Blog Update: New Blog Feed From Oberlin ETHN 209 for Balkan Music

I've placed the the Oberlin ETHN 209 Blog feed on the right column so you can browse the RSS of the latest 10 postings.

Just scroll down to the middle of the page to check it out.

Simitli's Men Singing Group - Izvorite | Daily Dose | Bulgarian Folk Music

Here is another post from Simitli, Bulgaria where I lived for two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer. This is a Bulgarian Folk Music group based out of my home town. They are a good example of the men only choirs prevalent in Bulgaria. Often looked over because of the quality and popularity of Bulgarian all women choirs such as The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices and Trio Bulgarka. Anyway, enjoy the post and be sure to look at the pictures. I took most of the photos and they are all photos from my town.

Again, I have the full CD of Izvorite also if anyone wants it. Just email me through my profile.

The Ostblog | Daily Dose | New Balkan Music Blog

http://www.ostblog.at in German too

There's a Balkan music blog that I just discovered (or they found me) coming from Austria. Written in German (a much better option for the 4% percent of you that hail from Deutschland and Austria), they have cleverly installed a translator that adequately translates all the pages into English.

The blog discusses the Balkan Music movement (Gypsy Punk, Balkan Brass, Balkan Music DJs) from more of a European Perspective but the writer also travels a lot and is introduced to many different styles of music (Kiev and Moscow, just as an example). Its definitely a source to look into when researching about Balkan Music, be sure to check it out.

Be sure to also check out the most recent contributor's MySpace page;

PUTIN DA REKORD

There also is a page detailing what I believe is the list of contributors:

Kollektiv Fischka on the Blog

Separate Website, but in German

Zlatina Metodieva | Daily Dose | Bulgarian Folk Music

Zlatina Metodieva | First Solo Album

This particular post is about an actual Bulgarian friend of mine that I worked with as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Simitli, Bulgaria. The YouTube video is a track from Zlatina's first solo album. She is a young Roma woman still in high school that has studied Bulgarian Folk Music at a school in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. The photos are from her marketing promotion in town to raise funds for printing and making copies of the Album. I took all of the photos and they are from Simitli.

The music is good example of current Bulgarian Folk Music, which is slightly different than the style of The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices and Philip Kolev. It (conceptually) is more like country music in America.

Anyway, I have the whole CD so if anyone is interested in listening to it. Just email me robert . proudfoot at geemail . com (its on my profile too). Anyway, congratulations to Zlatina for a successful recording of a first solo album.

Boban Markovich | Daily Dose | In Your Stores Now

Boban Markovich is one of the founders of the Balkan Brass movement, more so in the sense that he and other great Romani musicians served as the musical base for western artists. His Serbian Brass music, similar to Hungarian Brass music, has gained popularity within western countries as of late, especially in Europe.

Quick Serbian Language lesson:

Boban Markovic is pronounced Boban Markovich. The "Ć" is actually a "Ch". This usage of "C" holds true for most Slavic languages.

His music is more traditional than the more modern "crossover" artists using Balkan Brass such as Beirut, Shantel and Balkan Beat Box. The music is Serbian / Former Yugoslavian (read: Macedonian, Montenegro, Albanian, Croatian and Bosnian influences). In some circles, he is considered the "King of Gypsy brass bands"and definitely is a great introduction to Balkan Music. He made a name for himself at the Guca (Gucha, remember the "C" is "ch") Golden Trumpet Music Festival by winning the Golden Trumpet in 2001.

While Boban Markovich is Roma and plays Balkan Brass music, its difficult to classify what is "Roma" music and what is a national music (Serbian). So just keep in mind that Boban is from Serbia and draws a lot of influences from Serbian culture while also injected Roma style and culture as well.

I just recently saw this album in the Virgin Megastore in Times Square NYC last week:

Here are some samples from this Boban Markovich Orkestar Album:

TRACK #3: SAT


TRACK #4: MUNDO COCEK (excellent, please play)




Also, there is a live recording floating around of Boban Markovich that I've seen recently in record stores:

Germany's Shantel making waves in the Balkans: Disco Partizani in Serbia's MTV

Germany's Shantel making waves in the Balkans

Just before leaving Bulgaria, I saw Shantel making an appearance on Serbia's "MTV" called DM SAT. The Serbian music television station played Disco Partizani (which was shot in Istanbul. I saw some of the places in the video). I talked about Shantel and this video a while back because of its racial tones by using ciganizatsia (niggerization).

Serbia's Mtv, DM SAT (don't worry they have MTV too)

After the video, DM SAT interviewed Shantel in German about his music and its influences. It was translated into Serbian and I couldn't catch enough of it to follow everything but they definitely were asking him about his Balkan music.

Why is important? For the most part, the Balkans is pretty much unaware of the Westernized Balkan Music movement and rarely has heard of such musicians like Shantel, BalkanBeatBox or Beirut. And that has a certain irony and is probably a good representation of other "World Music" movements throughout the world. What the locals listens to is usually different that the Westernized and culturally translated music that is popular in the Western countries. The fact the Shantel is able to make presence in Serbia (and other Balkan countries, he gets occasional radio time in Bulgaria) is somewhat symbolic of the two types of music directly influencing each other.

Besides, I enjoy nothing more than seeing a German DJ that specializes in remixing Balkan music for clubs in Europe become popular in the Balkans. A similar comparison would be a German Country music star becoming popular in the bible belt. Its just to much fun, in terms of social observation, to not talk about.

Street Performers in Istanbul playing Balkan Music and Speaking English

While wondering the streets in Istanbul, I happened upon a impromptu band playing Balkan Music on the street. They spoke English and announced their songs in English. The played some decent music but most importantly it displays the growth of the Balkan Music movement. Balkan Music obviously isn't new to Istanbul and Turkey, where a good portion of Balkan music draws its roots from the Ottoman Empire. But I find it fun to find Balkan music played by English speakers (from Western Europe or America) in Istanbul. This plays into this Guerrilla Concert feel that some of the westernized Balkan Bands have been attempting recently. Both Hawk and a Hacksaw, and Beirut have been utilizing this approach - mostly in places like Paris. Here's an example from Hawk and a Hacksaw from Paris:


Hawk and a Hacksaw - Oriental Horo



Hawk and a Hacksaw - The Sparrow




Beirut - St. Apollina



Currently YouTube is banned in Turkey and I had to search for these videos using vTunnel.com which opens websites in an iframe. Its a really easy work around to counter the banning of YouTube and kind of shows how foolish the ban was in the first place. I don't really want to explain the ban here, so just click the link and research it yourself.

Dell Laptop of Six Years Passes Away | Limited Posts on The Balkan Hour

It is with a saddened heart today that I must inform you that my feisty laptop of six years passed away quietly in the night. After loosing its batteries and A-drive three years ago and its DVD drive a year ago, the laptop finally succumbed to massive internal failure. The Laptop has graciously donated itself for spare parts in the interest of science here in Bulgaria.

We met at the Vanderbilt School of Engineering in 2002 and I'm happy to say that our relationship was the longest known among friends; there were quarrels and spars but in the end we provided constant companionship throughout the formative college years and then in maturing two years of Peace Corps Bulgaria.

Posts on The Balkan Hour will become slower now and more sporadic until I can have access to the internet on a reliable basis. Until then, read the old posts and don't be afraid send me an email at robert.proudfoot at Gee Mail dot com (although don't expect an immediate response). I'll be traveling the next few weeks too, so this will add to the sporadic posting.

Take Care,

Robert


My Vanderbilt Engineering Dell Laptop
August 2002 - October 2008
RIP