Under The Influence

Stomping punked up Klezmer, that's what it is. And it's good too, very good.

There's a massive western influence going on here - in fact I think these guys are from the states. That's what gives it it's original sound. I do love my gypsy beats, but it's great having them turned up a notch (not that it's generally required - just go to a Fanfare Ciocarlia gig to see what I mean).

Funny lyrics too - check out Not A Crime. I keep coming back to this one and I don't see that changing in the future.

I'm sure I've probably mentioned it before but I love the Klezmer sound, it sounds so fresh to my western ears.

There are plenty of stomping tracks to dance around to - in fact almost all of them are really upbeat. A couple of songs are even sung in English so I can figure out what's going on some of the time. The production is great on here too.

Charlatan-Ka is great - it sounds like it's going to be a cover of Those Were the Days My Friend. And I know I've heard Golem Hora before but I can't pick from where... oh wait, The Saints (another Klezmer group from Poland) do a version of this too (though I'm sure the melody is more famous than that).

I write this sitting aboard the train that's taking me to see these two (along with Fanfare Ciocarlia) performing live for the first time. I generally have a policy of not listening to an artist before a gig but for some reason I'm breaking that rule now.

Silky smooth, it is. Velvety fiddle and accordion work. Apparently when playing live they use such trickery as funny hats with drumsticks attached to allow for more simultaneous instrument playing. The scales used in Klezmer are so refreshing after having listened to the same old scales used time and again in western music. This Albuquerque couple have still managed to invite a good dose of western influence into their sound and all the singing is in english making it accessible for layfolk like myself.

Just arrived back from the gig! Very nice indeed. It was Fanfare Ciocarlia that stole the show - though I'm still in love with A Hawk And A Hacksaw.

One of the albums I picked up in my hunt for random eastern block music a couple of months back. I think it's actually a guy who lives in Amsterdam now but the influence still shines through.

It's an interesting blend of sounds. Half of it is modern disco - lots and lots of those beow beow things they like to do so much. Fun, light housey beats (which makes sense given that House was basically squeezed out of disco in the first place). Flips it over and the other half is dub.

Many of the songs sway over towards the eastern side - hectic pumping accordion based numbers. Drunk n Space is a good example - though it drops away into a dub vibe halfway through which is pretty cool. The following song, Orbital Hora, is a dub track for that matter (though with more western eurpoean sounding accordion work).

Lots of different influences coming into play. I suspect the man may be well travelled.