Disko Partizani

• Track Listing

Limited edition vinyl: two 180 gram vinyl 12"s, cover printed on high quality 350 gram cardboard. CD version will be released on Crammed Discs, worldwide. Renowned German DJ/producer Stefan Hantel, aka Shantel from Frankfurt/Main, has firmly established himself as an all-around, world-class electronica producer. After pioneering the concept of Balkan clubbing with his now legendary Bucovina Club parties and albums, Shantel moves on to the next level and releases Disko Partizani (his first solo album in seven years), which lays the foundations for an innovative new brand of pop music. This is the sound of new Europe, incorporating vibrant influences from the emerging new frontier that stretches all the way to Mitteleuropa, the Southeast, Greece, Turkey and beyond. The album features great performances by a host of musicians from southeast Europe and by Shantel himself, who also appears on lead vocals, gracing several tracks with an unexpected, elegant deadpan delivery. Disko Partizani sees Shantel successfully synthesizing his experiences as a producer, musician and DJ to create catchy, energetic and festive pop songs, full of hooks and surprises. Eastern European elements are adopted with real respect for their cultural roots, and then fused and transformed into a new form of urban music that works as an interface between East and West. Venerable melodies and rhythms - some of them dating back to the Byzantine Empire - are rejuvenated and used as a new source of inspiration for modern, trans-European pop, a welcome alternative to some of the more worn-out Anglo-Saxon musical models. Shantel conceived these songs while traveling, and found inspiration in the most unlikely locations: A railroad station in Romania, a highway stop in Greece, an airport terminal in Istanbul, an Arabic café in Tel Aviv, a taxi stand in Sofia, the back seat in a Mercedes Benz belonging to a Macedonian gypsy king, backstage in London, Paris and Rio de Janeiro. Some may define it as belly dance meets hip-hop, electronica-fuelled Balkan stompers, Klezmer reggae rock'n'roll tunes, etc., with lyrics in English, Romanian, Serbian, Rom (Gypsy) and so forth. Whatever this is, it is joyful madness.

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