Shantel ||| Portrait

DJ Shantel

Few people attending Shantel’s showcase at the 2005 WOMEX in Gateshead could resist the pulsating beats. The diminutive DJ was bringing out his usual cocktail of wild Balkan brass tunes, electronic beats, bluesy ballads and unexpected Latino rhythms. He brought the hordes attending to a frenzy when he grabbed his accordion and accompanied the music mix. By the end of Shantel’s set, security had arrived to order the hundreds of journalists, producers and “world music” aficionados off the stage. The risk of it collapsing was real, they said firmly, and the party was over.

Such delirium is not a rare occurrence at Shantel’s Bucovina shows. “Pure, naked euphoria, bringing together all age groups and nationalities,” is how one critic has put the response to his eclectic beats. Yet, the Frankfurt-based artist has not been trapped by the usual clichés and politically-correct fusions that haunt so many electronic/ “world music” scenes. And with good reason. His mother originates from a region that was once a part of the huge Habsburg Empire, and is now split between Romania and Ukraine. Bucovina is a stunning region declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage site. Yet, such is the success of Shantel’s music concoctions, that he has all but usurped the name.

It was a trip to Bucovina that exposed the accordion player to the region’s rich instrumental melodies, Gypsy ballads and sweaty dances called “kolo”, “hora” and “cocek” (the local equivalent of belly-dancing). He returned to Germany and began experimenting with these beats, first in the techno scene, and then with the more experimental hi-tech pulses. His Bucovina Club nights began at Frankfurt’s Schauspiel before moving on to Germany’s major cities. His respect for the Balkan’s musical roots has allowed Shantel to carve out a reputation as a purist who has successful brought this traditionally rural music into the urban jungle.

Shantel produced two Bucovina Club anthologies on his Essay Recordings label. Crammed Discs then hired him to remix recordings by the Kocani Orkestar and Taraf de Haidouk, to bring out Electric Gypsyland. He has since jammed and toured with these groups as well as Mahala Rai Banda, the Boban Markovic Orkestar, the Sandy Lopicic Orkestar, and several more. In 2006 he was rewarded for his vibrant music sets and recordings with a BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music in the Club Global category. In 2007, Shantel brought out Disko Partizani which according to the Crammed Discs label is “a blueprint for a new brand of festive Balkan pop”. While it continues to draw from Mitteleuropa, it also adds elements of southeast Europe, Greece, Turkey, and beyond.

For the moment the modest and yet ebullient performer has managed to avoid the traps fallen into by the likes of Goran Bregovic and Emir Kusturica. His plundering of Balkan Rom music to create popular dance music has been done with a deep respect for the complex and rich music forms. Only time will tell if he can continue to innovate in such creative minefields.

Daniel Brown, December 2007.

Daniel Brown