Customer Reviews

Electric Gypsyland

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I am about to purchase this cd after watching Richard Alston's dance company perform 'Gypsy Mixture'. I was well and truely blown away, with a permanent smile on my face.....something that i dont think is seen very often in contempory dance is the dancers actually beaming with pure energy that came purley from the music.....BUY IT!

This is a fabulous CD. I am sad they don't live in New York. I would LOVE to hear and dance to such great music live. It's very inspiring. I will listen to this CD many times again and again. Keep up the great work. I will look for more releases in the future.

Will get under your lazy mind, pry it loose and make you bop and dance...may not appeal to all but I loved it

It's not as gypsy as I thought it should have been and it skips when playing in the car, but it's not bad overall. Couldn't beat the price either.