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As frontman for Balkan Beat Box Tomer Yosef helped put the Mediterranean mash-up artists on the map with his wildly kinetic live shows. But the singer and lyricist just released his North American solo debut, Laughing Underground, on JDub records on August 26th. The release is the first in a series by Balkan Beat Box members expected over the next 12 months.

Laughing Underground was produced by Tomer and BBB's Tamir Muskat, who also plays drums throughout. Other band members include Guy Mar of Israeli hip hop supergroup Hadag Nachash and Uri Kinrot of Boom Pam, as well as Beno Hendler on bass and Shaul Eshet on keys. The album mostly devotes itself to Tomer's two favorite subjects: the pains and strains of love and politics.

Yosef was born and raised in the small town of Kfar Saba, Israel, just east of Tel Aviv. He began his artistic career as a stand-up comedian in the 90's and performed live across Israel, gradually branching out into TV, radio, and ultimately feature films. However, like many Israelis, he felt stifled in the small Middle Eastern country, and moved to New York City in 1998. There he connected with fellow Israeli-expat, Itamar Ziegler, and started the 9 piece band Zion Train. Though short lived, it was his first contact with what would later become Balkan Beat Box (Itamar is now BBB's bassist). 3 years later, BBB producer and drummer Tamir Muskat produced Tomer's first album Say Something, which received critical praise in Israel as an innovative hybrid of reggae and Israeli rock, but his unique musical voice had yet to really shine. He began work on his second album in a home studio in 2003, but was sidetracked by requests for his songwriting and production skills, and ultimately by the formation of Balkan Beat Box.

Initially Tomer recorded vocals for one BBB song, "La Bush Resistance" on their 2004 self-titled debut. But when the founders (Tamir and sax man Ori Kaplan) invited him to perform with the band live, he quickly became an equal partner and an integral part of the live BBB experience. During their US debut at SOB's in Manhattan in March 2004, Tomer kicked off the show by scaling a support beam in the center of the venue and delivering his first verse suspended upside-down from the ceiling. His escapades escalated from there, and he sang, sampled, and danced his way onto dank clubs in San Francisco and later onto Central Park Summerstage—landing a half page photo in the New Yorker magazine, shirtless, entwined with a bellydancer. Two years later, in 2006, when it came time for Balkan Beat Box to begin recording Nu Med, Tomer asserted himself as the most dynamic and creative presence on the album. His multilingual rabble-rousing on "Digital Monkey", "Mexico City", & "Hermetico" have received high praise from the likes of SPIN and Billboard.

Still, Tomer continued to work on his 2nd solo album, which grew from the ever-exciting experience of traveling the world with BBB. The fantastic result is Laughing Underground, which marries tempered rock and reggae with Tomer's signature Middle Eastern dancehall delivery and his penchant for pop-sensibility and distinctly Mediterranean melodies.

Tonight marks the beginning of Balkan Beat Box's final US tour of 2008, and each and every date is going to be a spectacular performance of epic proportions. Catch Tomer and the rest of BBB on these dates:

9/9: The El Rey with DeLeon, Los Angeles CA (VIP Reception beforehand)
9/10: The Fillmore with DeLeon, San Francisco CA
9/12: Dantes with DeLeon, Portland, OR
9/13: Neumos with DeLeon, Seattle WA
9/14: Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis MN
9/15: Logan Square Auditorium, Chicago IL
9/17: The Black Cat, DC
9/18: Highline Ballroom, NYC