Electric Gypsyland

Gypsy music is conquering an increasingly wider public, and a great many young people are discovering the freshness, authenticity and sheer excitement of the Balkan sound. All across Europe club-goers are raving about Balkan music and taking its popularity to new heights. Electric Gypsyland beautifully brings together the old and the new with remixers from the U.K., Brazil, France, Turkey, the U.S., Yugoslavia, Chile, Germany and Belgium creating their own reinterpretations of tracks by leading Balkan Gypsy bands such as Taraf de Haïdouks, Koçani Orkestar and newcomers Mahala Rai Banda. Remixers include, Shantel, Señor Coconut, Arto Lindsay, Mercan Dede, and many more.

Taraf de Haïdouks, whose name translates as the "band of bandits," are regarded as one of the world's most recognized Balkan Gypsy bands. A village band of traditional Gypsy musicians, Taraf de Haïdouks come from the Romanian village of Clejani, which lies southwest of the capital city of Bucharest. Consisting of a dozen stunning instrumentalists and singers, with ages ranging from 20 to 78, they had never performed outside their region before they were "discovered" by Stéphane Karo and Michel Winter in 1990. Karo and Winter, two young Belgian music fans who fell in love with their music during a trip to Romania, organized a few concerts for the group in Belgium, and introduced the band to noted Brussels-based independent label, Crammed Discs. This marked the beginning of Taraf de Haïdouks exposure to the rest of the world.

In 1991, Crammed Discs signed the band and released their first record entitled Musique des Tsiganes de Roumanie. They have since released three additional records (Honourable Brigands, Magic Horses and Evil Eye, Dumbala Dumba and Band of Gypsies), toured all over Europe and the U.S., and have topped the European World Music Chart. The band also came to play a prominent part in French/Gypsy director Tony Gatlif's acclaimed film Latcho Drom (which won awards at the Cannes Film Festival), and had a documentary film produced about them by French director Guy Demoy for the French-German TV channel ARTE. Johnny Depp has even claimed that they are his favorite band. Industry big-wigs and the public alike have greeted this band with great enthusiasm from the day they first surfaced on Western shores.

The second featured band on Electric Gypsyland is the Koçani Orkestar. This mighty brass band comes from the city of Koçani, in the new Republic of Macedonia (ex-Yugoslavia). Their style of music is aptly described in their region as Romska Orientalna Musika (Oriental Gypsy Band). Oriental brass bands are a Gypsy specialty throughout the Balkan region, from Serbia to Macedonia. These brass bands were originally created in the 19th century to imitate military brass bands of the Turkish janissaries, which had replaced the traditional ensembles based on oboes and drums.

Koçani Orkestar is comprised of several instrumentalists, including an accordionist, a darbuka player, a banjo player, a clarinetist, a percussionist, several tuba players, a saxophonist, and a trumpet player. A handful of vocalists are also active participants in the band. Their music is best described as a potent mixture of Gypsy tunes from the Balkans, Turkish/Bulgarian rhythms, and Eastern-style solos. Their most recent release, Alone at My Wedding, is particularly devoted to the repertoire played by Gypsy bands during wedding celebrations in Macedonia. This record, along with L'Orient est Rouge, were used as source material for Electric Gypsyland.

The two other bands showcased on Electric Gypsyland are Mahala Rai Banda and Ursari de Clejani. Shaped in the Gypsy ghettos around Bucharest, Mahala Rai Banda (literally Noble Band from the Ghetto) combines a surprising array of trends and styles. Mahala Rai Banda gravitates around two poles, a family core close to that of Taraf de Haïdouks, and retired soldiers originally from Moldavia. An army trained brass band versus young city-dwelling traditional Gypsy musicians is what makes up this unique ensemble. Mahala Rai Banda's brass section was discovered by Crammed Discs while playing in a German restaurant. Ursari de Clejani descend from a brotherhood of bear-tamers. They appeared as guests on Taraf de Haïdouks third release, Dumbala Dumba.

With a strong reputation for being a pioneer in putting out unprecedented global electronic music, Crammed Discs came up with the creative idea of mixing the old with the new. Several producers from around the globe were very eager to place their own touches on this newly discovered music. First and foremost, German producer Shantel, who is now touring with members of both Taraf de Haïdouks and Koçani Orkestar together calling themselves Electric Gypsyland, became very interested in Romanian music after rediscovering his family roots in Moldavia. He is probably most recognized for starting the now-legendary Bucovina Club nights at the Frankfurt Theatre, on which thousands of club kids have been going crazy to the sound of Balkan Gypsy music. He is currently co-producing Mahala Rai Banda's debut release (due out in spring 2004).

Lightning Head, a project masterminded by Bigga Bush (a former member of the English dub pioneer outfit Rockers Hi-Fi), also garnered great interest in being involved in this project and takes his two Koçani Orkestar remixes on a journey to Central Africa and Jamaica. His work on "L'Orient est Rouge" boldly combines original brass parts with a soukous guitar riff, and smoothly mixes in a funkified bass line with modern electronic drum sounds. His dubbed out version of "L'Orient est Roots" truly shows that only land and water lay between the music of Jamaica and Romania.

DJ Dolores, a Brazilian producer at the forefront of blending electronic music with folk roots, was the perfect man for trying to bridge the gap between Brazilian rhythms and accordion lines from Romania. His use of Viorica Rudareasa's vocal line in his remix of Taraf de Haïdouks "Dumbala Dumba" is subtle, but beautifully placed throughout this track. Similarly, who else but Chilean-based Señor Coconut could underline the strange similarities between Latin American and Southern Balkan brass bands? His work on Koçani Orkestar's "Usti, Usti Baba" is sonically innovative and in the pocket.

Ian Simmonds a.k.a. Juryman has released three records with Crammed Discs and puts his signature touch on his remix of Taraf de Haïdouks "Cind Eram la '48" ("Chronicle of a Peasant Uprising"). Taking the listener to a smoky basement jazz club, this nu-jazz pioneer creates a multi-layered scene filled with transcending emotions and undiscovered landscapes. Originally a multi-instrumentalist, Brussels-based DJ/producer Gaëtano Fabri contributes to Electric Gypsyland with his remix of Koçani Orkestar's "Siki, Siki Baba." Having plenty of experience throwing club nights in Europe ("Decadence"), Fabri thrives on a mixture of jazz, funk and bossa.

Bumcello consists of cellist Vincent Segal and drummer Cyril Atef, two musicians who have collaborated with everyone from Susheela Raman to Keziah Jones to Aswad to DJ Mehdi to Blackalicious. This unusual duo inventively mixes rock and world music with electronic and acoustic instruments. Atef's drums truly bring this track alive with Segal's robust, multi-layers of cello parts. Modern Quartet, whose remix of Koçani Orkestar's "Fantasia for Clarinet" adds a distinct bass line in which the clarinet can effortlessly float atop, is made up of Leche and Vanjus, two producers from Novi Sad (Yugoslavia). Vanjus was a childhood friend and early musical partner of the emblematic, Serbian-born Brazilian producer Suba. Although they are geographically very close to Balkan music, their inspiration seems to wander much further East.

Revered for his personal take on modern Brazilian music (production work for Caetano Veloso and Marisa Monte), Arto Lindsay seldom works as a remixer. His contribution to Electric Gypsyland, produced with bassist Melvin Gibbs (Defunkt, Rollins Band, Sonny Sharrock Band), is reminiscent of New York's early '80s minimal/rock/noise scene of which Arto's band DNA was an integral part. Turkish producer/DJ Mercan Dede also takes a stab at Koçani Orkestar's "Siki, Siki Baba." Having recorded two albums for Istanbul label Doublemoon, Dede brings more to a track than just a simple remix. Much like several other remixers involved with this project, he introduces a number of additional musicians who interact with the original players and brings a new twist to the song. Olaf Hund, who writes "Are You Gypsified?," is a Franco-German producer who has been releasing quirky records on his Musiques Hybrides label. He closes Electric Gypsyland with a piece that draws elements from half a dozen source tracks. The end result is a joyful, virtual jam session in which the members of three different bands are unwittingly involved.

Two bonus tracks are included on the North American release of Electric Gypsyland. Cop & Thief do a remix of Taraf de Ha•douks "A La Turk," and Modern Quartet remixes Koçani Orkestar's "Cudna Zena." Cop & Thief bring a heavy house treatment to this disc, with a strong "4 on the floor" feel. Modern Quartet takes the listener on an otherworldly journey with their clubby, break beat remix.

From the smallest corner of the world to the hippest club nights around, the Balkan sound is spreading like wild fire. Electric Gypsyland brings new life and energy to the dance music scene, and simultaneously helps bridge existing cultural and generational gaps. For more information on Taraf de Haïdouks, please visit www.crammed.be/taraf, and for Koçani Orkestar, please visit www.crammed.be/kocani-orkestar/ .