By DENNY DYROFF
Staff Writer
   

Balkan Beat Box would just as much at home performing at a trendy dance club in Manhattan or a small, smoky night club on a little sidestreet in Sofia, Bulgaria.
   

The group, which revolves around the nucleus of Tamir Muskat and Ori Kaplan, plays a swirling, hypnotic style of music that is all their own – an eclectic blend of rock, Israeli klezmer, electronica, folk, film music, hip-hop and traditional music from eastern Europe.
 

The band’s debut album “Balkan Beat Box” was just released in the United States on JDub Records and now the ensemble is touring the states in support of the new disc. The tour brings BBB to Philadelphia tonight for a show at NXNW.
   

“Ori and I have been collaborators on a lot of projects,” said Muskat,
during a phone interview last week. “We’ve played together in different bands, including Gogol Bordello and Firewater.
   

“After Gogol Bordello, we decided to go out on our own. But, we didn’t decide to be a live act until after we recorded the album – definitely not the traditional way of doing things.
   

“Then, after we did a show in Tel Aviv, we realized what a concept we had. We were working with a video artist who put videos to the songs while they were being played onstage.
   

“The only time we ran it all the way through was at that show in Israel.
It was a magical moment. We realized right then that we had to take it on the road – only in a smaller version.”
   

The touring edition of Balkan Beat Box features Kaplan and Muskat along with four other musicians.
   

“The album was basically Ori and I in the studio with a few horn
players,” said Muskat, whose family came from Romania. “On this tour, we’re using live instruments and also computers and samples.
  

“We play for two hours or more – depending on how the room feels and how the crowds react. If people go crazy, they can keep us onstage forever. Half of the show is songs from our next album. The sound of the band keeps evolving to the extreme – on both ends.”
  

What: Balkan Beat Box in concert
When: September 14,
Where: NXNW, 7165 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia
Tickets: $12
Information: (215) 248-1000.