Shantel - A DJ With Balkan Roots

Shantel is a German DJ and producer who mixes the Balkan music from his Romanian origins with the fun beat of electronic music, to produce a festive, colorful and energic sound.

During his career, started around 1987 with the first of numerous upcoming productions, Shantel has won important international awards, including the prestigious BBC Radio 3 award. The song Disko Partizani, from the 2007 album with the same name, is one of his best known hits.

Disko Partizani (2007)


Bucovina (2003)

Tonolec - Electronic Toba Music

The Toba are an indigenous group from Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay. The Argentian band Tonolec plays tribute to them by mixing some of their traditional songs with Electronic music, producing one of the most inspiring fusions I've heard recently.

Techo de Paja (2008)

Charo Bogarín, the singer, has Guaraní origins. She formed with Diego Perez the band Tonolec in 2002. In 2005 they released their first album, named after the band.

Llora Tus Penas (2008)

Voice Group - Opera Rock From Mongolia

Sometimes one feels lucky to find some good bands that happen to be awesome. I stumbled upon Voice Group while brosing a Mongolian music blog. I sadly didn't find much about this band on the web, the only thing I know is that they rule!

Voice Of Mongolia

Much to my surprise they also sing one of my favorites songs ever: "Prekrasnoe daleko", which was the main theme of a 70s Soviet Russian tv series called Gosti Iz Budushego. Voice group's version of this song is superb.

Gegeen alsiin duu (Prekrasnoe Daleko)

Mohammad Fouad - Egyptian Pop Singer

Mohamed Fouad is a popular Egyptian singer, actor and songwriter. He rose to prominence in the 1980s when he released his first album Habeina.

Wala Kol


El Hob El Habibi

Antonio Zepeda - Music Before The Conquest

Antonio Zepeda was one of the first Mexican musicians who studied pre-Hispanic music and instruments. Living for long periods with Mexican indigenous people, Zepeda learned about their culture, philosophy and, of course, their music.

He describes pre-Hispanic music with this words:

In the pre-Hispanic cultures, music had a sacred dimension, the instruments themselves were thought to communicate the mortal with the eternal: the caracol, the flute, the huehuetl and the teponaztli, were voices whose origin was attributed to the Gods. The instruments had arrived from the world of deities to cheer up the perishable world.

Señor Fuego Azul


Agua Celeste

Donis - Ethno-Electronic Experiment

Donis is a fascinating journey through Lithuanian folk with the electronic musician Donatas Bielkauskas as the guide. With a complex modern sound, indigenous chants and drums fill the space with a colorful and mystical charm.

Debuted in 1998 with the tape "Deinaina", Donis has released 8 albums, cooperating with many other projects in such as Rasa Serra, whose spiritual voice is featured in the following songs.

Bite Lingo (2007)

Zalio vario (2005)

Igor Vdovin - From Russia With Sound

He began his career as a member of a punk rock band named Leningrad Together. Nowadays, Igor Vdovin, that rebel young man who once played noisy music mixed with folk music, is one of the most prolific Russian musicians and the producer of Zemfira, another successful Russian band. He preserves the folk part of his music as of today, while experimenting with electronic music. The result? An avant-garde experience that includes from Brazilian music to Balkan sounds with attractive and unusual instrumentations.

Gipsy band goes to the sky (2003)

Russian Sailor's Trip In (2003)