Max out

○○○●●

BRITS Max Pashm's new album may have been created in a London studio, but the sound is a little more exotic than that.

The group, which describes their sound as "KlezmerBalkanGreekGypsyPunk with Electro-beats", is a melting pot which fuses influences ranging from Robert de Niro speeches to Zorba The Greek-style traditional tunes to contemporary breakbeats.

Sadly the result on Never Mind The Balkans... is not always as exciting as it sounds, if that makes any sense.

Too often, for example on Anarchy and The Tongue, Max Pashm take the whole thing too far and it's just a bit cringeworthy.

That said, for the best part the album is an inventive take on the traditional music of a region not normally given much of an airing on these shores - for example on Once Upon A Time In Hellas and I Nervo - and it works really well.