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Sandy Lopicic Orkestar
Balkea
Network Medien (www.networkmedien.de)
From the first notes of the opening track on this CD, a woozy tango called "Balkea," it's apparent that the Sandy Lopicic Orkestar is having way too much fun. This sophomore release finds the 15-member band partying their way through the Balkans without regard for borders or political strife. Their sound is brash and brassy and just reeks of slivovitz and cigarettes. From the drunken reel of "Cocek 4," a wild Roma dance, to the cartoonish, style-hopping "Hurry Up," it would seem that life in the SLO camp is one long fun fest. The vocals are handled with supreme confidence by Nataša Mirkovic-De Ro, Irina Karamarkovic, and Vesna Petkovic.
The trio sings sultry tangos, traditional Albanian polyphony, Bosnian love songs, and big band jazz with equal aplomb. In the deceptively coy "Kupi Mi Majko Top," a wronged woman asks her mother for various weapons to do in her false lover. Lopicic's piano plops at the ends of the phrases to underscore her intents. In contrast, "More Soko Pije" is a honeyed a cappella trio about anti-Ottoman resistance in Macedonia. They close the disc with the funereal "Još Ne Svice Rujna Zora," with its muted trumpets and muffled drum, signaling the end of one hell of a party. - Peggy Latkovich
CD available from cdRoots
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