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CD Review
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Sing Out!, CD Review >>
Ah, you have to love New York ... and Balkan Beat Box proves that the Big Apple lives up to its reputation as a melting pot. There's Balkan (of course), klezmer, Middle Eastern and more in their mix, all bound together by beats. They've received plenty of glowing press, and on this, their second album, they bring their sound together. They may not be quite as groundbreaking as some claim, but there's definitely a sense of adventure to what they do, a questing for the new that thankfully never manages to sound self-conscious. With Arabic rap, Balkan melodies and all matter of things jammed together, it could all be a mess, but it's not -- there's a real sense of cohesion to the music, and a strongly contemporary edge. It may not be the future (or perhaps one possible future), but for now it's satisfying on several levels -- for the head, the heart and the feet. A few tracks, like "Digital Monkey" and "Gypsy Queens" are real standouts -- not that the others are slouches. But they're at their best when they focus on Balkan and Middle Eastern music (which are cousins, anyway). It's where their real passions seem to lie, and they bring a power to it that's not quite there elsewhere. They might be massive, they might not, time will tell, but they're producing some excellent music. -- CN 10/01/07
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