Gypsy punk band from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, formed in 1999, "Gogol" comes from Nikolai Gogol, an influential writer in Ukrainian and Russian literature. He serves as an ideological influence for the band because he "smuggled" Ukrainian culture into Russian society, which Gogol Bordello intends to do with Gypsy/ East-European music in the English-speaking world."Bordello," in Italian, refers to a brothel or a "gentleman's club." The band was originally titled Hütz and the Béla Bartóks, but Eugene Hütz says that they decided to change the name because "nobody knows who the hell Béla Bartók is in the United States."
They hit the big time in 2006 with the single 'Start Wearing Purple' then toured the world with everyone from Primus to Flogging Molly.
Such is the appeal of thier music that they have played over 70 festivals from indie, punk, folk and world music to heavy metal.
The band has appeared in a number of popular films, most notably in 2005's Everything Is Illuminated in which the lead singer, Eugene Hütz, co-starred with Elijah Wood in a dramedy and adventure story about the Nazi purges in Ukraine. The entire group was present for one shot in which they played a brass band in a set that included the Star Spangled Banner. They also played the traditional Yiddish tune "Bublitschki". Gogol Bordello contributed the song "Start Wearing Purple" to the film's score.
The album’s title is derived from a Spanish slang phrase for “pure life,” which is a theme that resonates throughout the new material. The disc’s opener, “We Rise Again,” introduces the album’s limitless, all-embracing themes instantly, centered on a chorus of “Borders are scars on face of the planet.” The new songs are infused with ideas rooted in Eastern philosophy but also search for a means of joining fragmented parts and persons, and of creating a worldwide consciousness.
“For me music is a way to explore human potential,” Hutz says. “And that’s my main interest in life – human potential. Everyone knows there’s something inside of us that we’re not using. How do we get it? How do we reach it? Every single person knows that there’s something and nobody knows what it is. So at one point I said to myself, I’m gonna get down and get it.”
For the love of everyone who's yet to be free
Borders are scars on face of the planet."
A great and diverse album with traditional gypsy music, folk and rock sometimes all mixed in together sometimes not.
Rating 8/10
For Fans Of : Turisas, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Flogging Molly
1 comment:
Haven't heard this one yet. Will be checking it out now. Thank you.
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