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Balkan Beat Box
- Avg user rating:
Out of 20 votes - Similar Artists: Gogol Bordello, The Klezmatics, Immigrant Suns
Out of 20 votes
- Location: New York City, New York, United States
- Genre: World » Worldbeat
Editor's review
In each of the last few years, an artist has broken out with a mix of indigenous music and modern rhythms. Call Balkan Beat Box 2007's successor to Panjabi MCs and M.I.A. The group blends deep techno with wailing klezmer woodwinds and rapid-fire flows. Most wowing? We don't even notice it's strange.
Biography
New York's Balkan Beat Box tackled their latest album, Nu Med, with the fervor of a band intent on not only making a political statement, but getting fans on the dance-floor in the process. The album imagines what the Middle East would sound like if the borders of were abolished and Arabic, Gypsy, and Jewish musics were able to blend freely, which is exactly what happens on Nu Med. The album flows from electronic to reggae to hip hop to klezmer all in the span of 13 tracks.
Featured in SPIN Magazine's "Gypsy Music ï¿? Scene of the Year" article as a band to watch in 2007, Balkan Beat Box have already earned quite the following with their high-energy live shows proven to turn non-believers into diehard fans. The group consists of a former member (Ori) and producer (Tamir) of gypsy-punk sensations Gogol Bordello, Big Lazy, and Firewater. "Guaranteed to propel any party into a hedonistic, sweaty mess, this cross-cultural crew of New York musicians cranks out Eastern Bloc-inspired techno grooves seemingly fueled by Manischewitz and a big dose of punk 'tude," wrote Entertainment Weekly. Others have likened the band to M.I.A, Beirut, Ozomatli, and Devotchka for their unique take on world music which attracts fans of all stripes.
