Customer Reviews

Balamouk

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It is playing right now in the background, while I am writing these words, as I have just returned from Les Yeux Noirs' concert. I want to cry, to shout, to scream, to dance, to die, to live - is it love? This music carries your soul down to the depth of your blood, and believe me, your blood would boil exstatically as soon as Eric Slabiak touches the tormented strings of his violin... Whoever and whatever you are at this very moment would not matter. Suddenly your knowledge of Roma, Yiddish or Russian manifests itself: you unsuspectedly speak in tongues, sing, and dance as if you had these skills all along.
Blessed is the one whose days start with the sounds of Les Yeux Noirs, and whose days end with their music. The heights of joy and grief are there. And the most sincere love of the band members to the old melodies is transfused into your veins. After all it is love..............

A French gypsy band playing in San Jose, CA?
I am so glad I followed my intuition to go see them live!
Since then, I have emailed my friends around the US to catch Les Yeux Noirs as their 3 week tour of the US takes them from coast to coast crossing the Midwest.
These 8 guys will touch your soul...and leave you wanting more...we got 4 more songs from them as encore, we didn't want their show to end!
Music to make you weep
Music to make you smile
Music to get you on your feet
And music to sing along.....
These guys are happening.... their energy is infectious and their talent is beyond words...
Be prepared to see Erik and Olivier Slabiak play the SAME violin at the SAME time...
Pray they play close to where you live,
and walk, drive, fly...whatever it takes....see them!
Live is best, this CD is second best...
Quit reading this and buy this CD!

I heard Les Yeux Noirs (The Black Eyes) at an international music festival in Louisiana and was absolutely blown away by the musicians and their music. Two violinist brothers have assembled the most awesome band that take traditional folk lyrics and melodies and infuse 21st century energy and passion into them. Their music is gypsy-Yiddish influenced and contains both lively dance music as well as melancholy songs and lullabyes. Balamouk is a fabulous CD. You don't have to understand the different languages in the songs to get caught up in the exhilaration and passion. It provides a wonderful variety of musical styles and influences - like a musical tasting party!

I bought this and another cd from Les Yeux Noirs after seeing them in concert. The members of this band have impressive talent, highlighted by the Slabiak brothers' incredible violin skills. While the earlier CD reflects the band members learning the forms of eastern European/Yiddish/Gypsy music, Balamouk represents a nice evolution from their earlier work. They have clearly explored, developed, and evolved more musical ideas building from the frame of traditional music from eastern Europe. Balamouk is a highly creative and emotive collection of songs from a group of talented musicians. They are even better live in concert. Les Yeux Noirs rock!

I just saw Les Yeux Noirs live in Paris and it simply was one of the best concert I have ever gone to.
It is usually very hard to combine virtuosity and emotion but they definitely succeeded.
It was also the very first time I saw Catholic people singing in Yiddish.
Don't hesitate, you will love this record !!!

A wonderful collection of sounds and melodies. A magical journey that should be shared by all with a "neshome" (soul). Nu, so what are you waiting for?

Energy, virtuosity, variation. You just want to get up and dance when you hear this lot. And at Reading WOMAD this year (2005) thats exactly what everyone did!

Over a year ago, a festival day full of Reggae, Salsa, African and other World Music was cut in two by the performance of Les Yeux Noirs. Suddenly there was them, and then everything else. They were like nothing I'd known before, in sound, arrangement, execution, energy, everything. Balamouk soon came to top all my favorite CDs, old and new, Jazz, Pop, Blues, all of them. For awhile I thought I had simply stumbled onto the genres of Gypsy and Klezmer music, and would explore them and make them part of my collection. But that wasn't it. Les Yeux Noirs' sound stands out among Gypsy music almost as much as it does against anything else. Their sound is their own. It is Gypsy music stretched even farther in the emotions of joy, grief, and insuppressable life and vigor than ever before. Balamouk has met its challenge only from the band's subsequent Live CD. They are two sides of the same incredible being, the first formally attired, the other casual sport; both celebrating life with great passion and humor. But don't stop with the CD...look for the next tour of this band and go get the whole experience.

This music is like Eastern Europe meets the Middle East meets the Charlie Daniels Band (the dueling violins remind me of Devil Went Down to Georgia!). Listen to it loud. It will stir your gypsy soul.