Essay Rec. Shantel : Disko Partizani (D/TÜ/GR/SE/RO/Ö/CAN/IS/UK,2008)****
With Shantel’s new release (his first in seven years), Balkan sounds surely reaches multi-cultural club music, fusing the roots of pleasuremaking in music between many regions. The energy for this has been built up over the years.
Shantel started as an electronic music producer, but quickly became so interested and involved in East European music, especially after he looked for his own roots in the Bucovina region, an area that suffered from historical challenges, and is now split between Ukraine and Romania. When he returned to Frankfurt he started club nights called Club Bucovina, since 2003, to restore something of Buccavina’s musical and also multicultural atmosphere, for urban measures, which resulted in a first CD. This was also noticed in Buccovina as well, where Shantel was invited to play along big local groups.
Also this new album, with many participants from a wide spread region (from Romania to Turkey with a few guests also from outside, in roots-connecting regions), can be seen as wider spread multiculturalism, again urban friendly injection with the same Buccovina roots. The lyrics are light focused directly on the dance and music pleasures as if saying “don’t think too much, but FEEL it, by dancing with these Balkan sounds (with of course also the recognisable brass tunes). These new mixes are enriched with a bit of Turkish Pop and folk, and also, in a Turkish way, having made a bit of urban reggae and such as part of the rhythmic inspirations. The album is as light as it is rich, and is very successful with a Balkan sound spirit prepared perfectly for a wider audience, giving a light-to-enjoy entry to apreciate these sounds.
Personel : Shantel - (all instruments, vocals & programming); Marcus Darius -(drums, guitars & programming); Marko Markovic – (from Serbia, trumpet, flugelhorn & baritone horn); Vesna Petkovic – (from Serbia, vocals); François Castiello – (France, from the band Bratsch, accordion); Sorin Constantin – (vocals); Filip Simeonov – (from Bulgaria and from group Taraf de Haidouks, clarinet); Jannis Karis – (from Greece, vocals, oud, lauto, tzouras); Brenna MacCrimmon – (from Canada, vocals); Vladimir Karparov – (from Bulgaria, alto saxophone); Alexander Wladigeroff – (trumpet); Costas Ramos – (from Turkey, violin); Markus Schumacher – (Germany, from the band Äl Jawala, keyboards); Miss Platnum – (or Ruth Maria Renner, from Romania but living in Berlin,vocals); Uri Brauner Kinrot – (guitar); Uzi Feinerman – (guitar); Yuval “Tuby" Zolotov – (tuba); Kurt Bauer – (from Austria but also part of Israeli band Boom Pam,violin); Lothar Lässer – (also from band Boom Pam, diatonic accordion); Michael Bergbauer – (trombone); Yuriy Gurzhy – (from Ukraine, from band Russendisko, vocals); Ken Taylor - (from England,electric bass); Mantiz – (from Germany, vocals & shouts); Roy Paci – (trumpet).
