Eye Weekly,
CD Review
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This Roma brass band is notable for incorporating a Western-style rhythm section of electric bass and drum kit into its fabric. Mahala Rai Banda represent a younger cohort of musicians from Romani musical havens Clejani and Zece Prajini, and they play their music with greater attitude. Mind you, it’s not quite Gogol Bordello attitude: this Banda trades in fiendishly funky, high-energy grooves with many sample-worthy moments, as horn lines quiver overtop a dense base of hammered dulcimer, hand percussion and a rock-solid rhythm section. The telltale groove to OutKast’s “Hey Ya!” (surely one of the most globally influential beats of this decade) even lights up several of their songs. Though the vocal phrasing is a little uninspired at times, Ghetto Blaster is still a splendid party disc. » DD 12/03/09
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