Electric Gypsyland 2

[coll]: Electric Gypsyland 2
Reviewed by Sadie O., 11/16/06
Remixes and remakes of Balkan pieces, by a variety of international artists. Some electronica, some experimental, some just slight tweaks of the originals. All really interesting and a lot of fun – don’t miss out on this! Not just a World record by any means. CD 2 is the original Balkan cuts.
No FCCs. All great – I like 4, 10 and 16 best on CD 1, and most of CD 2 is fabulous.
CD 1:
1. 3:18 **electronic chirpy beats, plucked instrument, chimes, layers come in and out. Midtempo, march of the crickets meets mellow sweetness. Ends with several seconds of clapping.
2. 4:30 ***random electronica intro, then uptempo gypsy dance beat with accordion.
3. 3:14 *midtempo, plucked instrument and male vocals, alternating with lots of chirpy noises and drones.
4. 4:41 ****hyperactive male nonsense vocals, trumpets and upbeat mayhem. Balkan Beat Box rooolz, ya!
5. 5:24 ***dubby handdrums, harmonium and funky beat. Slow violin ending.
6. 6:14 **solo oud intro, squeaky midtempo beat. Male vocals and mysterious horns.
7. 3:38 **jaunty little strings, female spoken word, then full-on uptempo hora with accordion, male vocals.
8. 4:09 *plaintive male vocals and horns. 1.5 minutes in switches to bouncy, happy midtempo dance.
9. 3:35 **bouncy midtempo handdrums, panpipes and bells. Lots of elements come and go, interesting sound. Ends with a splat.
10. 3:54 **** uptempo rave. Opa! Male vocals and merriment.
11. 4:15 *birdsongs and acoustic guitar. Pretty female vocals, very mellow. Some male vocals as well, a bit of a samba groove.
12. 3:50 ***slow build of squeaky violins and things, totally funky beat at 1 minute along.
13. 3:33 ***German dancehall intro, Balkan singing, lots of syncopation, sounds like a lot of fun.
14. 4:00 **rather frantic sounding combination of sounds, dance on crack… Who needs coffee?
15. 5:36 ***female vocals and hand percussion with horns, very uptempo, but a sweet dance groove.
16. 4:52 ****honking noises and doumbek. Funky slightly uptempo beat and horns. Adds elements to form a nice mix. I added stars as it went along…
CD 2: (original tracks)
1. 2:27 **hand drums and horns, uptempo. Oompah comes in almost a minute in. Odd combo of frantic and laid back.
2. 4:12 **uptempo romp with horns that sound like a mariachi band, male vocals.
3. 6:07 **great handdrums and percussion, lots of horns. Great solos in second half of song.
4. 5:05 ****wonderful bouncy but unclassifiable beat, male vocals, great midtempo romp. False ending about a minute and a half from the end, then fast Charleston.
5. 3:09 **Yeee haw! Fast fiddle-driven barn dance laden with methamphetamines. The devil did NOT go down to Georgia, clearly.
6. 7:40 ***random violin noises like raindrops, fast bass-driven beat lurks underneath. Emotional male vocals.
7. 6:04 ****Live recording, long oboe solo, then huge midtempo dance band, great syncopated romp. Big doumbek solo near end.
8. 4:51 ****fast horn-driven dance with great syncopation. Nice!
9. 4:15 *****doumbek and harmonium – very belly dancey until the horns from heck come in. Male vocals and oompah. I LOVE this!
10. 4:17 ***sweet and smooth slightly uptempo dance. This band SMOKES.
11. 5:01 *In a startling switch, very downtempo and rather dreamy violin-and piano based ballet. Beautiful, but I’m all hyper now…
12. 2:18 **starts with random people noises, then rather theatrical midtempo accordion-based number.