Digital Wanderer

For some reason everyone is writing about the Beirut project by wonder-boy Zach, who dropped out of school and went traveling around Europe to write music.
His work doesn't evoke any particular emotions in me. But the European ethnic motifs of Beirut reminded me how fiercely I fanboy over the Romanian gang of gypsies and electronic musicians called Shukar Collective. Some members of the collective are straight-up criminal types who've done time on multiple occasions. Others are DJs. All together it forms an explosive mix. Sampled, bassy and hoarse male voices, repeating the same uncomplicated chants and grunts, intertwine with a clearly synthetic bass and synthesizer drones. Sometimes this is spiced up with the clatter of spoons and pots, organically fitting into a computerized breakbeat. And a few tracks just completely blow your mind with an amazingly natural blend of electronica and ethnic music, full of sharp sounds and melodic hooks.
Here is their debut album for starters - from 2005, called Urban Gypsy.
(Rapidshare)
Ease of listening: 3 or 4