My boy from Berlin DJ Delay has put together an awesome compilation, released this week: Beyond the Kolo. Check the promo mix:

BEYOND THE KOLO promo mix - free d/l (indiv. tracks out 20.09.10) by Beam Up & DJ Delay

This is a project which invited 9 different artists to interpret the Čačak Kolo (Serbia) in the context of their current musical direction.

Čačak kolo is the name of many Shope type dances found in Eastern Serbia, Northeastern Macedonia, and Western Bulgaria. They are characterized by their fast 2/4 metered music. Čačak dances are often referred to by the town or region from which they come.

Whilst this traditional tune is well known to anyone from the former Yugoslavia, this has not been a part of the handful of tunes, which have been remixed and re-presented in the last 10 years.

FLeCK, Joro Boro and Gypsy Syndicate give burning Dubstep remixes, with killer club tunes from DJ Superstereo, Unsoundboy, Gypsy Syndicate and DJ Delay. Tricky D stands tall with a Cumbia dub version, Curse Ov Dialect show their abstract Hiphop skills and Benjamin Skepper bows in with a tense Contemporary Classical piece.

It's all wicked - I've been banging the FLeCK and DJ Delay tunes for the past couple of weeks particularly, heavy dubstep and d&b vibes respectively, also loving the completely insane Gypsy Syndicate breakcore / balkan gabba mix, but haven't come across a crowd ready for it yet..!

Go buy:
Beyond the Kolo on iTunes
Beyond the Kolo on Juno

I've been thinking for a while that I need some good new balkan stuff to post, since I've been fairly light on it lately and it's kind of one of the main original forces behind Untimely Sound (although the Untimely remit is basically World Music, meaning Music from the World rather than any kind of colonialist interpretation.. ) and lo and behold this morning Brian May aka DJ Delay - no, that's not that Brian May (at least I don't think it is!) - sent me a link to check out his new album - 'a remix album like no other that plumbs the depths and traditions of Eastern European music styles' all with a fairly healthy slab of dub, house and breaks.