Kolbasti

Recently I accidentally discovered this:



It is kolbasti and according to my Turkish friends it is a style of music and dance originating from the Laz communities in the Trabzon area. I am desperate to learn more, so please do post a comment if you have any information about it. Musically it fits with other keyboard-fetishizing styles in the region (from the slower Albanian tallava to the Syrian take on dabke, as popularized by Omar Souleyman's "Leh Jani").

The dance seems to omnivorously appropriate global elements from the C-Walk to Chechen sufi stomping.

9/8 Timbaland

Just got the remixed album of chalga veteran Kali - most of it is genereic pop-folk, but a few tracks really stand out. Among them was this gem which finally gives me some hope for the future of Bulgarian music (and yes, you do need to see the gratuitous slideshow):



The last few years saw the rise and fall of a few global south ghettotech styles (Brazilian favela funk, kwaito from South Africa, and Angolan kuduro). Still, despite the proliferation of cosmopolitan producers, traffickers and listeners, the 4/4 supremacy remains mostly unchallenged.

So here's to a happy 2009 full of more odd rhythms!