Balkan Beats Kollektiv (4) @ PDL Café - Ponta Delgada, Açores (5 September )

Balkan Beats Kollektiv presents DJ Comoustache @ PDL Café in Ponta Delgada!

Party starts @ 02:30h!

Address: Largo de São João - Ponta Delgada

MySpace: www.myspace.com/djcomoustache

www.pdlcafe.com

New Fanfare Ciocarlia CD/DVD "Live" out soon!

CD / DVD - package Fanfare Ciocarlia "Live" - including a CD with the recordings of the Fanfare April concert 2004 at Kulturbrauerei in Berlin and in addition to it the DVD "Gypsy Brass Legends - The Story of the Band" released in 2004 already.

Release date:

Germany 25th September 2009

UK 21st September 2009

France 24th September 2009

Thanks to Asphalt Tango Records for the preview! Great album!

www.asphalt-tango.de

Ariano Folkfestival > 18-23 August (Italy)

More information: www.arianofolkfestival.it

Superstereo, Shazalakazoo, Soft and Decide and more @ Hungary (21 July)

DJ Click - Hora Vinului (Live)

Balkan Beats London - 19 June

MySpace: www.myspace.com/balkanbeatslondon

Santa Balkanera - Cinema, DJ's, Balkan Dancers - 20 June (Mexico)

MySpace: www.myspace.com/diskobalkan

KAL - Ding deng dong (Video-clip)

New video-clip of KAL. From the album Radio Romanista.

MySpace: www.myspace.com/romakal

Calibat featuring Iasko - Road to Sarajevo (new track)

Hey! I know I haven't posted anything for a while but I've been quite busy lately! I won't update the blog so often as I did before but we are working to find collaborators and I'll give you news soon!

Artist: Calibat & Iasko
Track name: Road to Sarajevo
Description: A track that me and Iasko (from Figli di Madre Ignota) have been doing for a while... Iasko recorded the guitars, trumpet and bass and I produced the percussion and everything else you'll listen on the track!
Listen: www.myspace.com/calibat

Le Grand Cirque du Balkan - 25 April (Netherlands)

Date: 25 April
Time: 14h
Location: Cultural Freezone, Landbouwbelang Maastricht, Biesenwal 3
6211AD, The Netherlands
Entry: Voluntary Gift (you decide what you pay!) =)

A festival with Gipsy theater, Balkan music, Ska, Russen Hits, Expo, Documentaries and really nice food!!

Lineup:

Tabor

Amariszi

Play it Heart

La Caravanee

The Grassmoawers

Perestroika Sound System

Hapu en Sòj

Kumpania Algazarra - 2 April (Évora, Portugal)

Date: 2 April
Time: 23:30h
Location: Espaço Celeiros
Entry: 4€ (with 1 beer)

Kumpania Algazarra

Their music hit the streets on a special day, a day almost like all the others. It was in 2004. Like some sort of an anti-routine crew, inspired by the muses of festivity, in an exciting dialogue between music and liveliness, they created a framework for dancing and blissfulness. Their seeds, planted in the streets, flourished, as they started to perform on several stages.

Their music is nomad, multilingual and universal.

They´re influenced by a kaleidoscopic sonority: Balkan furor, Arabic drifting, Latin warmth, Afro-Beat refinement, and explosions of Turbo folk and Ska.

Twisted Gypsy @ InSpiral (2 April) - Herbert Newbert , Native Horizon and DJ Kobayashi (UK)

Date: 2 April
Time: 20h
Location: InSpiral - 250 Camden High Street NW1 8QS
Entry: 3£

Native Horizon mixes flamenco, folk, African and Arabic influences into a melting pot of uplifting beats, breaks and delightfully catchy melodies. The four-piece live band is based around the beats, electronic trickery and live guitar of Herbert Newbert, tied together with the heart-thumping percussion section of Jon T and Sean P, and topped off rather nicely with the enchanting and powerful vocal talents and of Noa B.

DJ Kobayashi musical styles varies from Gypsy/Balkan/Swing/Rock&Roll music, to chill-out/future dub/dub-step and broken beats.
Today his main project is Gypsy Hill which is a collaboration between DJ Kobayashi and Herbert Newbert forming together an authentic Balkan/Gypsy/Swing/Medetirania music with a touch of electronic beats, scratching and uplifting bass lines. Their work includes remixes from different artist such as; Fanfare Ciocarlia, Besh o drom, Kocani Orkestar, Boom Pam and more… as well as their own original material.

Balkan Beats Kollektiv Blog - On vacation from 27 March to 1 april

Hello my friends!

I'm going on vacation from 27 March to 1 April so the blog will stop on those days ... I'm going to Barcelona! Yay!!!

Keep sending messages, I'll answer to you when I return!

We have some surprises for you guys! I'll tell you when I got back!

Thanks to everyone who's been supporting the blog!

Let's spread BALKAN MUSIC to the world!!!

Opa! ;)

Calibat

Slavic Soul Party @ Mighty (Video)

Check this video of Slavic Soul Party concert at Mighty San Francisco!

Provided by SF Station

Opa!

Kumpania Algazarra - The band that has been warming the streets!

Their music hit the streets on a special day, a day almost like all the others. It was in 2004. Like some sort of an anti-routine crew, inspired by the muses of festivity, in an exciting dialogue between music and liveliness, they created a framework for dancing and blissfulness. Their seeds, planted in the streets, flourished, as they started to perform on several stages.

In 2005, the EP was released. The first steps on the way to internationalization were given. They performed in festivals in Spain and did a tour in Slovenia. During their journey, they stood for anti-war initiatives, social, cultural and artistic causes, and supported immigrant communities, due to their engaged spirit.

In 2007, with live concerts filling the agenda, they are invited to participate in the recordings of other Portuguese projects like Terrakota and Blasted Mechanism. But they had still time to record their first album, with their own songs.

2008 started with the release of the album Kumpania Algazarra, bringing together fragments of their experiences in the streets, gardens, alleys, squares, unusual places, improvised parties and stages.

Their music is nomad, multilingual and universal.

They´re influenced by a kaleidoscopic sonority: Balkan furor, Arabic drifting, Latin warmth, Afro-Beat refinement, and explosions of Turbo folk and Ska.

The result of this variety of influences, brought together by a unique and original fusion process, is an energetic and contagious moment. Their lyrics invite to a reflection about the inhuman state of the world, and stimulate individual liberation. This musical project brings freshness and enriches the world music made in Portugal, extinguishing geographical and age limits.

Carrying the heritage of European fanfare, KUMPANIA ALGAZARRA flies over the new and the old continent, bringing nearer different ways of being, in life and in music. It´s a show made from melting sounds of folk, appropriate to street events, or to enliven acoustic spaces.

With a more complex and full-bodied instrumental formation, like a good wine, KUMPANIA ALGAZARRA go on stage ready to fire up the audience and shake the ground. Genuine in fusion, vigorous in their lyrics, with their instrumental lineup producing vibrant melodies, they make their shows unforgettable moments of festive celebration. Freedom is an attitude!

Algazarra warming the streets:


__________________________________________

MySpace: www.myspace.com/kumpaniaalgazarra

Buy CD: www.cdgo.com

RAKIJA - Modern Balkan Music!

The band RAKIJA was formed in September 2007, and has been busy ever since. RAKIJA has played at some great places in Oslo and Norway, inspiring people to dance their shirts off at balkan parties, while moving other people to tears at acoustic performances.

The band RAKIJA is playing traditional music from Balkan in modern and fresh arrangements. After a short time the band became a live act well known for its broad appeal, great energy and musicality and they keep extending their audience. The band continues to grow as a musical unity, and for every gig it just gets better!

_____________________________________

Website: www.rakijaband.com

MySpace: www.myspace.com/rakijaband

Balkan Beats Party - 20 March (Lisbon)

Date: 20 March
Time: 22h
Location: Espaço Regueirão dos Anjos, Lisboa
Entry: 3€

Groovalizacion DJ - Cucurucho & António Pires

THE GROOVALIZACION PROJECT:

Multicultural vibes, peripheral music, suburban grooves, nomadic sounds, tribal and regional blends… These are the soundtrack of migrations and cultural fusions, the voices of ethnic groups that stir our cities. A new urban musical shock wave electrifies the turntables of GROOVALIZACION, the high-spirited team of DJs, globe-trotters, producers, video directors; a musical and multimedia network rooted all over the world producing musical events, podcasts, remixes, video documentaries....and who's just given birth to the first global urban radio: www.groovalizacion.com

MySpace: www.myspace.com/groovalizaciondjs

Do you play: Trumpet, Accordion, Clarinet, Flute, Violin, or any other instrument?

Hey! I'm looking for people to collaborate with me in a new track. So just record some samples and send me a message with the samples and I'll try to make a track from those samples. Add beat, effects, etc. ;)

So, if you play:

Any brass instrument (Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, etc)
Accordion
Clarinet
Flute
Violin, Cello, Bass

Or any other instrument

And want to collaborate with me, send me a message ;)

E-Mail: skulk__@hotmail.com

MySpace: www.myspace.com/calibat

DJ Click live @ Babel Med Music - 28 March (Marseille, France)

Date: 28 March
Time: 00:30h
Location: Dock des Suds, 12 rue Urbain V, 13002 Marseille
Entry: 15€ (per day)

DJ Click will be playing live on Babel Med Music at Marseille on 28 March!

"In Dj set or lives, he interconnects different kind of world music (Oriental, Balkan, Flamenco, Klezmer, Gyspy or Indian) with electronic sounds. His solid performer reputation took him on the clubs and festivals global stages as the Transmusicales in Rennes, the Womex in Sevila, Exit Fest in Serbia, Roskilde in Denmark or Couleur Café in Belgium… and established him a club residency at the Divan du Monde in Paris, where he just booked the whole Pigalle Estival summer edition. "

MySpace: www.myspace.com/djclicknofridge

More info: www.dock-des-suds.org

Balkan Trafik Festival (16/17/18 April) @ Brussels

Date: 16/17/18 April
Location: BOZAR, Rue Ravenstein 23, 1000 BRUXELLES

Program

16th:

Kolo + Dugic
Turneja
Goran Markovic

17th:

Mec Yek
Okay Temiz
Original Kochani Orkestar
Roby Lakatos
RomAroma
Kordon
Goran Markovic
Vijay Legoman
DJ Raki Balkan Sound System
Shazalakazoo
Gaetano
Mec Yek
Kolo

18th:

Kolo
Slobodan Salijevic Orkestar
Ferus Mustafov
The Klezmatics
Transbalkanika
Gjovalin Quintet
Kalafatis Rembetiko Band
Smadj
Raki Balkan
Gaetano

Introduction

The Balkan Trafik Festival is about the coming together of Europe and emphasising the cultures of our southeastern European neighbours.

As with the first two festivals, Culture is the means for this alchemy and interchange between countries.

Culture here with a capital ‘C’ because Balkan Trafik is once again staging musical events, that are a great way of coming together, as well as cinematic events, themed workshops and a circus… All of the above are surrounded by the ‘festival’ atmosphere: theater performances, video jockeying, gourmet specialties and an eastern European select wine bar, organisations’ space, plane tickets at advantageous prices etc

That is a brief outline of the welcome we offer to our festival goers.

The different aspects of the festival meant we were able to cater for 5 000 participants in 2008. In 2007, the figure had already reached 3 200.

This unique festival, which has a special place in European affairs, has become an anticipated cultural event by ex-patriots of south-eastern European countries, our Belgian community and the European public at large.

Only a city like Brussels can offer such cultural diversity and offer in particular such pride in the creativity of our communities.

What is Balkan Trafik ? It’s..

• live music from our south-eastern European neighbors, ranging from traditional to electronic via jazz, dub, and rock…

• 4 sound system equipped auditoriums, 1 acoustic stage and corridors brought to life with a Balkans feel.

• 3 unique ‘100% Balkan Trafik’ productions in the fantastic Henry Le Boeuf auditorium

• Screenings of documentaries and fiction films directed by artists from south eastern European countries or which have the Balkans as a theme. Carte blanche is given to a well-known Balkans director.

• Topical affairs workshops

• Almost 200 artists performing over the course of the 3 day festival of whom most come from the Balkans: Albania, Belgium, France, England, Romania, Montenegro, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia.

• A selection of wines from the Balkans region with the bar Vino Zirkus at the event

• An organisations’ space in the festival for different organisations working with or coming from the Balkans.

• Various activities for the public (wine bar, culinary buffet, music and circus events)

• Elaborate Balkans themed decorations

Info & Tickets

Thursday 16.04.2009

Big Opening Day. Film in the presence of the Director: Goran Markovic
Serbian, Hungarian and Romanian Buffet
Music
€ 10,00 :: reductions as usual

Friday 17.04.2009

Pass Friday
€ 16,00 :: no reductions

Saturday 18.04.2009

Pass Saturday
€ 16,00 :: no reductions

All shows and workshops on a particular day can be attended using the Pass, provided that there are places available.
We accept Article 27 tickets and Cultuurwaardebons.

Tickets via Bozar Ticketshop.
T +32 (0)2 507 82 00
www.bozar.be

__________________________________________

Balkan Trafik Website: www.1001valises.com

Balkan Trafik MySpace: www.myspace.com/1001valises

Mahala Rai Banda - New CD in Autumn 2009 by Asphalt Tango Records!

New CD from Mahala Rai Banda out in Autumn 2009 on Asphalt Tango Records! Romania's hottest young Gypsy band return with new sound & direction! Mahala Rai Banda's resurrection guarantees a musical feast for 2009 / 2010!

We can't wait for this CD!!!

More info at www.asphalt-tango.de

MySpace: www.myspace.com/mahalaraibanda

Calibat - Gypsy Junglist (New Track)

Artist: Calibat
Track name: Gypsy Junglist
Description: The tittle says everything: Gypsy + Jungle (DnB)
Listen: www.myspace.com/calibat

_____________________________________________________

Yes, you can also have your new tracks here on the blog!

Just send me a message with the name of your new track, link to your Myspace, a short description about the track and if possible a "flyer/image" (like the one above) and I'll do the rest!

Opa! ;)

When the road bends... tales of a Gypsy Caravan (Documentary)

"Foot-stomping evidence of the diversity and connectedness of the vital Roma musical tradition." Time Out

"What you've believed about these people has been a lie your entire life." Johnny Depp

A dazzling documentary celebrating the musical world of the Roma, showcasing the work of top international Gypsy performers and interweaving tales of their home life and history. Filmed, sometimes by documentary icon Albert Maysles, in Spain, Macedonia, Romania and India, with footage from the Gypsy Caravan Tour of Europe and America.

The soundtrack to Gypsy Caravan, featuring tracks and incidental music both from and inspired by the film, is available from the ICA bookshop, all good record shops, or direct from harmonia mundi distribution.

Trailer:



www.gypsycaravanmovie.com

Tsiganisation Project - Mixtape

Tsiganisation Project is a Belgian Dj duo that mixes all kinds of Balkan and world music.
This Mash-up tape is a new Project.
By mixing pop and world music they want to bring under appreciated
world music to a different audience.
But they also have their regular balkan sets.
Tsiganisation Project stands for heavy balkanbeats, live percussion, and a nice atmosphere.

Playlist:

1.Cinnamon Girl (Instrumental Edit) Feat. Boban I Marko Markovic Orkestar - Dunkelbunt
2. Triple Trouble (A capella) - Beastie Boys
3. Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice
4. Bucovina - Shantel
5. Milkshake (A capella) - Kelis
6. Mercedes Benz - Miss Platnum
7. Mahalageasca (Bucovina Dub) - Mahala Rai Banda vs. Shantel
8. Wheres Your Head At - Basement Jaxx
9. I Like To Move It - Real 2 Real
10. Technologeasca - Laston & Geo
11. Technologic - Daft Punk
12. Disko Boy - Shantel
13. Disko Partizani (yamaha.electrico Remix) - Shantel
14. Check It Out (A capella) - Beastie Boys
15. Foxtrot - Fanfare Ciocarlia
16. Drop It Like Its Hot - Snoop Dogg Feat. Pharrell

Download Mixtape: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YJFXW378

MySpace: www.myspace.com/tsiganisationproject

Cafe Svetlana by Ahilea - CD Release Party - 14 March @ WIRR (Vienna)

Date: 14 March
Time: 22h
Location: WIRR 7 Burggasse 70
Vienna - Austria
Entry: 5€

Come to the release party of the new CD by Ahileia - Cafe Svetlana!

MySpace: www.myspace.com/exportimporttunes

(Gypsies) They steal children, dont they? (BBC 1980 Documentary)

Revealing documentary about the British Gypsy community at the beginning of the 80's. The program looks at some of the common attitudes towards gypsies, and their own attitudes about people who live in houses.

Watch the full documentary here:
http://www.megavideo.com/?v=9O0579H2

DJ Farrapo - Balkan Mix live @ Sugar Babe (Mixtape)

Check this mix by DJ Farrapo recorded live at Sugar Babe

Listen or download (Save as...)

MySpace: www.myspace.com/djfarrapo

Watcha Clan + DJ Gusztav + DJ Pizdabolkin - 3 April @ Simplon (Netherlands)

Date: 3 April
Time: 22h
Location: Simplon - Boterdiep 69
9712 LK Groningen
Tickets: 8€

Watcha Clan

Watcha Clan are a French quartet that fuses together influences as diverse as its members’ heritages. Drawing on North African, Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew, French, and modern electronic musical styles for inspiration, the Clan claim a nomadic ethic, calling no single style “home.” Since their inception at the turn of the century, Watcha Clan’s touring schedule and lifestyle have been as nomadic as their philosophy. Group members Matt (bass), Soupa Ju (electronic elements), Sista K (vocals), and Suprême Clem (keyboards) have spent significant time in Algeria, Cuba, India, Spain, and Hungary soaking up the local musical flavors.





Official website: www.watchaclan.com

DJ Gusztav

Although he does not like this type of an introduction, or even; he does not like an introduction at all. DJ Gusztav rather stays anonymous and therefor in his DJ career he used many pseudonyms. DJ Gusztav has his daily live strongly within the music industry as being the promoter of Hollands best known venue and also advising the programming of many big festivals around the country as well as being the DJ programmer of Holland’s main festival Lowlands.
DJ Gusztav is and was also known as DJ L-Ende, Kees van Hondt, Barrio and Wizard, in the past even as “Who Cares” .

He needs those aliases not just because of his real identity but also thanks to his wide music taste, he playd everything from drum’nbass to Hardcore house, but now known from his Balkan Beats, Russion disco, Ska, Mestizo (Rock/Pop Latino), Polkastomp, Celtic Folk, FunPunk, Humpa, Yodelmetal, Arabian Carnival and even reggaeton.

DJ Pizdabolkin

DJ Pizdabolkin is just somebody from Holland or more precisely Zoetermeer. He lived there almost his whole live and actually likes the boring place. I said almost, because He also lived in brussels and Cologne for a couple of months and for some loger time in Yuzhno Sakhalinsk (Russia) DJ Pizdabolkin started DJ-ing a long time ago on some regular alternative evenings here in Zoetermeer mainly in a club called the Boerderij

Besides DJ-ing alternative and pop music, he had a growing interest for the upcomming styles in world-music. Starting with an interest in the wave of Scandinavian bands some years ago. After meeting some very interesting people (DJ Wizard) the main focus became Celtic influenced music and the "medieval" bands from Germany

Go East VII - 14 March @ Casa Rosa (Rio de Janeiro)

Date: 14 March
Time: 23h
Location: Casa Rosa, Rua Alice 550 - Laranjeiras
Entry: R$ 15 - R$ 18

After a little break for carnival, GO EAST is back!

Trumpets, percussion, break beats... there's much more in common between the Brazilian carnival and the Balkan Beats than you might think!
GO EAST presents the special "A folia não acabou - The party isn't over!" bringing to the Balkan carnival rhythm, the irresistible beats from East Europe - although this time in an different place: Casa Rosa in Larajeiras.

Free Shots of rakija e vodka will be served and there will also be a Narguila Lounge – a special place for tasting the different flavors of imported tobacco!


Lineup:

Kalderash Soundsystem
Orquestra Voadora
DJ pincel

DJ Farrapo:

Giorgio Cencetti aka DJ Farrapo started his music career at the end of the 1980s as the keyboard player of local bands in Bologna where he is from. Touring all over Italy, he recorded two albums and several singles for independent labels including two EPs for Irma Records. In the meanwhile he graduated at the university of Bologna with a dissertation about the history of the Hammond organ and Soul Jazz.
In the mid 90s he starts to dj in different clubs from alternative (like Link - Bologna, Mercati generali - Catania, Cafe Leopold - Vienna) & mainstream circuits in famous discotheques like Kinky - Bologna, Rio Bo - Gallipoli and QI clubbing. His dj sets are very groove oriented but more & more he starts to spin eclectic and Brazilian music, world and electronic sounds & rhythms.
In those years he also worked frequently spinning at the exclusive parties of big international companies like Ducati, Mazda, La Perla, Baileys and events in the fields of fashion Pitti Immagine Uomo, Firenze, design and business such as MAX, Thonet, Frau, Italian Motor Show. He spin with djs like Rainer Truby, londons Paul Murphy of Afro Art Records, Belgiums Buscemi, Brazilian award winners Drumagick, Zero DB, Maga Bo, DJ Spider, and at the concerts of musicians like Rosalia De Souza, Fernanda Porto, Trio Mocoto, Arto Lindsay.

________________________________

Official blog: www.festagoeast.blogspot.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/goeastparty

Cabaret Balkan @ Radio Arvila (Video)

This guys are making great music!
Check this cover of "Kiss" from Tom Jones:



MySpace: www.myspace.com/cabaretbalkan

Princes amongst Men (Book & CD) - Awarded @ ITB Book Award 2009

ITB BookAward 2009 for German version of Garth Cartwrights BOOK "Princes amongst Men * Balkanblues und Blaskapellen" (Hannibal Verlag) and the COMPILATION "Princes
Amongst Men" (Asphalt Tango Records)



"Sudahan put a clarinet to his lips at the wedding of Elvis Huna in Skopje and blew a ferocious wail, summoning the spirit of Shutka, thecity of Gypsies. Dzansever’s a phantom, singing only for Turkish and Gypsy weddings, her voice conveying deep Balkan blues. Sofi Marinova’s charming, a devastating singer. Boban rules Serbia’s Guca brass band festival. There he sent thousands of youths into ecstasy with his eerie, charged notes.

Ederlezi – the holy day for Balkan Gypsies – in Kyustendil mahala, south west Bulgaria. A night never to forget. Jony & Boril Iliev’s band played and the ghetto rose in a wave of joy. Esma enters a room – any room - and is acknowledged as the Queen. Saban, choking on a cigarette, remains the Lizard King. Ekrem and Naat: stoic trumpet masters. Ferus leers. Fulgerica frowns. Kal’s Dragan Ristic’s a smooth operator. In Zece Prajini, Fanfare Ciocarlia’s ‘invisible’ village, geese and pigs clutter up the main road and brass echoes across the valley. Taraf de Haidouks translates as Band of Outlaws. Very apt. Eight wild, relentless months… from Spring to Winter… a Balkan exodus... I got the bear and the bear got me. Some dream of running away to join the circus. Mine was to ride with the Gypsies.” - Garth Cartwright

The CD "Princes amongst Men" (Asphalt Tango Records) provides the soundtrack of this wild journey. Featured artists on the album include Saban Bajramovic, Fanfare Ciocarlia, Ferus Mustafov, Dzansever, Taraf de Haidouks, Boban Markovic and more.

The book and CD will be awarded in the category "Most important Travelbook”, the award show will take place on Friday 13 March, 4-6 pm in hall 4.1, on the ITB 2009.

More information on the book: http://www.garthcartwright.com

More information on the CD: http://www.asphalt-tango.de

Balkan Beatz Presents: Partizani Clandestino - 20 March @ Ekko (Utrecht, Netherlands)

Date: 20 March
Time: 23h
Location: EKKO Bemuurde Weerd WZ 3 - 3513 BH Utrecht
Entry: 6€

DJ Gustav

Although he does not like this type of an introduction, or even; he does not like an introduction at all. DJ Gusztav rather stays anonymous and therefor in his DJ career he used many pseudonyms. DJ Gusztav has his daily live strongly within the music industry as being the promoter of Hollands best known venue and also advising the programming of many big festivals around the country as well as being the DJ programmer of Holland’s main festival Lowlands.
DJ Gusztav is and was also known as DJ L-Ende, Kees van Hondt, Barrio and Wizard, in the past even as “Who Cares” .

He needs those aliases not just because of his real identity but also thanks to his wide music taste, he playd everything from drum’nbass to Hardcore house, but now known from his Balkan Beats, Russion disco, Ska, Mestizo (Rock/Pop Latino), Polkastomp, Celtic Folk, FunPunk, Humpa, Yodelmetal, Arabian Carnival and even reggaeton.

ErsatzMusika - Songs Unrecantable (2009)

Release: 10th April 2009

Thanks to Asphalt Tango Records we've listened the new album from ErsatzMusika: "Songs Unrecantable" and we can tell you: it's a must have!

"For the lovers of Russian Folk: Now in English, so you won't miss a word!" - Balkan Beats Kollektiv

"Songs that mix slinky balladry and echoes of Gypsy music with a dash of Kurt Weill or the blues… The results sound like a disjointed east-European answer to Tom Waits" - The Guardian

"One of the most remarkable debut albums of recent years" - BBC Music

"FRONTED by the achingly melancholic voice of artist and singer Irina Doubrovskaja, and people by a half dozen Soviet émigrés who escaped the turmoil of Russia following the end of Cold War for the artistic communes of East Berlin, ErsatzMusika are the ghost in the machine of 21st century music.
Their sound is unique - a rootsy Russian urban folk without insulation and throwing off sparks. Lurking in their condensed, gritty bass and guitar riffs is a pure, unrefined and unruly spirit that's redolent of 1980s Fall, 1970s Jamaican dub, 1930s Berlin cabaret, and Soviet ska-like beats chopped out in the style of the dissident singers of the Soviet era - whose "criminal songs" - vicious vignettes of Soviet realities - were secretly circulated in their millions on cassette.
Theirs is not a nostalgia for an old world, however, but a reclamation of its fierce creative underground. The 13 strange and singular tracks on their second album, Songs Unrecantable, is like a hall of mirrors reflecting the psychic landscapes of old Russia back onto the crazy realities of 21st century Mittel-Europa and turning them loose into some of the strangest songs on the planet.

From the opening old-world elegance of Song on a Gypsy Air with its exquisitely dry piano melody, through the dread, subterranean beat of Tver, the Neolithic rock n roll of Oy Pterodactyl or the image-drenched tone poetry of Antediluvian, Songs Unrecantable draws you inexorably into a conspiracy of organs, raw guitars, clipped, arcane riffs, jerky dances, haunting vocals, and a vast image bank drawn from past and present, east and west.
Their acclaimed 2007 debut, Voice Letter, took its name from the flexidiscs that people would mail across the Soviet Union as musical postcards. The album's songs were sung in Russian, but you didn't need to speak it to feel their power and their soul. Now with Songs Unrecantable the band's jagged, surreal poetry has been rendered into English, mixing cinematic images with surreal voices and dislocated epithets peopled by pterodactyls, pawned clocks, rotting rafters, cactoid skyscrapers, and psylocybine panic.



New world orders come and go, and ErsatzMusika are the soundtrack for what's gone and what's to come. Theirs is a reclamation in sound of the old weird Russia on the other side of the mirror, suffused in the gothic tremolo of duelling guitars, subterranean bass, off-kilter dance beats, the sepia-street sound of an accordion that sounds as if it's been filtered through winter fog. With Songs Unrecantable, ErsatzMusika brings you the Russian beat dancing on a chain to the lyrics of Irina Doubrovskaja and others; her melancholic, dispossessed voice wanders like a haunted spirit across a terrain of old borders and broken idols. Normality will never feel the same again."- Tim Cumming

ERSATZ MUSIKA - Upon The Earth (not from the new album)



Track list:

1. Songs on a Gypsy Air 0:41
2. Wild Grass 03:33
3. Train-slow Adagio 03:06
4. It's the Russian Beat 03:32
5. Berceuse 03:31
6. Tver (feat. Unterwasser) 03:59
7. Oy, Pterodactyl 03:00
8. HMS RIP DTs 02:45
9. Winter 19..04:55
10. Unredeemed 04:13
11. Letter from Baltimore (feat. Unterwasser) 03:48
12. Antediluvian 03:12
13. Incantation vs. Causation 03:17

Musicians:

Leonid Soybelman - guitar
Ruslan Kalugin - guitar
Phil Freeborn - guitar
Konstantin Orlov - bass
Michail Zhukov - drums, percussion
Irina Doubrovskja - vocals, accordion, piano, keyboards
Thomas Cooper - vocals

Upcoming shows:

07.03.09	D-Berlin	Stella
30.04.09	D - Kassel	Weltmusikfestival
01.05.09	D - Stuttgart	Laboratorium

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Asphalt Tango Records: www.asphalt-tango.de
MySpace: www.myspace.com/ersatzmusika

Balkan Beats is a drug !

written by Robert Rigney, Jan 2009

It’s a lifestyle; a feeling; and in the last couple of years a European – a world wide phenomenon.
From Bosnia to Brazil, people know Balkan Beats.

"Robert Soko has been putting on his parties in Berlin since 1993. He was the first to coin the term BalkanBeats in order to somehow define the mix of music from the Balkans – Serbian Gypsy brass, ska and ethno rock. Balkan Beats is folk melodies reinterpreted, given electronic beats and blended with western styles. In the recent past the phenomenon has caught on in other cities around the world where Balkan immigrants live. Balkan Beats parties are thrown all the way from Frankfurt and Vienna to New York and Melbourne.

Robert grew up in Zenica, central Bosnia, listening to western music – to rock and roll, to punk, to ska. In 1990 he left Bosnia and came to Berlin. He took a job as a taxi driver and started hanging out at the Arcanoa, a punk bar in Berlin’s immigrant quarter Kreuzberg with his Yugo friends. The Arcanoa became their domicile. Soko put on his first parties there, playing his Yugo music for fifty Deutsch marks and beer for free. He played Yugo rock, new wave, punk, ska, the music he had grown up with. He celebrated socialist holidays: Tito’s birthday, Day of Women. May First. The parties were a mix of irony and nostalgia, and Soko was surprised how many people came to the parties, as nostalgia for Yugoslav socialism was not the ‘in thing’ in those days of growing Balkan nationalism. And yet the parties grew.

And then something happened. After years of listening and playing western derived rock, punk and ska, Soko found himself returning to his ethnic Balkan music roots, the roots he had rejected as a youth in Bosnia. This was largely due to two figures, Goran Bregović and Emir Kusturica – Bregović who revamped Balkan Gypsy melodies, making Balkan music palatable for a western audience, and Kusturica, whose Gypsy inspired films Bregović did the soundtracks for. Soko played this new/old Balkan music. And people loved it. Women grooved to it. Guys pogoed to it. It was a sensation. The press took notice. From the Arcanoa Soko moved to the Mudd Club in Berlin Mitte. Soko began taking his parties to other cities around Europe, to New York and L.A.

The Mudd Club is history now and Robert Soko has a regular DJ night in LIDO in Berlin Kreuzberg and nights in Paris and Budapest as well as many other cities.

The party goes on. The virus spreads. HYPE AGAIN - HAJDE !" in www.balkanbeats.de

Dunkelbunt + Haris Pilton + DJ Tito - 14 March @ Menza Pri Koritu (Slovenia)

Date: 14 March
Time: 22h
Location: Klub Menza Pri Koritu Masarykova 24, 1000 Ljubljana
Tickets: 6€

Lienup:

DJ Tito
Haris Pilton

Dunkelbunt:

During the last years, Ulf Lindemann alias [dunkelbunt] has recorded the album MORGENLANDFAHRT, to be released in May 2007 on Viennese urban-world label chat chapeau. MORGENLANDFAHRT is a mix of Dub, Reggae, Bossa, Jazz, Electronics, Trip Hop and Break Beats woven with a Balkan twist. Numerous co-operations with both Viennese and international musicians from the Balkan and Klezmer scenes have enriched many of the tracks on the album, namely performers like 5’nizza, Fanfare Ciocarlia, Amsterdam Klezmer band, The Cat Empire, Harry Stojka, Östblocket, MC Killo Killo, Orient Expressions and many more.

With MORGENLANDFAHRT, [dunkelbunt] combines the many facets and faces of Southeast European music with various stylistic elements of electronic- and world music. The results of these efforts are fusions Lindemann calls Balkan-Dub or simply Balkan-Electronics!

Balkan Bohemia - 11 March (Cork, Ireland)

Date: 11 March
Time: 20:30h
Location: Crane Lane Theatre, Cork
Tickets: 10€

Detailed info:

Balkan Bohemia

Come play your hand at a world which is rough but full of laughter, where the vodka is strong and the strong are plenty, where the winter’s a fridge but the summer’s a passion… Jump on board the caravan to Balkan Bohemia from 8.30pm on Wednesday March 11th – it’ll be one hell of a ride!

Clap your hands and stomp your feet while 7-piece band Lazik gets you going with their lively mix of Balkan and gypsy tunes, but not before Zingarina teaches you the latest Romany party moves! Shuffle, fold, raise or bluff… but don’t miss out on the magic tricks brought by Ger Kearney. Then get set to be stunned by PassePartout’s circus antics, the premiere of artist Tom Campbell’s latest performance piece, and Niamh Lennard’s live painting session! Also see us through in a wild card when Egyptian Sands takes over the dance floor with her seductive hip circles. The whole extravaganza will be hosted by our very own Nikita Sucadic, after which DJ Mayakovsky together with special guest DJ Jure Novak get set to keep you twirling till the early hours. Come see us and raise our game, because the odds are on your side!

Ladies, bring your big layered skirts, head scarves and golden earrings. Gents wear a shirt with a leather waist coat or braces and a wacky hat and let those moustaches grow! Tickets are €10 and can be bought at PLUGD Records or on the door.

Balkan Bohemia: www.myspace.com/balkanbohemia

Lazik

Lazik is a reflection of the beautiful cultural melting pot that Cork has become. We started out as a group of session musicians, where we discovered we couldn’t resist wandering off the didly-eye path of the standard Cork session repertoire. To our delight we discovered that other great and well-travelled musicians had a similar appetite for different signature ‘weird’ world music. Thus, in 2005 we all decided to come out of the session closet and Lazik was, is and will be! Our repertoire is varied, to say the l’east. Our love of suave melodies, crazy rhythms and wild dancing is the chore of our sound. Our journeys around the world collecting songs and tunes, and our various musical and cultural backgrounds provide us with a wealth of inspiration. Wild dance tunes with Scandinavian power and Bulgarian upbeat mix with Eastern rhythms; French chansons and Breton dances blend with Irish tunes and Greek, Turkish and Yiddish melodies.

We bring you a night of shimmering bellydance rhythms, rocking Scandinavian melodies and groovy Eastern European music. Besides haunting the hills of Cork with our groovy sounds we have toured The Netherlands, Belgium and France, rocked-up the Ennis Trad Fest 2006, shook the Cork Folk Fest 2006 and collaborated with the bellydancers of Rashenkoti for the Cork Ladyfest 2008 and Tribal Cure 2008. We have recently supported the French/Malian band Tinariwen in Cork Opera House and cast a dancing spell on the fabulous audience of The Festival of World Cultures 2008 in Dun Laoghaire. We’re in the process of recording our first album.

PassePartout Circus Compagnie

PassePartout Circus Compagnie is a diverse troupe of entertainers, dancers, clowns and jugglers.

As a group we have a background in performance arts, circus and dance. We have performed on an individual basis and collectively in the Parks,on the Streets, in the Pubs & Clubs, at the Festivals and in the midst of many Parades throughout Ireland, Europe and Australia.

Currently based in City & County Cork (Ireland), we run a weekly Circus Workshop and Practice Space in Kinsale (Monday nights, 7pm-8.30pm, Come along, All Welcome!!).

We are currently performing, offering and available for the following antics:

* Fire shows
* Walkabout characters including clowns, stilt walkers, jugglers, etc...
* Street shows
* Circus workshops; Juggling, hoola hoops, poi, staff, devil sticks, etc...
* Bellydance workshops
* Corporate events
* Or anything else weird or wonderful you have in mind or that we haven't mentioned!

Asphalt Tango Records - the leading voice in Eastern and Gypsy Music!

The Berlin based company was founded by Asphalt Tango productions in cooperation with Piranha Music in the summer of 2002 to combine their long term experiences and know-how in developing new artists, into producing, releasing, publishing and distributing their music worldwide.



Balkan Beats Kollektiv wants to thank Asphalt Tango Records and his staff for supporting the blog! Special thanks to Claudia Nelke ;)


Asphalt Tango Records is currently managing and booking the following artists:

Kal (Serbia)

Kaloomé (France)

La Cherga (Balkan)

ErsatzMusika (Russia)

Fanfara Tirana (Albania)

Di Grine Kuzine (Germany)

Fanfare Ciocărlia (Romania)

Mahala Rai Banda (Romania)

The Gypsy Queens & Kings (Various)

Oana Cătălina Chiţu (Romania)

Jony Iliev & Band (Bulgaria)

Esma Redzepova (Macedonia)

Costel Vasilescu (Romania)

Romano Drom (Hungary)

Besh o droM (Hungary)

___________________________________________

Website: www.asphalt-tango.de

MySpace: www.myspace.com/asphalttangorecords

Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/AsphaltTangoRecords

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Asphalt-Tango/44947584355

Stranger than paradise (DJ Sacha Dieu, Malaka, Kobayashi & Mahnahmahna) - 14 Mar @ Dex Club (London)

Date: 14 March
Time: 22h
Location: Dex Club, 467-469 Brixton Road, London SW9 8HH
Tickets: 5£ (before midnight) 7£ (after)

Lineup:

DJ Mahnahmahna

DJ Sacha Dieu:

Sacha feels equally comfortable playing Hip Hop/Reggae/R&B mash ups at warehouse parties and Dance music at raves, as he is rinsing the party classics at weddings. Occasionally, he plays Electro at private views too.

But if you want to catch him at his most cheeky self, head to the "Stranger than paradise" monthly event, which he co-founded and where he is resident dj. This is the place to hear his explosive mix of Gypsy, Cumbia, Ska, Bollywood, Belly Dance, Rock and Roll, Punk, Rhythm and Blues, Swing and French goodies.

DJ Kobayashi:

DJ Kobayashi musical styles varies from Gypsy/Balkan/Swing/Rock&Roll music, to chill-out/future dub/dub-step and broken beats.

His influences as a DJ started from a very young age following his dad (Reuven Erez). He then knew what he was meant to do and started forming his collection and style.

DJ Malaka

Recently I started to DJ in some Parties and I decided to continue to this direction, especially in London where the possibilities are huge and where the music is still an underground movement in expansion. Looking forward to see you at my nights in London! Play List: Fanfare Ciocarlia, Kocani Orchestar,Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra, Goran Bregovic, KAL, Esma, Slavic Soul Party, Gogol Bordelo, Balkan Beat Box, J.U.F., slonovski bal, Dj Shantel, Balkan Beats, Tony Hanna, Techno Roman Project,the Amesterdam klezmer band, Boban Marcovic, Magnifico, Dunkelbunt, BUSHMAN TECHNOLOGIE, Postolar Tripper, Let 3, Bolesna Braca, Besh'o'drom, o'djila, La Caravane Passe,Buscemi, Mitsoura, romano drom ... and many more!

Disco Partizanti - 12 Mar @ Klub Mandala (Warsaw)

Date: 12 March
Time: 21h
Location: Klub Mandala Warszawa ul. Emilii Plater 9/11
Tickets: Free

Music: Balkan Ragga, Gypsy Punk, Electro Tzigane, Hip Hop Klezmer...

MySpace: www.myspace.com/discopartizanti

Festival Du Son Dans les Feuilles - 7/8 March (Paris)

Date: 7/8 March
Time: 18h
Location: 19-21, Rue Boyer Paris 20º. M Ménilmontant / Gambetta Tickets: 12€/15€

Lineup

7 March:

Ziveliorkestar
Padam
Syl Nuvaanu
Michael Wookey
Le Ptit Bazar
Archi Seb + Juliette Dragon
David X

8 March:

Franck Monnet
Pusse
Le Mythe des grands singes
Gaelle Vignaux
L
Ronan Ronan

More Info: www.dusondanslesfeuilles.fr