Look what landed in the burdel headquarters today! A nice follow up to the vintage soviet-style lomo camera we received last week (stay tuned). We’re preparing for a summer of high-decor and noble party antics… are you with us?
—The Burdel Family
Monthly Archives: April 2011
Fund Raya Brass Band’s Record Production!
Because they are an amazing local band who deserve to be helped out!
On a cold January day a couple of years ago, at the very beginning of the Raya Brass Band oddysey, we recorded our first album in the living room in my small apartment in Prospect Heights. After celebrating the two year anniversary of our band and our namesake, we went into a real studio and recorded the music for our next album. In two sessions we laid down 17 tunes and the results sound amazing! We’re part way into the mixing process now and are getting excited to hear the final results.
We had some money set aside to track and mix this album, but now we’re out and there’s a lot left to be done. We still have to master the album, pay for artwork, duplication, and publicity. If we raise enough money we’d love to put out a limited edition LP for those of you with turntables.
So, this is where YOU come in.
To fund the production for this record, Raya Brass Band is using an innovative new (well, not really that new anymore, but maybe it’s new to you…) platform called Kickstarter. Essentially, YOU (our friends, family, relations and fans) can donate small, medium and large sums of money in exchange for rewards. It’s a lot like an NPR pledge drive, but we’ve got better rewards than a tote bag or a coffee mug. You can think of it as an advance purchase, as encouragement to continue making great music, as a gift.
Please take a look and help us out. Even $5 or $3 or $1 helps. Of course, so does $10, 20, $50, $100. And please tell your friends about it using all the social links you could possibly need on the Kickstarter page and old fashioned word of mouth. Maybe you know somebody else who would really love to help fund Brooklyn’s own village Balkan brass band! The catch is that the drive is all or nothing. If we don’t raise our $5,000 goal in the next 30 days, we won’t see any of the money.
Click this link to go to the page where you can find out more about our Kickstarter campaign and to make a pledge:
http://www.Kickstarter.com/projects/rayabrassband/raya-brass-bands-new-album
To find out more about Raya Brass Band, go to: http://rayabrassband.com.
Thanks so much for any help you can give as we go from tracks on hard drive to a fully realized CD. We appreciate your support!
Raya Brass Band at Balkan Shout Out:
Raya Brass Band sleeping on a bridge/playing some great tunes:
Raya Brass Band in less clothing than usual at the Russian Baths:
GO RAYA GO!
—Burdel Family
Balkan Hotsteppers one hot step ahead
We [@ Burdel Dali] always pay close attention to what surrounds us in a daily basis and what is going on in our young always changing musical universe.
The Balkan Hotsteppers represent what every dj desires… knowledge, skill and a tireless obsession for making things smooth and more festive than they already are.
from their profile:
Formed back in 2006 by Belgian DJ’s Sam Rabam and Typsy Gypsy, the infamous Balkan Hotsteppers released trendsetting mixtapes on the internet. Combining modern beats with classical Balkan, gypsy and klezmer melodies and mashing it up with hip-hop, they soon became a standard in the evergrowing European BalkanBeats scene.
Four years later they have played all over Europe: Belgium, France, Holland, Ireland, UK, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Romania, Turkey, Spain, Portugal. Their unique blend will take you on a eclectic trip to the balkans and beyond. Balkan Mashups, Klezmer Beats, Gypsy Punk, Russian Ska, Romano Hip Hop, Yugoslavian Brass Bangers,…!
We at Burdel Dali salute you Balkan Hotsteppers! You have a house and a podium in New York city.
—raphlex
A must to see movie at the IFC right now: My Perestroika
It’s not a biggie to find out that most of our fellow russian friends, especially those at my age (early 30’s) identify with the fabricated reality that was the soviet union for the children.
My Perestroika is apparently a superb movie/documentary about a deeply personal look at the growth of Communism from Lenin through the breakup of the Soviet Union to the election of Vladimir Putin, through the lense of a child.
“My Perestroika distinguishes itself from the outset as a far more humanistic treatment of this still-touchy subject matter than a great deal of films that arrive in the US. Opening and closing on the annual First of September celebration (the first day of school in Russia), Hessman’s film volleys between the past and present, using a generous assemblage of old pictures, newsreels, promotional footage, home videos, Marxist jingles, punk rock, and boatloads of propaganda in various forms, to reconstruct the popular culture landscape that these interviewees lived through. In turn, the interviewees emit their own personal histories of living under Communism while going about their extremely varied day-to-day existences, far removed and even a bit nostalgic for what one subject calls the “beautiful Soviet reality“.
Click here to read more
The following is the official trailer of the movie….A movie i will go see this weekend before going to DJ our weekly party
—Raphlex.
Jewish klezmer vs Gypsy music
There are similarities between klezmer and Roma (Gypsy) music, and fusions of the two have become very popular in recent years. There are several reasons why Jewish klezmer and Gypsy music share common elements and blend together well.
Like the Jews, the Gypsy people are an ancient ethnicity that did not originate in Europe; they are believed to be people of the Indian subcontinent who have migrated through the Near East into Europe. Also like the Jews, the Gypsy people were a separate minority group generally living on the margins of the societies of the countries in which they lived.
Both groups maintained distinct cultural identities despite being widely scattered, possessed no country or homeland of their own, and were frequent targets of expulsions, discrimination, and persecution. Like klezmer, Gypsy music is likely traditional religious Roma songs combined with the music of host countries, and influenced by Gypsy status as a wandering and often marginalized minority. Despite of all this, the music of both groups is often joyful and exemplifies the energy and fire of life and of living.
To read more
The following is a beautifull example from the movie Train de la Vie
— Raphlex
Today is International Roma day
Today in Roma Day Observance….
Gypsy culture make us look in a mirror to all immigrants and remind us that regardless of our background or religion most of us share a common history.
This is the trailer of the just released movie in the US directed by Tony Gatlif: Korkoro.
Committed Gypsy culture chronicler Tony Gatlif (very famous for his movie Latcho Drom) dramatizes the TRUE story of a migrant family in Nazi- occupied France.
A movie that I will go watch… And is currently being shown at the Cinema Village.
FROM THE FOUNDERS OF BALKAN BEAT BOX COMES SHOTNEZ, to be released today April 5th
Maybe you’ve heard … Shotnez is the self-titled debut by the founders of Balkan Beat Box, Ori Kaplan and Tamir Muskat. It mixes Middle Eastern and eastern European influences with noise Rock and crime Jazz, in other words punk rock minimalism meets Middle Eastern complexities… and it’s as badass as it sounds.
The result of this fusion is a mix of high-speed chase appropriate electric-guitar odes to brass anthems peppered with tin-can percussion beats, frantic globe-trotting sex appeal, interludes reminiscent of when Pontoffel Pock first meets Neepha Pheepha. Sober tracks like Golden Apples give way to uber-sexy tracks like Swag, and before you know it you’re in the middle of a mental bar fight listening to Chaos on repeat.
The debut album will be released into the wild on JDub Digital on April 5, 2011, That means TODAY and your Burdel Dali Crew have exclusive and amazing news for all our comrades! We’ve got the first single off the album for your listening pleasure…
♪ Shotnez – “Stolen Goods”
Be sure to check out the whole album! We’ll keep you up to date on Shotnez projects & events as they hit!
—Raphlex & Mishka
[Burdel Dali Presents] 