Balkan Beats

A colleague who likes to vacation in off the beaten track former Eastern bloc hellholes introduced me to this website, and I’ve been mired in it for the last few days. The music, a hypnotic blend of Turkish ululating and pounding techno back beat, will get under your skin and lay eggs. The music is nothing, however, compared to the video clips of the performing artists. I challenge you to tear your eyes away from these lanky Christina Aguillera knock offs as they writhe sensually and suggestively over the gypsy infested, rotting carcass of the Soviet and Ottoman empires! The way they ingeniously blend traditional and pop culture is endlessly fascinating, especially when the artists incorporate a piece of their national costume into 21st century skank attire. 19th century lace up bodice with hot pants and crotch high stiletto boots=WOW. The videos are full of bizarre tableaux: vixens strutting around in tarted up military uniforms in some inefficient, defunct ball bearing factory, a rusted out legacy of some failed Soviet 5 year industrialization plan; siliconed bosoms jiggling over flashing slot machines in the ubiquitous gambling parlors of gangster New Russia; dancers in fields surrounded by suspicious, torch wielding villagers. You really must see it for yourself. And, um, Kamelia? What's going on with that hand?