House of Dioxin

The other CD I wanted to shout out is Electric Gypsyland 2. Like its predecessor from last year, it takes tracks by some of the best Balkan/Gypsy/Rom bands (Taraf de Haidouks, Mahala Rai Banda, and Koçani Orkestar) and lets the remixers loose on 'em. And once again, they've got a pretty wide-ranging cast. Only Shantel returns from EG1. Some are involved in the whole Balkan/Bucovina Club scene: Balkan Beat Box, DJ Click, Russendisko). Some are noted fusioneers: Smadj (from the Eurodisco-goes-to-North Africa duOud), Oi Va Voi (the Massive Attack of neo-klezmer), and Susheela Raman and 43 Skidoo (Raman's partner is Sam Mills, and 43 Skidoo is described in the notes as a "fleeting reincarnation" of 80s gamelan funksters 23 Skidoo. Altho, strangely, they never mention 23 Skidoo by name. I wonder if there's some sort of naming-rights squabble going on). There are also a few wild-card entries, including Cibelle, Nouvelle Vague and Animal Collective. One of my fave tracks is by ShrineSynchroSystem, which mixes violin from Taraf w/ drums by Tony Allen and kora by Sekou Kouyate (from Ba Cissoko). As a bonus, there's a second disc which contains some non-remixed tunes by all the bands. Altho, again strangely, only a few are from EG2. More, in fact, were remixed on EG1.

Rodney sez: check it out...