The Imam Baildi Cookbook

This is the second album by the Athens-based band, and it's nothing if not varied. Taking some of their own compositions and a number of well-loved classics, Imam Baildi have given them an electronic makeover. I was left slightly wondering what had been gained. The CD kicks off with a Gypsy swing in the shape of their own ‘Carantino Manouche’, before leading into a mix of ‘Busca Ritmo’, another Imam Baildi track injected with 1970s music by Yiorgos Zabetas. This also gets a rather bizarre English-language rap, which turns out to be a recurring theme on the album. ‘La Rumba No Miente’ has a mildly embarrassing rap track while ‘Egypt Strut’ is rap-meets-Mancini. ‘Akrogialies Dilina’ by Vassilis Tsitsanis sees them back on more traditional ground, and ‘Thilipsi’ is a great Xydhakis-like number, originally a 1950s composition by Manolis Hiotis. There are a couple of updated versions of rebetika, which are fine, plus a couple of tracks that don't really work, such as the rather repetitive clarinet line on ‘Kaixis’ and the fairly bland dub version of ‘Hasaposerviko’. But the 12th track, ‘And Another Hasaposerviko’, makes you sit up and listen to the vibrancy that is in the traditional music, perhaps hinting that it doesn't need the remix treatment.

In the end, you come away thinking it's not bad, just a little bit dated. Maybe it is time for these obviously talented musicians to move on and try something different.