Under The Influence

Oi Va Voi have recently released a new album that's getting very good reviews - I thought it prudent to listen to some of their old stuff first. I try to make a habit of working that way where possible.

This is cool. Very eclectic mix of sounds and influences. At it's core you get Jewish klezmer type goodness but it's spiced up with all sorts of other things. Drum and Bass beats for example are used in the vast majority of the tracks. I guess it's basically traditional Jewish music with electronic wizards working the controls. Lots of cool bits of looping and the like.

It surprises me that this doesn't sound more dated, given that it's 5 years old now (in a genre, ethnic/electronica, that's a bit risky for that). Looking forward to sitting down with their latest offering now.

I was very lucky on Saturday when I chose to walk into that unassuming little record store (Sax) in Leuven. The guy behind the counter was understandably sceptical about my taste in music when he noticed the Rock Werchter armband I was wearing. I asked for something local and this is what I got - what a treat.

I'm glad I sacked off the festival to head back to Leuven to see them play that night. The performance was fantastic. Great energy, great fun, great act - gypsy ska at its best. Jos from the record store proved to be wonderful company with fine taste in music.

A wonderful experience - the memory of which I'll treasure all my life.

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).

Radio 3 naming you the years best world-music act (2006) is going to do wonders for your reputation. That probably goes a long way to explaining why the Barbican Centre was completely packed out for their performance last night. The enthusiasm shown by the crowd, however was completely driven by the band.

It was a hell of a performance and the crowd didn't hold back in displaying their appreciation. Most of the night the stage was dominated by 40 year old men with big brass horns - though flamenco dancers did slink past from time to time to provide the eye-candy.

The album is cool but it just doesn't match up to the live experience. Truthfully, there's no way it ever could - there are just a few times in my life where I've witnessed performances that even come close to matching this in energy. There's something incredible about hearing brass live. I love the way it sounds like it's tearing through the air - invokes the same satisfaction one derives from shredding paper. From what I saw last night everyone felt the same way about the gig I did.

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.