with Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck
Bebek - Bebek

Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck is a veteran syndicated music critic, his reviews appear in over 35 publications world-wide. To read more of Keith’s work visit muzikreviews.com

Bebek - Bebek

The city of brotherly love has more to offer than the Liberty Bell and cheese and steak hoagies, they have a great band called Bebek. 

Lynn Michalopoulos fronts the band. She is a hypnotic vocalist that has a range as high and broad as an opera performer. She is a gifted performer surrounded by equally strong talent. Michalopoulos is the focal point of a band trying to accomplish a complexity and uniqueness rarely found in music today. These elements are evident on their self-titled recording. What is nice to point out for a change is that their sound is actually distinctive. They combine electronica, a heavy dose of thumping bass lines and keyboards that form dreamy layers so Lynn can capitalize on her vocal powers. That combination formulates a stunning blend of pop-electronica-world-jazz that will entice you and suck you into their world on every track.

On songs like “Traffic”, the band decides to go in a decidedly jazz direction, most notably with Lynn’s vocal style, then “Palm Tree” gets you right back into a late nightclub atmosphere with all energy, sparkle and pulsating rhythms that are a constant element that drives the entire culture. When you think you may be listening to a track leaning strongly towards electronica, Nero Catalano brings to the party some rockin’ guitar or the worldly flavor of the bouzouki to give the song an essence that you will not typically hear in the genre. This is not club music, I do not want to mislead you, even though those elements of electronica are there, this is not what you would expect to hear walking into a late night dance club, it creates the ambiance of that, however it is not that at all. You have to hear it for yourself to understand where I am coming from. I loved this CD, and for many reasons, enough to feel the need to keep listening to see what else I could hear on the next spin. The bass is predominant with this music, it is the driving force of their sound, and everything else follows in line. In the end, Bebek is one of those bands that is nearly impossible to categorize and that is a good thing. 
 

Tracks:
01. 807 dub  (5:11)
02. Rollerderby  (3:25)
03. Frozen  (3:25)
04. Grace 6 5  (5:40)
05. Good News (3:23)
06. Traffic  (3:35)
07. She knows  (5:07)
08. Palm Tree  (5:06)
09. The Bricks  (4:42)
10. Today  (6:32)
 

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