February 9, 2010 9:11 PM Welcome back after a long break dear friends! I hope you missed me as much as I missed you and this is why I have something really special for you today. But before we even get to it I want to assure you that you will be served 12 course meal this year so get ready. The first episode of 2010 will take you on the Balkan Xpress to visit and experience my home country Bulgaria. I'm leaving you in the hands of DJ Kosta Kostov and don't drink too much because I know this is what happens when you start hanging out with Bulgarians. Kosta Kostov is not a nickname! Born in the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, Kostov grew up in the unique Balkan way of celebrating. Moving to Germany didn't stop his passionate search for the best rhythms and melodies from the Balkans. Today working as a music journalist and dj, Kosta Kostov is the mastermind and resident "machinista" of the balkanXpress, the turbulent party in Cologne’s club Gebäude 9. In April 2004, the balkanXpress started in Cologne’s club scene first as a regular party, to introduce and represent the many-facetted music of Southeastern Europe. It quickly became a reference for people who love spontaneous and passionate celebration. The balkanXpress takes you on a dance journey through the valleys and hills of the Balkan beats and breaks, always with view out to new horizons... The rhythms of typical music and dance-styles like horo, račenitza, čoček, rembetiko or klezmer are quite similar to the beats of drum ’n’ bass and breakbeat and offer a great space for fusions. The Balkan music also share a common ground with musical phenomena like the sounds from the Orient & Maghreb, the hispano-brazilian flavas or the Bhangra beats. The trip with balkanXpress will take you beyond the Balkans, to the music related neighbours that have more similarities with Southeast European music than expected. That’s the reason why prominent Global Village DJs like DJ Panko (Ojos de Brujo), DJ Click (No Fridge), DJ Gaetano Fabri (Electric Gypsyland), DJ Eastenders have participated to the balkanXpress. Meanwhile the balkanXpress is travelling not only through German lands. Kosta Kostov is a well seen guest in the Barcelona clubs Sala Apolo and Sidecar, in Paris’ Divan du Monde, in Athen’s Altera Pars and Booze Club and in Vienna’s Ostklub. On March 2007, the balkanXpress brought for the first time the transbalkan beats and breaks to the clubs in the Brazilian cities of Belem, Aracaju, Brasilia Capital, Porto Alegre, Florianpolis and on 10.11.2007 it was at GO EAST!, the first party 100% balkanbeats in Rio de Janeiro. Jump on the balkanXpress and enjoy Kosta Kostov's frenetic BABUSHKA-BREAKS, HORO-DUBS, KLEZMER-RIDDIMS, GYPSY-SPEEDBRASS!