​New York cultural mash-up experiment TriBeCaStan is part of a growing number of local groups like Nation Beat who dive so deep into the melting pot that borders become burned away—even the name "TriBeCaStan" is meant to evoke an imaginary republic defined by New York cool, explorer energy and outer space vibes. Archduke of the Forward Guard John Kruth describes their upcoming album, New Deli (due January 31 via EverGreene) as a "mosh of influences," and unlike, say, global groovesters Gogol Bordello, it's hard to even find where one begins and another ends: African folk, Ethiojazz, zydeco, gypsy-rock, Indian scales, Japanese flutes, Carnival rhythms and good old-fashioned free-jazz freakouts. "In TriBeCaStan we like to shift gears a bit," says John Kruth about "Bed Bugs," which is not the first song in this column to pay tribute to our itchy friends. "So the song starts off with this very tribal, otherworldly African sound and then leaps across the ocean to the Carribean. We are truly universal. Or, as Sun Ra would say, 'Uni-verse? Why just one? Omniversal is more like it!'"

More >>