It was a German friend of mine who described the effect as ‘yoghurt’ — when English is sung by a non-English speaker. It just sounds a bit cheesy in certain contexts (not all obviously), and this is one of those. For some reason German producer, DJ and musician Shantel who brought us the Bucovina Club (and albums by the same name which won him a BBC World Music Award) and helped to spread Gypsy sounds across the globe, found it necessary to include the lyrics (in yoghurt) “Shake it. Shake it, sexy mama. Siki siki baba…”. 4 tracks in and I was in despair. How could this be?

Released on Crammed Discs, the chaps who brought us the ground breaking Electric Gypsyland albums (which I pulled out for this review and boy did they fill me with nostalgia), something was lacking here. Shantel was producing Europop? Perhaps there is a cultural divide that has yet to be breached over the Channel.

The promotional material states: “Shantel conceived these songs while travelling, and found inspiration in the most unlikely locations: a railroad station in Romania, a highway stop in Greece…” — what is unlikely about that I wonder? Seems the most apt places to conceive Gypsy grooves are while on the move through the Balkans. But where is the ‘groove’?

As the record plays on, it improves. ‘Fige Ki Ase Me’ is addictive with its repetitive eastern phrasing. Andante Levante pumps full-on Balkan brass oompah that only the hardest heart could turn its back on and is sure to be a hit to accompany Shantel’s classic remix of Mahala Rai Banda’s ‘Mahalageasca’ (a huge club floor filler even before it was included on the Borat soundtrack). ‘Immigrant Child’ is suspiciously almost exactly the same as ‘Mahalageasca’ but is also a great track. ‘The Veil’ also promises to be a classic with its smooth brass and just the right amount of darbuka to get those hips wiggling.

I am sure I will one day eat my words when I am caught dancing and singing to ‘Disko Boy’ at Divan du Monde in Paris or some such place, but it will not be played on my stereo at home, although it is slowly growing on me…”Yabadabadai. Yabobobaboi. I wanna be your disko boy. Wanna dance with you. Wanna hold you tight. Wanna make you mine tonight….” Opaaaaah!