The Balkan Beat Box is a NY-based Israeli electro folk band that fuses
mystical Jewish influences with the varied sounds of the Balkan
nations in southern Europe. The band, which performed in Israel over
the weekend and moves next to Canada, is taking the world by storm.
The mix of ethnic Balkan styles and influences with Western electronic
music make this band’s performances explosive in their energy. This is
hardly surprising given the geographical sources of the emotions,
history and national pride from which their music comes: the Middle
East and the Balkans, both explosive regions with the close
intermingling of peoples and conflicts that tend to flare up
occasionally, in the most violent way possible. Tens of thousands of
people have died in wars in the Balkans in the 20th Century, and this
is closely mirrored in our region too. In 1914, the Balkan wars spread
across the globe, and millions were embroiled in the firestorm, whose
embers also, eventually, lit the fire of WW2 and the Holocaust.

No wonder Israel is having such a hard time deciding whether or not to
recognize the new nation of Kosovo, and when to make that decision
public. Continue reading →