Taraf de Ha‹douks [Elektra] http://www.fishpond.com.au/Music/Taraf-de-Hadouks-Elektra-Taraf-de-Hadouks/0075597955422

Artist: Taraf de Ha‹douks

RRP $38.99 $17.98   Save $21.01 (54%)17.98 Free shipping Australia wide

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• Personnel: Napoleon (vocals, percussion).
  
• Audio Mixer: Vincent Kenis.
  
• Recording information: Bazar, Brussels, Belgium (12/1990-12/1997); Electrecord Studio, Clejani, Bucharest, Romania (12/1990-12/1997); Studio CaraObes, Brussels, Belgium (12/1990-12/1997).
  
• Photographers: Youri Lenquette; Tony Gatlif.
  
• If this Nonesuch compilation by the 12-piece gypsy group Taraf de Haidouks is a fair representation of Romanian music, then Western listeners have been missing out on something spectacular. This is stirring, passionate folk music of almost incendiary power, steeped deeply in dance rhythms, complex, looping melodies, and the interaction of traditional gypsy instruments such as accordion, flute, violin, string bass, and cymbalum (a hammered dulcimer producing a kind of hurdy-gurdy sound).
  
• That the ensemble spans three generations--some players are in their twenties, some in their eighties--may have something to do with the dense and varied textures of its music. There's a fierce, pell-mell recklessness that careens through these pieces, yet the instrumentalists execute their frenetic polyrhythms and slashing lead lines with the virtuosity of jazz musicians. Be forewarned: Cuts like the insanely rhythmic "Hora Ca La Ursari," an acapella circle song with only hand claps and a single drum as accompaniment, and the intense, almost cartoonish pace of "Rustem" and "Briu" may make you want to jump up, tear things apart and kiss strangers. A sure-fire purchase for anyone even remotely interested in world, folk, or ethnic dance music.
  

Dirty Linen (8-9/99, p.88) - "...To call them brilliant hardly seems to do them justice....this isn't restaurant romanticism, but the real deal, rawer and much shinier. Every home should have a copy of this."

Producer:	Vincent Kenis
Format:	CD
Country:	USA
UPC:	0075597955422
Studio/Live:	Studio
Release Date:	2 March, 1999