10 Sep Balkan Beat Box: The Beat goes on

Balkan Beat Box’s, Nu Med

Balkan Beat Box’s second album, Nu Med, is finally here. The New York–based multicultural collective mashes up every Mediterranean and Caribbean influence you can think of, creating an invigorating album that is sure to keep your feet tapping. Influenced by cofounder Tamir Muskat’s Gypsy heritage, the group takes the listener through various locales, all propelled by an insistent electronic beat. Opening track, “Keep ’Em Straight” is representative of the album, with bongo drums and improvisational vocals cutting into bouncing horns and jingling percussion.

It quickly opens up into “Hermetico,” complete with a horse’s neigh introducing the track’s African rhythms and Jamaican-style toasting. “Habibi Min Zaman” is definitely the cut!, featuring Arabic vocals over a funky hip-hop beat that keeps things grooving. “Mexico City” places jazzy rhyming over a mellow beat to create just the right mood. The Turkish dance beats of “Pachima” melt into the reggae-tinged “Quand Est-ce Qu’on Arrive?” and the full global vision of Balkan Beat Box is now apparent. Upon listening to Nu Med, one feels as though he/she is traveling the globe…visiting the many cultures BBB’s music exposes the listener to.

With their fusion of Middle Eastern melodies and Balkan brass-band stomp with hip-hop, reggae, and electro beats, this international collective is out to prove that the entire world is, indeed, their stage. If you have the opportunity, be sure and see them live. Tour dates can be found on their myspace page.

Balkan Beat Box is: Jeremiah Lockwood, Uri Kinrot (guitar); Eyal Talmudi, Peter Hess, Ori Kaplan (saxophone); Itamer Ziegler, Ben Handler (bass guitar); Tamir Muskat (drums); Tomer Yosef (percussion). Additional personnel: Gilber Bilmore, DUNIA, Dessislava Stefanova (vocals); Vinny Sau (electric violin); Michael Nikolic (accordion); Ismail Lumanovski (clarinet); Ben Holmes (flugelhorn); Dana Leong (trombone); Ron Caswell (tuba); Lance Muncan (keyboard).

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