The two songs that we'll feature in this week's column cannot qualify as new Romanian music, but they're not that old to go into our Old Romanian music series. However, the first one is a song which was heard and is still is on many occasions, especially when the summer season starts. The song comes from the band Vama Veche, which broke up in 2006, ten years after launching. [ Later edit: we've added a third song from one of the bands formed after their break up, Vama; the song is called Perfect fara tine - Perfect without you, and it is a song from 2013]

The first one is called Omul plajei (roughly translated as 'The beach man' ) and it can easily set the tone for the beginning of the summer seaside holiday. Give it a try – it is the kind of music that can speak to people many years after being launched and listened to on heavy rotation, unlike many of the songs these days.

If you like the sound of Vama Veche, try another one of their songs, Nu am chef azi (translated as I am not in the mood today), probably even more well known locally. Both songs are from 1997 – meaning they are16 years old, and they can easily illustrate the saying 'oldies but goldies'.

The band no longer sing in the original form, they have split up and created the bands Vama and Trupa Veche. The lead singer of the original band Tudor Chirila (in picture) formed the band Vama, and his former colleagues, the band Trupa Veche. As a bonus track, a new song from the band Vama - see third video below.

Additional info about the name of the original band: Vama Veche is the name of a seaside resort popular among free-spirited people; the resort used to be seen as the go-to place for the flower power generation, bohemians, rockers, and it welcomed them with a closer to nature feel, but in recent years it has been taken over by new constructions, despite NGO efforts to save the spirit of the place.

editor@romania-insider.com