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TEHNIKA Before 1980 electronic music was not a significant genre in ex Yugoslavia but in the early 80's certain groups and individuals from different regions of the country began to create and develop a very basic but unique electronic/industrial/techno sound. In Slovenia most electronic »pioneers« with their home-made synths and primitive sequencers gathered around three groups, who were completely different in style yet also closely linked: Laibach, Borghesia and Videosex. Laibach was associated with the brutal aesthetics of experimental industrial minimalism and later developed a unique industrial sound with symphonic elements while Borghesia created hard sounding EBM music, close to DAF, Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb. Videosex on the other hand was more interested in melodic techno pop, influenced by Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode and other techno pop pioneers. In the mid 80's Videosex was the most popular and appealing (two girls and two boys) techno pop act in Yugoslavia. Due to its provocative shows and political statements Laibach was soon banned in most of Yugoslavia. Meanwhile however Laibach was successfully building an international career, signing a contract with Cherry Red and later with Mute Records, touring Europe and the US. Borghesia also received a respectful international recognition and Videosex operated within Yugoslavia only. All three groups developed close contacts through this time, sometimes even collaborating on diverse projects. Already in the early 80's Laibach tried to develop several electronic-techno sub-groups with their own styles. The projects, »Germania« and »300 000 Verschiedene Krawalle« (300,000 various noises), released several songs and records, but never really established a full (separate) identity. At the start of the 90's the situation changed rapidly. Yugoslavia disintegrated and Slovenia (with its two million citizens) left the Federation. Due to the wars affecting much of ex Yugoslavia, economic and political relations were practically severed and many Yugoslav groups and projects ceased to exist. So did Borghesia & Videosex. On the other hand techno music and the rave movement were becoming very popular in the new state of Slovenia and a number of home–grown DJ's started to play rave and techno tracks in local clubs and discotheques. The growth in computers (Slovenia is close to the highest number of computers per capita in Europe) and rave and internet culture also created increasing interest in electronic music. Home-made computer studios appeared across the country and projects like Random Logic or Rotor began creating intriguing electronic, ambient and dance music. Slovene DJ's (above all Umek and Valentino Kanzyani, but also Bizzy, Dojaja, Shark and others…) also began to become well known in clubs outside Slovenia. Rave and clubbing culture swept Slovene youth and specialized techno and house clubs appeared in the capital Ljubljana and elsewhere (the best known internationally being Isola's Ambasada Gavioli). In the last few years several independent labels appeared (Matrix Musik, Recycled Loops, Monkibo Records, Consumer Recreation, Absense, Kial) and diverse records and compilations were produced. At the end of 2000 a collaboration between Ljubljana based record company Nika, English music magazine The Wire and NSK Recordings resulted in a pilot compilation of contemporary Slovenian electronic music, titled elektrotehnika slavenika, the aim of which was to widely and effectively promote this fertile moment of Slovene musical creativity. The compilation came out as a special supplement of November issue of the magazine and was sent to The Wire's 6000 subscribers worldwide. Worldwide reactions to the compilation were very positive and enthusiastic, therefore the creators of NSK Recordings decided to create a special sub label within Nika, called TEHNIKA, to continue the organized and systematic production and presentation of electronic music, primarily from Slovenia but also from abroad. A revisited, reedited, redesigned and renamed elektrotehnika slavenika compilation was the first in the series, this time reissued under the name TEHNIKA1 (CD & 2 x 12« vinyl). The current aim of the TEHNIKA series is to release individual album projects by all the artists presented on TEHNIKA 1. Four album projects have now been released with more coming out in the next few months, and at least seven will have been released by December 2002. The distributor outside Slovenia is EFA from Hamburg.