Customer Reviews

Nu Med (Dig)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Balkan Beat Box's self-titled debut was terrific, but after listening to Nu Med, the first BBB disc seems almost like a test run to make sure this crazy mash of balkan folk, Jewish and Middle Eastern melodies, beats, pieces, party horns and snippets of politics could actually work. And did it work.

In this record, they've firmly established their groove and the sound here is a more complete package. (And more hilarious cover art: I'm a fan of the parachuting camels motif.) It's also more lyric-heavy than the first one, and filled with live snippets and clips of cheering crowds from tours past, adding to the infectious flavor of the record. At 14 tracks, it probably runs a couple numbers too long, but I'm hard-pressed to tell you which ones should have been cut, because they're all good. If you liked the original Balkan Beat Box, you will like this. And if you don't know BBB yet you can start with this record or the debut without missing out. But you're probably going to end up owning both, like me, because this is some of the most exciting and energetic music being made today.

How do you top an album that starts off with a rooster crowing? With a Digital Monkey, of course! After enjoying BBB's first album for a year and a half, I wasn't sure how I'd react to this album but it definitely delivers and is arguably even better, tighter and more varied than the first. This is a band who know who they are and where they're going (far, I suspect).

The blend of Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Eastern European influences held together with a strong dance beat, mesmerising horns and surf-style guitar is hypnotic and very, very danceable. At once, an invitation to a joyous party and a call to transcend our cultural and national borders; Nu Med is music that reminds us we can all live (and dance) together peacefully.

There's not a weak track on the whole album, current favourites though are: Hermetico, BBBeat, Digital Monkey and Joro Boro (the return of the Bulgarian Chicks!) This is a brilliant album and one you won't stop listening to anytime soon. And they're even better live!

A few years ago I became interested in Mexican electronica and purchased a number of CDs. It's excellent and quite interesting and amusing. As such, several other examples of World Music electronica selections began appearing on my list of Amazon recommendations. One such recording was the Balkan Beat Box "Nu-Med" CD. I bought it out of curiosity.

"Nu-Med" is an interesting and very unusual recording. It's rather well done, although it's not the type of music I would generally enjoy listening to. Much of the music has a very Mid-East flavor, too much in my opinion. However, a wide range of styles are evident. Some of it even sounds a bit West Indies and Mexican. As such the album makes for an interesting listening experience, although I doubt that I would listen to the CD more than a couple times. Well, I have it in my collection in the event that anyone is ever interested and wants something really unusual.

"Hermetico," "Habibi Min Zaman," "Quand est-ce Qu'On Arrive?" and"Delancey" are the best tracks, in my opinion. The first and last tracks are short throwaway introductions and conclusions and I think the album might be better without them. The rest of the tracks are only so-so, in my opinion. They're well done, and some listeners might find them very enjoyable. Well, the Nu-Med album was an interesting listening experience.

Gary Peterson

Just look at the camels parachuting into a striped desert. Who wouldn't want to listen to what's inside?

Well, hopefully lots of people will. East European fusion music is moderately hot right now, with bands like Beirut and Gogol Bordello on the rise. But one of the best ones is Balkan Beat Box, whose second album "Nu Med" further polishes their ethnic hip-hop/rock sound -- it's just a thoroughly colourful, flavourful album.

It opens with a deliciously funky "Keep it Straight," which sounds like an Arabian market being invaded by hip-hop gypsy brass bands. It's followed by the deliciously colourful rap song "Hermetico," riddled with brass blats, handclaps, horses, and a voice telling us, "We're comin' straight through your ears, no complications... here we go, you better listen..."

They follow it with the exotic "Habibi Min Zaman," which sounds like a James Bond soundtrack in the Middle-East, and lead in to a bunch of even better songs: bootyshaking marches, sinuous rap, gypsy music wrapped in electrodance, folksy horn-rock, funky Balkan dance tunes, and colourful folk pop filled with yipping, yowling vocals.

If anything, "Nu Med" is even better than Balkan Beat Box's debut -- it's more polished and melodious, and more relaxed now that they have their sound down. But they don't change much musically, with the core of the music remaining the same: Middle-Eastern and East-European folk music, interwoven with modern dance, rock and hip-hop.

Musically it's a big hodgepodge -- you can hear some steely guitar buried under all the other sounds, which is the most normal part of it. Then you have nimble horns forming sinuous melodies and funky edges, solid drums, some colourful electronica, some accordion and some murmuring violins in "Mexico City," which is the one dud in the album. It's too sedate and mellow for the raucous overall sound.

But they also spice it up with samples and odd sounds -- babies laughing, horses neighing, a man calling out in another language. And in some songs, we get some very heavily accented rapping, usually pretty nonsensical: "I'm the digital monkey/supply the freakin' season with the rhythm that's funky/I come from Belize/but don't belong to no country..."

"Nu Med" takes what Balkan Beat Box had to begin with, and polishes it to gem status. Despite that one dud song, it's a wild, colourful festival ride, full of gypsy music and dance flavour.

At an independent coffee shop in West Seattle, the baristas (drink servers) tend to put on some unusual music. I heard this Arab-sounding Rock mash-up that I couldn't quite figure out. It was "Pachima" from this album. The unconventional rhythms and guitars punctuated by a single pounding bass note (chord?) per measure sounded like something special to me.

As a Yes fan (i.e. Fragile,) a slick guitar, clever rhythms and unusual instrumentation catch my ear. Or maybe it's my part-Arab heritage. :-) But this Israeli hip-hop brings some traditional music into the new millennium with pizzazz!

It's a mix of instrumentals and vocals, some in English (like "Hermetico" - with a touch of profanity,) some in other languages like Arabic. One of those is "Habibi Min Zaman", with guest female rappers who make the song very sexy without being trashy. Bbbeat is probably my favorite instrumental: in your face to make you bounce in your seat.

I would go as far as to call this music an innovation. A lot of fun!

It's got a Jewish/Arabic/Gypsy sound to the music. I adore every single song on the CD! It begins so peppy and fun, you can't help but dance or rock out in your car. And everyone with you can't resist, either. It settles down in the middle and gives your body a bit of a break and sounds like classic Jewish, quite magical! You just have to hear it all and listen over and over! Candy for your ears, that's for sure!!

The music on this album is totally refreshing and alive. If you are pretty much into popular music, then you may want to steer clear. If, however, you appreciate innovative fusion in a lively presentation, chances are you will love Balkan Beat Box. It's so well-created and executed you may love it anyway. Think outside the box and get into The Balkan Beat Box.

This musical CD makes it difficult to stay still. It is an interesting combination of music styles that brings back memories of Klezmer updated with a driving, exciting modern beat. This is my second Balkan Beat Box CD, and I really enjoy the liveliness and quality of their music, as well as the middle eastern and Israeli flavor of their passionate sound.

These guys are a lively mix of Middle Eastern, Klezmer, and hip hop styles. This is very fun stuff, very different. I'm turning people on to this CD everywhere I go and I get very enthusiastic response. Bonus: Their politics and style of mixing Israeli and Arabic musical traditions and vocals gives us hope for a better world.

CD was in perfect condition. Took a little longer to arrive than I'd expected but this may not be the fault of the vendor.