World Beat 2012

Taraf de Haidouks know what's good for them. After making a well-intentioned – but, in truth, pretty awful – detour into classical music on 2007 album Maškaradǎ, the Romani-Romanian ensemble returned to what they do best on last year's Band of Gypsies 2. A sequel to their 'Balkan big band' album of a decade earlier, it saw them reunite with brass-powered Macedonian counterparts Koçani Orkestar, with incendiary results (see below). Both groups will be hitting Tokyo this autumn, with added support from cross-dressing Indian dancer Queen Harish, in what promises to be an epic hoedown – Roma style.