Two youthful groups stir the imagination and pump the adrenaline with their unique takes on the "Balkan underground" sound.

Fishtank Ensemble offers an eclectic blend of up-tempo Gypsy, Balkan, and klezmer tunes and original compositions, intriguingly spiced with flamenco guitar, French chanson, and Swedish and Japanese folk music. It could easily be chaos, but the impressive instrumental skills of Gypsy violinist Fabrice Martinez, vocalist and musical saw wizard Ursula Knudson, accordionist Aaron Seeman, flamenco guitarist Doug Smolens, and shamisen players Kevin Kmetz and Mike Penny render it into a mighty tasty goulash indeed. Fishtank Ensemble's latest album is Super Raoul (Mimicry).

Romanian Gypsy melodies, punk frenzy, salty tangos, hard-rocking klezmer, haunting Balkan harmony, hip-hop beats, and Appalachian fiddle tunes all go into Luminescent Orchestrii's mix, to be extruded from their violins, resophonic guitar, bullhorn harmonica, and bass as frenetic, richly arranged musical adventures. With members from wildly divergent scenes—including circus composer Sxip Shirey, old-time fiddle player Sarah Alden, experimental theater composer Rima Fand, and free-jazz bassist Benjy Fox-Rosen—the New York City-based group finds its artistic meeting ground in a love of Balkan and Gypsy music. Their most recent CD is Too Hot to Sleep.