April 23 2009
Ahilea
Café Svetlana
Essay — Germany | | 8.5/10
What, Balkan electro-pop isn't on your dance radar? It should be—a quick spin around Café Svetlana reveals 17 hip-shaking, perspiration-inducing tracks by Macedonian producer Ahilea Durcovski. While this scene has found a home in Vienna, its music is multi-ethnic, with strong Greek, Turkish, Serbian, Croatian, and assorted Slavic flavors found in this rousing collection. What sounds like a bass clarinet leads a mad waltz called "Out of Town," a pumping accordion and howling vocals by Bella Wagner (“You connect your whole body full of vodka to the beat,” she tells us in the raspy spoken word intro) breathe fire into "Spiritus Tango," and an electrified fiddle and more clarinets rock the hell out of "Coffee and Tumbula." Opa!
Reviewed By Walter Wasacz
Monday, April 27, 2009
CD Review: The (electro)-Cafe Svetlana
Ahilea
Cafe Svetlana
Essay Recordings
The electro-Balkan tunes of producer and DJ Ahilea Durcovski has brought out the best tracks for lounging, dancing, and everything else in between. A mix of male and female vocals accompany the downbeat, Balkan tracks. A hint of Klezmer brass and Transylvanian folk permeates the album. The groovy beat of 'O Mangas' is reminiscent of something recorded by the folks at the Sublime Frequencies label. This is modern folk music with an electronic backbone. In fact, the name Cafe Svetlana is taken from a legendary musical club of the same name in Vienna. Thanks to Ahilea, the secretive music of Cafe Svetlana is now a global presence. The instrumental beats are quite infectious and never dull or flat. This is adventurous music for the adventurous listener. Clearly, one of the best recordings of 2009! ~ Matthew Forss
Posted by Matthew Forss at 1:16 PM
Labels: balkans, brass band, Europe, klezmer, macedonia