In a bursting AB Box in November 2007. Now back again with the new CD 'Blue Eyed Black Boy' (still on the ever alert Crammed label). The first songs on the CD certainly sound extremely inventive and cool and explosive. Or as they say themselves: 'They've been wowing festival and club audiences around the world for the last couple of years with their wild, powerful show, and they are now back with their strongest album so far, broadening their musical scope to include more Arabic, Latin and reggae flavours, and including a high ratio of melodic, catchy and thought-provoking songs.'
Or as we said when they last visited: 'Balkan Beat, alias Gypsy Rock, alias Club Global... Call it what you like, the genre is as difficult to define as a frenzied dancer. Balkan Beat Box is based in New York and apparently there are even more sorts of music growing there than we already imagined. Of course the Balkan sounds prevail on all sides, but you’re just as likely to hear Mediterranean moods or hip-hop bustle or international adrenaline.'
Or as De Standaard wrote of the previous CD 'Nu Med': 'a stirring combination of Balkan-folk, polka-punk and speed-fanfare... frenzied fraternization feast... sultry atmosphere that reminds one of Mano Negra’s dizzying live shows... wild grooves and extravagant traditional music...a stirring combination of Balkan-folk, polka-punk and speed-fanfare... frenzied fraternization feast... sultry atmosphere that reminds one of Mano Negra’s dizzying live shows... wild grooves and extravagant traditional music...'
Yup, if Balkan Beat Box can enthusiastically quote, then we can too. So now the quiz question: Blue Eyed Black Boy, which modest The Equals hit does that immediately remind you of? Hey, if Balkan Beat Box can enthusiastically make references, then we can too. In any case, once again: also Brown Eyed White Girls and fans of Emir Kusturica or Gogol Bordello are more than welcome. BBBe there!