Balkan Beat Box + Soulico + DJ Anjali – Roseland Theater (Portland, OR; Feb. 25, 2011)

Technically, DJ Anjali was the first opener. But since there were a total of fifteen people in the room at the time—due to Roseland’s website listing the show start-time at 9:00 instead of 8:00—she was more or less a face to ascribe to the background music. The monthly dance parties she and The Incredible Kid headline at Rotture are more typical of what her shows look like; packed, sweaty, and pulsing. Regardless of the tame environs, she stood behind the decks bobbing her head cheerfully and mixed her famed blend of vintage Bollywood and Raga with brick-splitting techno beats.

Famous for their wild house parties, Soulico is well established in Tel Aviv, Israel. The four Jewish boys who make up the troupe are long-time vinyl collectors, collaborating on remixes and original productions made from samples of rare vintage Middle Eastern folk and disco and their own beat tracks. One would assume that the natural progression of a group of young music-loving men would be to form a band and bring their music to the rest of the world, right? Yes, of course, but it’s not always the best idea. Soulico’s talent lies in their good taste and discretion in mixing American hip-hop with Middle Eastern melodies and not in their ability to perform. The main MC was self-consciously enthusiastic, waving his hands in the air, hopping around the stage, and prematurely demanding that the crowd do the same. His inability to keep his body movements in sync with the music was endearing, like watching a child’s dance recital, but mostly awkward coming from an adult. This man’s sole purpose was to excite the crowd and dub (read: yell) over the lyrics already taken care of by the recorded tracks being played by the DJs . . . or, rather, the laptop operators. No doubt it got the crowd moving, but it felt forced. And there’s something profoundly uninteresting about seeing a live disk jockey without any disks. The mixing took place before the performance so all the artists had left to do on stage is push buttons from behind an army of laptops and let their MC run around like a hyper puppy broken free from its leash. Nevertheless, their albums are solid, and it is a compliment to be a musician deemed better heard and not seen.

On that note, cover your face in shame if you have never seen Balkan Beat Box play live. What a turnaround it was for these guys to take Soulico’s place onstage. Maybe it’s my fascination with the arts and music of the Middle East and Mediterranean that biases me (though the Balkans are in Southeastern Europe, Balkan Beat Box are from Israel, and are currently stationed in New York), but I was literally drop-jawed for their entire performance. There were no fancy lights, visual projections, choreographed dances, props, costumes, or theatrics; just really, really fucking good music. The DJ was hidden off stage-right [Editor’s note: DJ-style sounds are actually handled by Tamir through the use of an on-stage lap top] while two saxophonists, two guitarists, and two drummers spread themselves across the stage in palindrome fashion. The personalities of the individual musicians were apparent and varied, displayed through constant eye contact between members, smiles, laughing and intensity all at the right moments, and the frequent switching of instruments. BBB co-founder, MC, and drummer Tomer Yosef marched back and forth between singing both reggae and hip-hop style from center stage and wailing on the right-side drum set in tandem with drummer Tamir Muskat opposite him. One guitarist was having way too much fun rocking out in his smokin’ hot grey and burgundy dress-suit ensemble, occasionally posing with a leg up on a speaker at the edge of the stage. They combine all the right elements: passion, humor, worldliness, positivity, self-possession, energy, sexiness, danceability, and organic charisma, all apparent in their live show as well as their recorded material. There is nothing else in my rotation of music that resembles Balkan Beat Box other than a few Asha Bhosle records and some raga mixes that have gotten me some weird looks from friends, so falling so hard in love with these guys upon first sight is a testament to their power and ability to reach a broad audience without compromising their roots or confusing people with too many disparate influences.

I have to commend the audience of this show, too, for offering some of the most lovely dance moves I’ve seen at the Roseland. More accurately, thank goodness for belly dancers! Thank goodness for ample hip movement! And thank goodness for jingly coin-wrap hip skirts! Even the lady checking ID’s for the bar donned a flashy pink chiffon scarf for the occasion.

Admittedly, it’s no big thing to do a little dancing at a show; it’s another thing to dance spiritedly in the center of the crowd for the entire performance and then head to the after party for more dancing until 2am, which is what this shy music reviewer did, and would be thrilled to do again next time.

DOWNLOAD: Balkan Beat Box - War Again (MP3) or Follow us for more Balkan Beat Box MP3s (Twitter)

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