Well, this is a bit of an odd one. A CD that mixes bass heavy electronica with Balkan beats and folk music. SHAKALAKAZOO is the name that Milan Djuric and Uros Petkovik use. Both are from Belgrade in Serbia and both have reacted to the massive fall in prices of high tech goods, and have started making their own music emanating from the shanty towns, the karton (cardboard) cities.
There are fifteen tracks on the CD, some of which showcase what's best in World music. Tracks such as 'Opla' mix some very heavy bass with Balkan beats to give something that at times sounds not dissimilar to bhangra. Some of the songs feature guest artists, such as Killo Killo who takes the vocal duties on 'Baklava Lover', one of the handful of tracks sung in English, although, with a bass heavy beat, these tunes are aimed far more at the dance floor and at your feet rather than at your brain. However, it's not to say that the lyrics don't on occasion have some relevance. 'Baklava Lover' borrows a lot from traditional Balkan folk music and lays down a real jaunty beat while Killo Killo raps about his Balkan girl: “The sweetest thing that I could discover.”
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Tracks like 'Plus 49' and 'Bang!' sample horns and this is fed into the dub mix to turn out a couple of tracks of surprising quality, 'Bang!' also starts with the sound of gunfire, and the sampled horns even display elements of ska, which made for some pleasurable listening.
With the eastern block opening up to the west, it is inevitable that music like this which marries traditional rhythms with dub and techno to create a marvellous blend.
Whilst I can't see much of a huge market for this in the UK, tracks on here stand up well to other dance floor tracks, and with the bass as heavy as this, It's the sort of thing that should be booming out of car stereos annoying all the old fogies!
Eastblok Music online
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