The Groove
Saturday April 13th, 2024 with Elorious Cain
ROMANIDISCO / BALKANBEATZ etc.

South African producers DAN HILL and KEVIN KRUGER formed the EURODISCO group around their first album 'House Of The Rising Sun' calling the band HOT R.S. (House of the Rising Sun) that included the singers RENÉ VELDSMAN, JOHN WEDDEPOHL and JYTTE FALTSKOG and session musicians like guitarist TREVOR RABIN, keyboardist DUNCAN MACKAY and drummer CEDRIC SAMSON. In 1977 they covered that American classic with "over the top Electronics" which became a considerable success. In 1978 they offered a cover of IRON BUTTERFLY's 1968 classic "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" which was cleverly combined with their version of FRANKIE VAUGHAN's 1957 hit "Garden Of Eden". The 14 minute opus started with a striking gypsy violin solo. Some critics suggested that the gypsy music was out of place. One critic even suggested that there was "no place for gypsy music in disco ever". Go forward a few decades and now there are hundreds of artists and producers releasing their own unique combination of GYPSY MUSIC with DISCO. Terms like ROMANIDISCO, BALKANDISKO, BALKANBEATZ, BALKAN ELECTRO, GIPSYBEATS, and BALKAN HOT STEP are common to describe a stimulating sound that has popularity in Eastern European countries and is reportedly spreading into Asian countries like Turkey, Israel, Armenia and Tajikistan. There are also pockets of BALKAN ELECTRO popularity like Amsterdam and Manchester in the U.K. The picture here is of the amazing Hungarian band BESH O DROM. They include the singer KASZAI LILI, saxophone players BARCZA GERGELY, SERCIES VILMOS and MOLNAR TAMAS GERGELY, ÁDAM PETTIK on vocals and percussion, the guitarist HAMORI MATE, and SZUMPER ÁKOS on drums. The name BESH O DROM is a Roma idiom for 'Go your own way!'. One former member of the group claimed that the founders BARCZA GERGLEY and ADAM PETTIK have created a "wonderous flowing musical collectivity like an informal gypsy collaboration". All the same, BESH O DROM has often combined contemporary structures in their music. A best example is the political "Vasagy". N.O.H.A. is the initials for NOISE OF HUMAN ART. Based in Düsseldorf, Germany, the band is actually known by many sources as a 'BREAK BEAT NU JAZZ' outfit, yet their musical reach is very international. They have dabbled in the ROMANIDISCO sound rather frequently as in the case of popular 12" singles like "Balkan Hot Step" and the various remixes of "Tu Cafe". The British GYPSY HILL is basically DJ KOBAYASHI and HERBERT NEWBERT. According to their label's official internet site: "Gypsy Hill – the beast from nearby the middle east – play an intoxicating mix of Balkan brass, Mediterranean surf rock, ska & swing. Featuring guitars, horns, tuba, a scratch DJ and a mix of live and electronic beats, Gypsy Hill effortlessly mix the traditional with a uniquely modern sound." The group is also known for appearing with TRIPHOP artists like COLDCUT and BONOBO. OMFO is the Ukrainian born GERMAN POPOV. The initials stand for "Our Man From Odessa". He now records in Amsterdam and is widely acclaimed for his 'Trans Balkan Express' album which was partially featured in the "Borat" movie. The title track was featured in our presentation of "The Real History Of Disco pt. 5" as another example of classic remakes or "cover versions". In this instance a BALKANBEATZ cover of KRAFTWERK's "Trans Europe Express". One can always check that out at this link: https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/131/43932.html. OMFO has gone more in the direction of DUB and TECH HOUSE of recent. The OT AZOJ KLEZMER BAND and the AMSTERDAM KLEZMER BAND from the Netherlands, FANFARE CIOCARLIA and MAHALA RAI BANDA from Romania and the BOBAN MARKOVIC ORCESTRA from Serbia are all marvelous examples of Gypsy Brass bands. Their collective sound is extremely popular in the movement. Based in Frankfurt, Germany, SHANTEL (his full name is STEFAN HANTEL) is a TECHNO DJ that has gained international popularity for mixing and producing BALKAN music with ELECTRONIC MUSIC variations. He established the cool Essay Recordings label. His songs like "Mahalageasca" and "Disko Partizani" have been immensely popular throughout Eastern Europe and Turkey. !DELADAP is STANI VANI's ELECTRO SWING band out of Vienna, Austria that has gained tremendous notoriety for combining ELECTRO SWING with BALKAN variations. He has collected a stimulating group of musicians and singers from the Czech Republic, Serbia, Bosnia And Herzegovina, and Russia. Many followers of the ROMANIDISCO/BALKANBEATZ movement claim that MAX PASHM is one of the creators of the sound! Here is some information from MAX PASHM's official internet site: "Max Pashm was founded in 1995 in Brighton, UK, when the British rave scene was still at it’s peak. Max was propelled to notoriety as one of the early pioneers of fusing dance floor electronica and rave with traditional and vintage music from Eastern Europe, Greece, Middle East & North America. Whilst widening the boundaries of dance music Max also converted many nay sayers along the way who were not yet into, or appreciative of the genre The international buzz around his sound and performances and the accessibility of his music culminated in him being signed to Sony Music in 1997." These spectacular artists represent just the tip of the ice berg of the ROMANIDISCO/BALKANBEATZ movement. Enjoy!