Balkan Taksim – Acide Balkanique

Acide balkanique is the second album by the Romanian band Balkan Taksim.
 
Constantly questioning their obsession with the Balkans, this almost mythical place, a region that faced a lot of pain, but also gave so much beauty to the world, the band continues a musical journey that covers both real and imaginary areas. There are eight tracks on this album - some of them are purely instrumental and others are sung in Romanian and in Serbo-Croatian. The two traditional folk songs that are played here come from northeastern Romania (track nr. 3) and from Turkey, as filtered through the Ex-Yu space, namely Bosnia (track nr. 8). True to their musical roots and personal experiences, the band uses several traditional string instruments: the classical Ottoman tanbur meets the Romanian folk lute - the cobza - and in between one may listen to the voices of two members of the tamburitza family, the prim and the dangubica/samica. As usual, most of these sounds are, at times, filtered and distorted. Also, as a sound signature, Balkan Taksim brings again into mix the acid textures of the distorted Turkish elektro-saz, one of their favourites. There are also bass guitar lines, analogue and digital synthesizers, theremin, various ethnic audio samples. Other sound elements, such as glitches, cracks, noises, bring a certain post-industrial flavour to the overall mix. All these technical means are employed here in order to create a space that is rough and real, but also dream-like. On this album, the listener can find both imaginary and genuine elements of Balkan and Carpathian folk culture, intertwined with Ottoman-like tanbur melodies, as well as with quotes from the western urban popular music of the last decades.  Acide balkanique is the result of a hypnotic meeting between several geographical and cultural spaces: shaped by the contemporary electronic sounds, the voices of Carpathian peasant musicians meet the Balkan troubadours' rhythmical tunes, in a true search of unity. 
An invitation to dance, an invitation to meditate.

Track Listing:
1. Ludilo -   2. Norocul -   3. Orhideja -   4. Zlataust 13 -   5. Kisela Ljubav -   6. Mokra Gora -   7. Mastika -   8. Felinar -

Personnel:
Sașa-Liviu Stoianovici (Ottoman tanbur, electric saz, tamburitza, synthesizers, theremin, cobza, jaw harp, voice, mixing) , Alin Zãbrãuțeanu (electric bass, synthesizers, sampling, mixing)