One of the left-field pop culture phenomena of the last few years is the dancefloor ascendance of music from Eastern Europe. DJs spin souped up versions of of old European folk songs for adoring masses in Europe and in the US. A notoriously rowdy downtown club called Mehanata – originally on Canal St., now on Ludlow – was the original focal point in New York although the scene has spread to many other places. A festival at the club, Drom, at 85 Ave. A in the East Village Sept 24 – Oct 3, brings together many bands and artists working this musical angle here in New York and from Europe as well.

I’d argue that the name Droma Gypsy Festival is a bit of a misnomer. The festival covers more than just “Gypsy” music – it’s really a gathering of a few of the many local, national and international artists who are a part of a global boom in music from in and around Eastern Europe. There have been some key catalysts to the trend: Maybe you’ve heard of the former Yugoslav rock star Goran Bregovic who collaborated with the Serbian Borban Markovic brass band on the soundtrack to Emir Kusturica’s film Underground. Underground suddenly gave the music hipster cred across Europe. Or the New York band Gogol Bordello which had a similar impact here in the US – multiplied when the band’s leader Eugene Hutz starred in the film Everything is Illuminated. Balkan Beat Box, with links to New York and Tel Aviv and indie rock band Beirut also primed the pump of Gypsy / Balkan chic. Even the Borat soundtrack is chock-full of great Balkan and East European music.

Please read article in full at WNYC

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