Now around the FoaLiaBMB offices I’m known as the second most attractive contributing author (or tied for 4th depending on who you ask), but in the hard-hitting world of music blogging this is often not enough to carry much of a legacy. So, in an effort to create a more lasting impression I decided to attempt to become a full fledged contributing author. I asked our fearless leader Steve for the promotion, and after much yelling and debating (mostly about which Primus song would win in a fight) I received the promotion, and the generous salary increase I assume goes with it (still waiting for that check Steve). In the meantime, let’s get to it!
If you hear the phrase “Gypsy Punk” and don’t get excited then you’re clearly not me. You also clearly have never had the chance to listen to Gogol Bordello, the New York based band that quite literally never stops. The band was formed in 1999 with the mission to smuggle Gypsy/ East-European music in the English-speaking world, the same way their namesake Nikolai Gogol smuggled Ukrainian culture into Russian society. Since their humble beginnings they have released 5 studio albums, an EP, a live album, several side projects, along with an admirable number of TV and movie appearances.
The most impressive number to me however is the number of music festivals and live performances. You can look it up on wikipidea or whatever if you want, but you can take my word for it, IT’S A LOT. Also equally as impressive is the bands stage presence. Unfortunately, I’ve never been able to see them live, but from videos I’ve watched and reviews I’ve read they really leave it all on the stage, and if you think about it, that’s a lot of stages to leave yourself on.
This really makes me think what gives these ordinary guys the energy to do all they do, the traveling, the performing, the studio work. I think it boils down to the music itself. When you think of dancing music we in our society have a variety of options, however, not so long ago he options you had boiled down to the instruments you had and the people around who could play them. Music for entertainment because there’s nothing else, it’s a funny thing to think about, but it’s a very true even in some places today. In the above video you see people dancing to the music being played. When was the last time you saw someone on the street playing music, and other really moving to it, reacting to it, enjoying it? Maybe we as a society have lost sight of something that these guys still have a hold of…or their music is just toe-tappingly AWESOME.
Either reason I’d highly recommend these guys, especially if you can catch them making a crazy gypsy party out of your neighborhood music venue. And look for their new stuff…no news about that, but you know as soon as there is I’ll be excited!
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