During the late 1980s and early 90s, a parallel pseudo-industry of weddings developed in Romania. Hundreds of bands emerged all over the country, and the prevailing sound at family events held in restaurants or at home was what is today referred to as proto-manele. A mix of electrified oriental pop with a local flavour , proto-manele crystallised into the contemporary wedding music that is today’s manele. One can find countless examples of such music on YouTube and trilulilu.ro, a local online platform dedicated to the genre (look for Albatros, Tomis Jr, Azur, Generic, Odeon, Șobolanii din Ploiești, Formația Condor din Craiova, etc.) Raze de Soare’s Albatros is a tribute EP to one of the most famous local proto-manele bands called Albatros.