Electric Gypsyland

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 6, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Six Degrees
• ASIN: B0001MDQG2
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #131,650 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It's no surprise that remixers would get around to gypsy music--it's a tradition filled with great melodies and dancing rhythms that are ripe for harvest. Featuring source material from the great Taraf de Haïdouks, Koçani Orkestar, and Mahala Rai Banda, this collection was originally put together by the folks at the well-regarded Crammed Disc label, which is home to an impressive array of modern electronic and world music artists. The 15 production teams here come from all points on the globe; but, with the exception of Arto Lindsay and Melvin Gibb's dark experimental take on Haïdouk's "Murgur Mugurel," much of it has a driving rhythmic appeal that will draw people (gypsy music fan or not) on to the dance floor. The production skills are impressive as well, re-imagining these folk songs into vibrant kaleidoscopes of sound. Definitely not an album for gypsy music purists, this is a fine new 21st century vision of the genre we thought we knew. --Tad Hendrickson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New Model, June 7, 2004

By 

S. L. Winant "aceethno" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Electric Gypsyland (Audio CD)

Six Degrees certainly has the knack for world-beat fusions. How do they do it? By knowing their audience for one, which is somewhere between clubland and outdoor summer festival. Then they bring in new sources. Indian and Middle Eastern they've already conquered. Now, with Electric Gypsyland, it's Rom music. How do they do it?

First, they contract with Crammed Records. Second, Crammed centers in on a specific range of Rom music, namely the big-band Slavic style that the world at large discovered when Taraf de Haidouks stormed the street in Latcho Drom. Electric Gypsyland starts out, via that Taraf and Gypsy-fusion pioneers Bucovina Club, with what is probably my favorite track on the CD, "Carolina," which blurs the lines between Rom and ragga and was a highpoint on Six Degrees' recent mix CD Ethnomixicology. Then the horns seem to take over, and oddly it seems that the fusion works because Rom horns sound like a sort of off-kilter Skatalites, a comparison that is most obvious on Señor Coconut's "Usti, Usti Baba." But it gets more interesting than that. The fusion models diversify considerably, from DJ Dolores' Rom-meets-Brazilian-batucada to Juryman's "electro-jazz" (think Cinematic Orchestra) to the dubbish track by Bigga Bush. By the time we reach Arto Lindsay's contribution, Rom music has been almost completely deconstructed. The travelogue is prevented from spinning off-world by field-recording interludes that actually add to the mix quality of the CD instead of being gratuitous. Only the "bonus tracks"--when the fusion finally succumbs to the cliches of House and the Afrocelt system of world-beat--distract from the CD's well-defined yet continually evolving vibe.

Six Degrees knows that they have a good thing. Luckily, Electric Gyspyland proves that they aren't satisfied with previous success. Props for taking us to a place that even world-beat fans haven't been before.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome CD!, September 28, 2004

By 

Double J "Voracious Reader" (Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Electric Gypsyland (Audio CD)

I came across this CD by accident. Having roots squarely in the Balkans/Eastern Europe, I gave it a listen in a store and was very impressed by the fusion of musical styles. I liked it so much that I thought I would wear out the CD in the first week I had it. I even got a copy for my sister and she loves it too.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This land is your land, this land is Gypsy land., June 11, 2005

By 

Dominik Zakrzewski (Maspeth, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Electric Gypsyland (Audio CD)

You can't help but think of home when listening to gypsy music. While the culture is mostly centralized around Romania and the Balkan nations, the sound has travelled al lthe way to the likes of Poland and other Central European nations. Being from that land of pierogis myself I can't help but reminisce to warm, sunny weekends, spenading time with family in our yard on the outskirts of Warsaw. Sipping tea underneath our huge oak tree. This music will bring you home no matter where you're from.