Balkan Taksim is one of the most original music groups from Romania and they are starting the engines in Control on March 4.
With a mix of popular rhythms and electronic sounds, with tunes from the Carpathian mountains or from the Balkans, with a touch of Anatolia, Balkan Taksim create an energetic and colourful musical kaleidoscope. In their music one could find traces of trip-hop or Yugoslav rock, but also sounds from the psychedelic era of 1960s. Their traditional instruments – Turkish saz, Romanian cobza, Bosnian šargija, Ottoman tanbur, various bagpipes – make a dialogue with the rhythms built in the studio, by means of synthesizers and samplers. The songs Balkan Taksim play are about love, dance, memory and death. Although there is popular poetry in some of their tunes, mixed with futuristic visions, the musical folklore of the Balkans or Carpathians is rather a pretext for new sonic formulas.
Balkan Taksim played various festivals and clubs, such as Paléo Festival de Nyon, Paraiso Festival, Madrid, See Festival | BOZAR, Bruxelles, Electric Castle Festival, Cluj, Jazz in the Park Festival, Cluj, Astra Film Festival, Sibiu, Palac Akropolis, Prague, Kino Šiška, Ljubljana, Nova Cvernovka, Bratislava, A38, Budapest.
The music of Balkan Taksim has been promoted by various radio station, with hosts such as Iggy Pop, Nick Luscombe, Gilles Peterson, Stuart Maconie, Cerys Matthews, Kevin Cole. In 2021 the band have released their debut album Disko Telegraf, a double LP, on the legendary world-music label Buda Musique, from Paris.
In 2022, they have been nominated for Music Moves Europe Awards, and played as guests at Eurosonic Festival, in The Netherlands.
After new field research and studio work, Balkan Taksim have released their second album - ”Acide balkanique” (september 2025, Buda Musique).
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”This Balkan Acid distils the most heady of sound liqueurs, in which BALKAN TAKSIM unveils a cultural cartography that blurs the lines without betraying its origins. Passed through an electro-industrial-urban prism, the popular cultures of the Balkans, the Carpathians and the Ottoman Empire form a puzzle with a sound geography as confusing as it is captivating (...)” - Rythmes Croisés
”With their psychedelic western music, finally a band from the Balkans that doesn't seem to be reciting their folklore.” - À vos marques… tapage !
Tickets:
50 lei + taxes • Presale
65 lei + taxes • Door Deal
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* Children ages 12 and under are not allowed.
** Children up to 16 years old need a valid ticket and must be accompanied by a parent with a valid ticket.
*** Minors aged 16 to 18 years old have access with a valid ticket.
**** Serving and alcohol consumption are strictly forbidden for all minors.