Hey guys, wanna see how far fetched, obscure and specific my taste in music can get? Don't worry, as always, I'm here to enlighten you.
Before diving into the music, we gotta brush up on some history. The Ursari, more commonly known by you Western monarchs as those creepy guys who walk around with bears, are an important and widespread ethnical group in Eastern Europe. They're like your pikies ; always on the road, trading stuff and taming bears and shit.
Apparently, not all of them share the same activities. Tamango, Napoleon and Classic took a break from taming eldritch abominations and with the help of Romanian musicians Dj Vasile, Dan Handrabur (aka Dreamdoktor), Cristi Stanciu (aka Matze) and Vlaicu Golcea formed Shukar Collective (from the Romany word Shukar or Şucar, meaning "fine"). Purpose? Making music, of course!
And by music i mean synthesized household sounds combined with eerie vocals, dubstep and electronica. Spoons, forks, frying pans, mugs, cans, your drunken passed out father, you name it. It's a DIY attitude taken to an insane level. It makes me wonder what would've become of me as a musician if my father let me pound on his head way beyond the age of 4. I mean, hell, look at these guys, they've created music out of nothing. It's a full blown fuck you message to all Eric Clapton signed Fender wielding pseudomusicians who sing awful Wonderwall covers at street corners.
Being gipsies and all, the overall theme of the album ( made apparent by the song titles, 'cause it's really hard to understand the dialect in which Tamango sings) is... I don't now, that nomads can be rockstars too? Something like that. Somehow, I can't stop myself from picturing Khal Drogo among them, slicing throats and being a true badass. However, this album does a great job at describing the day to day routine of an honest group of nomadic gentlemen - gambling, traveling, family, romantic relationships, and it even goes further, discussing deep philosophical issues like life and death. I shit you not.
Although some kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder makes me feel uncomfortable when not writing a lengthy review, there's really not much more to say about this album (this, or I'm not intelectually capable of analyzing it). It's an interesting experience and if you're open to new things, you should definitely give it a try.
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