek , from Turkish ) is a musical instrument popular in West Asia (Syria, Iraq), Europe and Balkans (Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey). It is a member of the long-necked lute fam ...
,
harmonium
The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal strips mounted in a frame. Types include the pressure-based harmonium, the suction reed organ (which employs a va ...
,
spike fiddle
Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Books
* The Spike (novel), ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave
* The Spike (Broderick book), ''The Spike'' (Broderick book), a nonfiction book by Damien B ...
s,
bulbul tarang, the
optigan
The Optigan (a portmanteau of ''optical organ'') is an electronic keyboard instrument designed for the consumer market. The name stems from the instrument's reliance on pre-recorded optical soundtracks to reproduce sound. Later versions (built un ...
keyboard,
xaphoon
The xaphoon ( ) is a chromatic keyless single-reed woodwind instrument invented in 1972, and a registered trademark of its inventor, Brian Lee Wittman. It has a closed cylindrical bore and a very slightly flared bell. The xaphoon has a full chro ...
, and
field recordings
Field recording is the production of audio recordings outside recording studios, and the term applies to recordings of both natural and human-produced sounds. It can also include the recording of electromagnetic fields or vibrations using dif ...
. Hala Strana's releases have featured arrangements of traditional music from
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
,
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
,
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
,
Albania
Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...
,
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
and
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
as well as original music influenced by the music of these areas. Hala Strana has recorded for a number of independent labels such as Soft Abuse, Last Visible Dog,
Jewelled Antler
Jewelled Antler is an American musical collective created in 1999 by Loren Chasse and Glenn Donaldson as an extension of their work in the organic drone folk-noise group Thuja. The idea was to release handmade CD-R's of various solo and collabor ...
, and
Emperor Jones
Emperor Jones is a small Austin, Texas based independent record label founded in 1995 by Craig Stewart. It has released albums by acts such as Alastair Galbraith, The American Analog Set, Roky Erickson, Thuja, ST37, The Mountain Goats, Stick Men ...
.
Discography
* ''Karst E.P.'' – 3”CDr (Jewelled Antler, 2003)
* ''Hala Strana'' – CD (Emperor Jones, 2003), LP (Desastre, 2017)
* ''Fielding'' – 2xCDr (Jewelled Antler, 2003), 2xCD (Last Visible Dog, 2004), 2xLP (Worstward/Desastre 2020)
* ''These Villages'' – CD (Soft Abuse, 2004)
* ''White Sleep'' - 7" lathe cut (Soft Abuse, 2006)
* ''Heave the Gambrel Roof'' - LP/CD (Music Fellowship, 2007)
* ''Compendium'' - DL (Worstward Recordings, 2011)
* ''Hala Strana Boxset'' - 5xCS box set (Cabin Floor Esoterica, 2014)
References
External links
Official siteWorstward Recordings Bandcamp site
{{Authority control
American experimental musical groups
Musical groups from Los Angeles