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MAGNIFICO & TURBOLENTZA (Slovenia) –
hir ai kam, hir ai go
Slovenia's Robert Peöut is a multifaceted phenomenon and one of the biggest
and most controversial celebrities of his native country. The musician and actor
appears in the most diverse masquerades, e.g. disguised as a deity of fertility.
In addition to his various activities he creates movie soundtracks and appears in feature
films. As "Magnifico" he appears as a sleazy yugoslavian pimp. "Hir ai kam, hir ai go"
cracked the italian charts as a distinctive summer hit.
Surf sound meets dance music, driven by a high speed balkan brass band.
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BESH O DROM (Hungary) – meggyújtom a pipám
The collective from Budapest grouped around a core consisting of jazz saxophonist
Gergő Barcza and percussionist Ádám Pettík. The name of the band means "Go your own
way" in the language of the Roma. Besh o droM play in a rock line-up, broadened by a
brass section and classic Hungarian folk instruments. Besh o DroM find their
raw material in the whole Balkans and beyond - from Hungary to Turkey, from Macedonia
to Russia. With a DJ and clashing funk and jazz rock grooves, Besh o droM is anchored
in club culture.
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MAHALA RAÏ BANDA (Romania) - colindat
Mahala are the down-and-out suburbian slums of Romania and Moldavia.
Here, Mahala RaÔ Banda founder and leader, Aurel Ionita, has kept a close
ear on the original music of the streets and parties. He strived for a music
radically denouncing the phoney folklore of Bucarest cafes, nevertheless aiming
to breach the "authentic" tradition. Mahala RaÔ Banda draws from the source of the
balkan's ethnic mosaic. Rural Moldavian folk collides with urban gypsy groove, oriental
embellishments, and funk. Rarely heard in balkan folk bands, the drums/percussion
combination adds a powerful colour to Mahala RaÔ Banda's sound. With his first band,
Rom Bengale, Ionita strived for his vision of "musica pop" to perfect it with Mahala
RaÔ Banda.
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YUGOTON & KAZIK (Poland/Croatia/Serbia) - malcziki
Punk enfant terrible, Kazimierz "Kazik" Staszewski, fronted the legendary Polish
band Kult. For his other projects, he has dabbled in rap, metal, and rock, as well
having recorded tributes to Kurt Weill, Tom Waits, and Nick Cave. With Yugoton, Kazik
unites Polish and Yugoslavian indie legends like Kasia Nosowska, Darko Rundek and Vlado
Divlijan. On "Yugoton", they reinterpret hits of the legendary Yugoslavian New Wave.
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LEGEN (Croatia) - zumba
In 1992, Legen was founded by Mojmir Novaković. Novaković is inspired by archaic
Croatian music and hybridizes his original compositions with up-to-date dance beats
and ambient soundscapes. His mission is to resurface treasures and wisdom of the past
for the present. With a soft spot for symbolic connotations, Legen played their first
show during the Spring Equinox 1993. The band organizes festivals for international
traditional music and celebrates the wealth of cultures in the world. But Legen doesn't
play music for the head. This encounter of prehistoric wildness, Croatian tradition,
and massive shamanic drums connects directly with the soul. Since 2002 the band has
been on hiatus, and Novaković founded his new project, Kries.
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KULTUR SHOCK (USA/Bosnia/Japan/Bulgaria) –
blagunjo dejce
Eine Seattle-Band bei Balkan Beats? Kultur Shock stehen dem Grunge- und
Alternative-Einerlei so fern wie es nur geht. Sie fanden lediglich in
Seattle/USA zusammen: Ein Sänger und zwei Gitarristen aus Bosnien
und Bulgarien, ein japanischer Bassist, ein Geiger und ein Drummer aus
den USA. Kultur Shock kokettieren mit ihrem Immigranten-Status und bezeichnen
sich ironisch „foreigners who came to take your job away“.
Der Stil der multiethnischen Band lässt sich schwer in Worte fassen.
Sänger Gino Srdjan Yevdjevich singt auf englisch, serbisch, bosnisch,
kroatisch, rumänisch und bulgarisch. Die Songs schlagen hundert Haken
– von Gypsy Music zu dreckigen Garage Punk, Metal-Anleihen und ölige
Disco-Beats vereinen sich unzählige Stilelemente zu einer anarchischen
Party-Musik, die mit Brachialgewalt Genres und Ländergrenzen niederwalzt.
Ihr bislang letztes Album, „Kultura Diktatura“, wurde vom
ehemaligen Faith No More-Bassisten Billy Gould produziert und auf seinem
Label veröffentlicht.
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LET 3 (Croatia) – tazi-tazi
They pose in traditional folk costumes and fake moustaches or just
dress with a muzzle on a certain special place. At one point they announced
their intention to commit collective suicide and a mercenary shot them in public.
After their resurrection they dedicated their unspeakably loathsome sculpture
"Babin kurac" ("Grandma's dick") to the nations of the Balkans, the USA and Russia.
Somewhere between barbarism, satire, and concept art - Let 3 are Croatia's number
one musical provocateurs, excellent musicians, and underground theatre act at the
same time. Let 3 toy around with national myths, process them through the grinder,
and serve them in shape of sonic punk grenades. Their hit "Tazi-Tazi" spoofs the
popular fake brass sound of the Balkan hit charts, being incredibly catchy and
intoxicating.
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KAYAH & BREGOVIĆ (Poland/Bosnia) – prawy do lewego
Kayah comes from Białystok/Poland.
After having already released two successful pop albums,
she had a huge commercial and artistic success together with
the Bosnian composer Goran Bregović. Bregović started as a bass
player before he rose to superstardom with his band Bijelo Dugme in 1974.
His international reputation is based on his film music, especially for the
films of Emir Kusturica. The growing popularity of Balkan music is mainly
thanks to Bregović. For their project, Kayah and Bregović merged Polish,
Jewish, and Oriental influences in a multilayered kind of music, mostly
based on her dark, glowing, passionate voice. Thus "Kayah & Bregović"
became one of the most successful Polish records of the past years.
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FRANK LONDON’S KLEZMER BRASS ALL STARS (USA) – tsu der kretshme
Frank London is the trumpet player of New York's klezmer stars
The Klezmatics. The restless workaholic pursues countless cooperations,
including his Klezmer Brass All Stars and the Hasidic New Wave project.
London has worked with avantgarde protagonists such as John Zorn and LaMonte
Young and appeared on more than a hundred recordings - among them They Might
Be Giants, David Byrne, Gal Costa, and Ben Folds Five. He has built a reputation
as a record producer, film composer, and a conservatory teacher of Jewish
music, teaching in Canada and the US. With the Klezmer Brass All Stars,
London fuses Eastern European Jewish traditions with Serbian brass music
and a lot of good New York jazz magic.
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KARANDILA (Bulgaria) – djelem, djelem
The Bulgarian brass band Karandila doesn't confine itself
to a perfect performance of traditional wedding music. An explosive,
celebratory mixture evolves when they cast an eye on New Orleans and Memphis
and pick up fiery funk and bebop. Here, they interpret an elegic ballad. Composer
and civil rights activist Zarko Jovanović wrote "Djelem, djelem" in 1969 after the
violent evacuation of a Roma camp, resulting in the death of an infant. Two years
later, the song was declared the official anthem of all Roma people. The lyrics go
"I too once had a large family, but the black legion murdered them. Come with me,
Roma of the world, to where the Romani roads have been opened. Now is the time -
stand up, Roma". Lead vocals in this version are taken by Maya, a young Roma girl
from the Gypsies' ghetto in the town Sliven, recorded professionally for the first
time in her life.
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SSASSA (Macedonia/Switzerland) - romanela
Ssassa, a Macedonian-Swiss band, plays classical Macedonian and Oriental
music in a transparent sound dominated by Marem Aliev's incredible skills on
various woodwind instruments. Ssassa delves deeply into Balkanic, Maghrebinian,
and middle eastern traditions, linking them to something new. "Romanela" is a
traditional Roma dance, recorded with a moorish flamenco accompaniment.
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SANJA ILIĆ & BALKANIKA (Serbia) – kermes
Pianist Aleksandar Sanja Ilić started his career with the rock band "San"
and soon became a sought after composer. Like many yugoslavian musicians,
he broadened his musical horizon with the creation of theatre and film music.
Vice versa, he includes theatralic elements in his shows, working extensively
with singing actors. His recent project, Balkanika, combines various folk
traditions of the Ottoman empire and contemporary arrangements.
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BOBAN MARKOVIĆ ORKESTAR (Serbia) – od srca
Last but not least, it was partly due to the exuberant brass music
soundtrack that Emir Kusturica's 1995 film "Underground" achieved cult
status. Most of the time, the viewer would listen to Boban Marković
and his orchestra. Marković is deemed king of Serbian trumpeters and
his orchestra was in a league of its own at the renowned Guča brass festival,
winning five times. Furthermore, Marković is a brilliant, incredibly inventive
arranger, embellishing his breathtaking brass sound with a plethora of original
ideas. His skills and cultural openness earns him a good reputation among jazz
fans. And then there is his infinite energy - at the Budapest Pepsi Sziget festival,
the blasting sound outshined even headliner Oasis.
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FANFARE CIOCĂRLIA (Romania) – dusty road
Romania's most famous Roma brass band hails from Zece Prăjini,
a village close to the Romanian-Moldavian frontier. The twelve musicians
between 20 and 66 years old pass for Romania's best and fastest gypsy band.
A thundering tuba beats as if emerging from battered stovepipes, trumpets,
and clarinets somersault frantically, kettledrums rumble resulting in the distinct
Fanfare sound approaching 200 bpm. Firmly rooted in the rural wedding band tradition
of Romania, Fanfare Ciocărlia built a worldwide following. From Romanian peasant weddings
to Hollywood composer Danny Elfman's anniversary, they have played on five continents.
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GEORGE DALARAS & GORAN BREGOVIĆ (Greece/Bosnia) –
night (nihta)
George Dalaras is one of the most renowned and prolific Greek singers.
In 1997 he and his musicians worked with Goran Bregović's orchestra.
The ten songs of their album "Thessaloniki-Yannena with two canvas shoes"
have been recorded simultaneously in Athens and Belgrade. During their musical
encounter, Dalaras and Bregović created mediterranean music from Yugoslavian,
Greek and Bulgarian elements. A melancholic bouzouki sound is seamlessly integrated
into the tight rhythms of Bregović's orchestra, topped with Dalaras' highly expressive
bittersweet vocals. This song here is based on Bregović's 'Messechina', written for the
film 'Underground'.
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