Czech singer songwriter Oldřich Janota dies at 74

Czech singer-songwriter Oldřich Janota, a key figure of the country’s alternative folk scene, has died at the age of 74. The news was announced by his family on social media on Saturday. The Plzeň-born artist was known for incorporating minimalist and experimental techniques into folk music, as well as working with pre-recorded tapes.

Janota wrote his first songs in the late 1960s. He performed with the folk-rock band Pentagram, before establishing his own group called Mozart K in 1979. In 2009, a 17-track album Ztracený ve světě: A Tribute to Oldřich Janota was released to mark his 60th birthday.