Hello, Balkan beats

Back with another one of those Balkan-rocking beats, the delightfully unhip Shantel (seen in his new album's CD booklet rocking a tux, black sunglasses, and a party-in-the-back mullet like some Slavic cousin of Billy Squier) eschews the egghead electronica. Finding the sweet spot where disco and world music intersect, where the Bee Gees and Fanfare Ciocarlia simultaneously bop their heads and boogie, Shantel rides a single wave for the entirety of "Disko Partizani!" The same wave it may be, but it's a hell of a ride nonetheless: cheesy, endearing, and mindlessly glorious. "Disko Partizani!" takes the Central European orchestra sound that's been all the rage and tricks it out for the dance floor, with every other word seeming to be a chanted "disko!" The album's title is a pointed political jab, reflecting Shantel's allegiance to no one but the army of disco studs, but "Disko Partizani!" is content to satisfy backsides instead of brains. Its sound - slabs of vaguely Eastern guitar plastered atop heaving mounds of synth-assisted horns - reaches its apotheosis on the title track and "Disko Boy," both of which achieve a kind of perfection as world-beat anthems. The music of the Balkans, already a kind of party music, sits comfortably with the dance rhythms of the international DJ scene. If mullets can inspire music this good, every DJ should start growing his hair out. [Saul Austerlitz]

ESSENTIAL "Disko Partizani"