Turbofolkin'

Turbofolk is a subject of much debate . To make a sort of eclectic sense of it, turbofolk.ba brings you irreverent posts in Bosnian and English on various aspects of the entire turbofolk scene, whether it is seeing scary people like Celo in a limo (perhaps listening to turbofolk ;-) ), or some child prodigy, or deconstructing turbofolk lyrics or Azis the transgendered, Roma rights fighting, Bulgarian turbofolk star.
Balkanmedia has clips of top cds on charts, including some by turbofolk singers; I obviously can't make any comments on the lyrical content, or perhaps lack there of, but just focusing on the music itself, without considering the greater socio-political aspects, and the "taboos" associated with turbofolk; some of the tunes and beats are quite catchy! Although some tunes tend to sound exactly the same after a while (at least to my ears); which perhaps is not something unique to any particular brand of music.

The tunes of the Balkans

Found this article over at Yakima's.

Excerpts:

Balkanika Music Television is using pop-folk music — a uniquely
post-Communist Balkan blend of Western pop, Euro- dance, traditional folk and
eastern or Turkish styles — to create a sort of cultural unity as well as a
common music market.

So far, the toughest nut for Balkanika to crack has been Croatia. That is not
because of any lack of enthusiasm for pop-folk — or just "folk" as it is called
in the former Yugoslavia — but because of national feelings, said Alen Borbas,
Balkanika's representative in Croatia and Bosnia. Croatian channels, Borbas
said, won't show pop-folk videos because the genre is too closely associated
with Serbia, whose pop-folk industry is the most developed in the
Balkans.
"People say that if you listen to pop- folk, you are not a Croatian
patriot"Still, he said, he can see attitudes changing: "Many people here listen
to pop-folk, even the former soldiers."