Planet Paprika

Shantel – Planet Paprika
Reviewed by Sadie O., 9/29/09
Modern Gypsy/Balkan brass, updated and with a bit of humor. Shantel is a (Bucovina) German DJ-producer who’s worked with Fanfare Ciocarlia and Taraf de Haidouks, and his interest in Balkan Gypsy music has made him go gradually from mostly club to mostly Gypsy, but there’s still a solid mix. His lyrics in English are generally rather silly, but wryly so. Musicianship is terrific.
No FCCs detected. It’s all really great stuff (if you’re into Balkan Gypsy brass bands!) – I like 6 and 10 best.
1. 2:08 *pretty solo gypsy accordion, joined by brass after 30 seconds. Slightly uptempo oom-pah, just a tad exotic.
2. 4:30 ***blatty trumpet and syncopated wip-wiggle, vocals in English, a bit goofy, a bit cool. Female vocals join later, and the whole thing is a great Eastern European party vibe.
3. 5:26 **relaxed polka groove, spoken English vocals, rather wistful. Some fine solos.
4. 2:50 **unplugged folky intro with tight harmonies, then a sort of Latin polka that gets fatter as it goes along. Back to unplugged, then disco polka…
5. 4:19 **How would you describe this… A bit clubbish, minimalist, fun chanted lyrics. Then you get the gypsy brass…
6. 4:05 ****midtempo oom-pah, totally goofy lyrics (in this case, there’s nothing wrong with goofy!)
7. 2:22 **continuation of previous track, but lyrics in Roma(?)
8. 4:16 **acoustic guitar intro, brass band with female vocals – really quite lovely.
9. 4:32. ***more gypsy brass, female vocals in Roma(?) Not English. Very cool sound. Gorgeous clarinet solo.
10. 5:05 ****syncopated gypsy groove, which stops for some impassioned male vocals, very eastern sounding – almost Indian. Goes all club and processed. Interesting stuff
11. 3:21 ***blatty club beat with gypsy brass, male and female vocals in Roma(?) Gorgeous female singing in second half.
12. 3:13 ***just horns for thirty seconds, then a sort of polka stomp with club electronics. Nice mashup.
13. 1:44 *solo gypsy accordion, quite accomplished.