Skweee, Laboratorio, Deep Filthstep, Chalga (see below)– those are only four of the 1,264 micro genres of popular music identified by “data alchemist” Glenn McDonald, creator of Every Noise At Once, which I posted about last year.
The Guardian’s Rob Fitzpatrick checks out a few of the more, er, niche scenes. For example…
7. Chalga
Described in 2013 by no-lesser an authority than the BBC as, “Bulgaria’s sex-soaked pop-folk music culture”, chalga – a Turkish word that originally described the urban music of the Ottoman empire of the late 19th and early 20th century – blends doof-doof dance beats with Balkan, Gypsy and Middle Eastern rhythms. Think of it as Bulgarian turbofolk, if you like. Its themes of “easy money, aggressive men and promiscuous women” (that’s the BBC again) have made chalga huge all across the Balkans.
