Various Artists专辑介绍：by Chris Nickson Romania has produced some of the most eloquent and accomplished Romany artists ever to record, and many of them appear on this compilation. Whether it's the flying fiddles of Taraf de Haïdouks, the breathtaking cimbalom playing of genius Toni Iordache, or the expectation-challenging electronica-meets-bear-baiting of Shukar Collective, there's a sense of freedom and of daring about it all. Fanfare Cioc_rlia, Ion Petre Stoican, Dona Dumitru Siminica -- the list is seemingly endless, and all remarkably talented, providing track after track of wondrous music. If there's one criticism, it's that the second half of the disc appears to flag a little, but that's a fault of the programming rather than the quality of the music. By putting a number of virtuosic gems upfront, it creates expectations of more, so the stouter virtues of later artists don't glitter as much as they should, although they're desperately formidable (just listen to the Ion Miu cut). It's all excellent -- just a few things leap out more obviously than others.