I became aware of 17 Hippies recently when I saw the German film Halbe Treppe in San Antonio at a European Film Festival. Although it wasn't at first apparent, the group and its music loomed large in the development and finale of the film's story.
Since I found their music to my liking, I looked them up on this site to see what was available and decided to take a chance on this.
When I first listened to Sirba, I wasn't too impressed with the music. It was enjoyable, but nothing special. Then I decided to play it all day at the office and see how well I liked it at a higher volume.
My verdict? Overall, there is much to like here. 17 Hippies offers the listener an exotic mix of Klezmer, Gypsy, German, Spanish and jazz influences throughout. Anyone who enjoys world music will like this. The CD is musically balanced. While nothing stands out as memorable, there is nothing awful either.
This is an excellent CD for play at the office or to have on in the background at home while enjoying a good book.
The only aspect of this recording that annoys me is the long period of silence following E Major which is finally broken by an off-key rendition of an old vaguely familiar song.
If you are musically adventurous and enjoy European ethnic music, give this CD a shot. You'll be glad you did.

I picked up this cd on a lark without knowing teh sound at, just by being assured by a stranger from France that this band from Germany was excellent.
He was right.
The first song reminds me of mellow mariachi horns, a subdued polka beat alongside a recurring melody from the middle east.The rest of the cd follows the same basic idea, its a beatiful mix. The band is said to have begun doing a mix of baroque and cajun music, and it shows.
If you like atmospheric beautiful music, that is great for active listening to as well as background music this is it.