Shantel - Disko Partizani (Crammed)

Gypsophilia spreads apace. However, unlike the days when we had sound benchmarks like the virtuosity of Bratsch, the authentic Roma roots of Taraf de Haidouks and the “proto-Gypsies” Musafir of Rajasthan, we now live in the post-Borat age of Gogol Bordello, Balkan Beat Box and Bucovina Club. Don’t get me wrong, I’d be the last to champion ‘purity’ in reference to Rom / Balkan inspired music given its inherently mongrel (in the very best sense of the term) nature. But – honestly – listening to Disko Partizani, I don’t know whether we haven’t entered the realm of perpetual pastiche seasoned with not a small dose of self-parody. Virtually no music is totally impervious to being re-fitted for the dance club floor and as Shantel and a cast of terrific musicians including the fantastic Canadian singer Brenna MacCrimmon amply demonstrate, Balkan music is just too perfect for the purpose. So, when Shantel sings “yabadaday yoboboboy, i wanna be a disco boy” or “My baby came down from Romania, She was the queen of Transylvania, But now we live in suburbia” over a ska beat, I simply grin broadly and say: Yakshemash! Very Nice!