Playlist: Balkan Beat (Introduction to World Music: Europe) by Jenna Makowski, Alexander Street Press
A genre of techno dance music that developed out of war-torn Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Balkan Beat fuses together old dance tunes and electronic rhythms and sounds. The lively and unique dance music has become an international genre.
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Format
Artwork
Title
Notes
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Evo Me Narode
performed by Robert Soko, fl. 1993, Magnifico; in Balkanbeats: A Night In Berlin (Piranha, 2009), 3 mins
Balkan-Beats was formed by Bosian-born Robert Soko, who was living in Berlin when the first Yugoslavian war began in 1992. As hate and revenge shook the region, more and more refugees came to Berlin. Many of them still called themselves Yoguslavians at a time when their contemporaries split up into Serbs, Croats and Bosnians. In 1993 Soko started his part for Lost Immigrants in the Arcanoa, a pink bar in the sidestreets of Kreuzberg. With roots in many corners of the former Yugoslavia himself, he knew that was was the connecting link between all peoples. He combined yugo rock, punk and ska, traditional roma brass bands and traditional tunes with new electronic beats. The crowd loved it, and so did the world. (Balkanbeats: A Night in Berlin. Liner Notes. Piranha, 2009.)
03:17
26 Dec 2013
Balkan Beat Box is an American-Israeli group out of New York City who blend Balkan and Middle Eastern tunes and aesthetics into punk and techno. (Balkan Beat Box. JDub Records, 2005.)
05:53
26 Dec 2013
One of the features of Balkan Beat is its ability to incorporate a wide range of songs, styles and genres, fusing them together in a techno/electronic mix. This Balkan Beat Box hit, featuring Victoria Hanna, incorporates Middle Eastern sounds and aesthetics. (Balkan Beat Box. JDub Records, 2005.)
05:20
26 Dec 2013
Zajdi Zajdi/ Metem cocek
performed by Ferus Mustafov, fl. 1980, Milan Zavkov, fl. 1980, Dear Mendu, fl. 2000 and Dragan Vučić, 1955-, Ferus Mustafov 4; in The Heat of Balkan Gypsy Soul (Tropical Music, 2002), 7 mins
The tune has a lyrical intro based on the popular traditional Macedonian song/Balkan blues performed by practically all the local musicians. A cocek is the composition originally performed with a belly-dancer, generally with strong Turkish roots. Its central part is always taken by an improvisation of a soloist. Here, it is performed by Ferus Mustafov, a very popular Macedonian saxophonist. (The Heat of Balkan Gypsy Soul. Liner Notes. Tropical Music, 2002.)
07:05
26 Dec 2013
Cigancica
performed by Ferus Mustafov, fl. 1980, Milan Zavkov, fl. 1980, Dear Mendu, fl. 2000 and Dragan Vučić, 1955-, Ferus Mustafov 4; in The Heat of Balkan Gypsy Soul (Tropical Music, 2002), 6 mins
This tune, also played by Ferus Mustafov, is based on a Bulgarian wedding tune. Wedding tunes are often at the roots of melodies that are transformed into Balkan jazz and techno. (The Heat of Balkan Gypsy Soul. Liner Notes. Tropical Music, 2002.)
05:32
26 Dec 2013
Whose Is This Song?
written by Adela Peeva; directed by Adela Peeva; produced by Paul Pauwels, fl. 2003 and Slobodan Milovanovich, fl. 2003 (Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 2003), 1 hour 10 mins
Watch! In her search for the true origins of a haunting melody, the filmmaker travels to Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia, Serbia and Bulgaria. The trip is filled with humor, suspense, tragedy and surprise as each country's citizens passionately claim the song to be their own and can even furnish elaborate histories for its orgins. The tune emerges again and again in different forms: as a love song, a religious hymn, a revolutionary anthem, and even a military march. The powerful emotions and stubborn nationalism raised by one song seem at times comical and othertimes, eerily telling. In a region beseiged by ethnic hatred and war, what begins as a light-hearted investigation ends as a sociological and historical exploration of the deep misunderstandings between the people of the Balkans.
01:10:00
26 Dec 2013
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