Chalga Excellence is a blog documenting one of the more bizarre corners of Balkan music: Chalga. Bulgarian in origin, Chalga mixes Greek, Arabic and Balkan influences, and has become increasingly popular despite criticisms of ‘questionable’ morality. It’s also unquestionably the kitschiest thing you’ll ever see. Curator of the site Ivaylo Spasov told us a little bit more about it…
Chalga Excellence is an online museum of the ultimate chalga aesthetic. It tries to find the balance between the art, kitsch, musical geniality and mockery which co-exist between the broad limits of this genre. Chalga Excellence speaks in English because it aims to expand beyond the borders of chalga’s motherland – Bulgaria.
The texts in Chalga Excellence are exaggerated, explicit variations of the original song lyrics. The simple idea behind this approach is to provoke those who are prejudice against chalga and to arouse the others who can feel its perverted appeal. – Ivaylo Spasov.
You can find Chalga Excellence HERE: http://chalgatropolis.tumblr.com/
