Eastern European music has never really been my thing; generally speaking, I see the word "Balkan" and my eyes start to glaze over... But then there are always surprises, particularly discs like this odd, atmospheric offering by Darko Rundek, a Croatian actor and musician who was once in a band called Haustor, and now fronts the uber-eclectic Cargo Orkestar... The opening number is enough to put any open-eared world music fan on notice: this ain't your grandma's Balkan music. Mixing moody, murky jazz-pop with styles indigenous to his Yugoslavian homeland -- notably gypsy and Arabic melodic themes -- Rundek crafts a multilayered, multifaceted, artsy sound, equally challenging and compelling, music that may remind listeners of irony-drenched, postmodern troubadours such as Tom Waits and Paulo Conte, who have taken their creative efforts into a different stratosphere than the legions of rude rockers and rappers that drown the soundscape. Anyway, even though the Slavic culture remains alien and unappealing to me, I could still recognize the spark of brilliance and timelessness in this album... It's definitely worth checking out!
Daily Times, 14.07.2004
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