Shantel – Disko Partizani!
Reviewed by Sadie O., 1/19/09
“Balkan Pop” – a bizarre mashup of Gypsy brass and club beats with a bit of Turkitude thrown in, as well as close Eastern harmonies. The closest thing we probably have to this in our collection is Fanfare Ciocarlia, although that’s not TOO close. There’s lots of goofiness and goodnatured sleaze, but there’s also lots of really gorgeous stuff, and elements combined in new ways. Don’t sleep on this one – like 2 Mustafas 3 from back in the day, it’s “forward in all directions”!
Couldn’t hear no FCCs. All great – try 4, 8, 12, then the rest.
1. 0:48 *trumpet flourishes and foreboding.
2. 4:53 ***chirpy oompah with accordion and trumpet, turning into pop polka with fun English lyrics. Eastern Euro chorus, and Opa! (This was actually a fair-sized hit in part of the world.) Impossible not to like!
3. 4:18 **female whispered intro in Turkish, downbeat slinky groove, sweet Turkish singing. Exotic and gorgeous. Bits of cheese, just so you don’t go taking things too seriously…
4. 4:19 ****mutant halfbreed offspring of polka and ska, amusing spoken vocals in English. Ha! Oh dear… Oh my….
5. 3:53 ***What IS this? Gypsy horns, belly dance, a bit of sleaze. A bit more of those gorgeous Eastern close harmonies, and a pimp mofo. Huh!
6. 4:14 **Gypsy mambo rave-up – wheee! Bit of meaningful vocals in some other language, false ending halfway through, then back to the party.
7. 3:16 ***another rave-up – fairly traditional sounding to a certain extent, except the beat is just a touch too “house”… There’s an interesting solo on the gizmo in the middle.
8. 3:46 ****switching it up – this one’s all club beat with middle eastern instrument overlay. Pretty vocals with just a hint of processing, in English. Somehow it adds up to a killer sound.
9. 5:36 ***melodian drone intro, another Gypsy brass rave-up with yet another club(footed) beat. False ending midway through, then male vocals announce something with the occasional English word to give you a hint…
10. 4:08 **ska beat and a very familiar sounding traditional chord progression. Very sincere sounding male vocals. Should we take him seriously, here? I dunno – I don’t even know what language he’s singing in…
11. 3:58 **brass and wind intro, uptempo, and with hints of both Andalusia and the Middle East. Instrumental, quite pretty really.
12. 3:53 ****ok, there are elements of pop R&B, and some Bulgarian line dancing and hypersonic horns. I think this should really throw most listeners completely offkilter, so lay it on em!
13. 3:52 **somehow both relaxed and hyperactive instrumental.
14. 4:50 **sweet and subdued (compared to the rest of the record), sweet love song in English. Accordion solo!