Categories
General

Gogol Bordello

If you’ve ever seen the wonderful movie Everything is Illuminated then you’ve seen and heard the band Gogol Bordello. That’s because the character Alex in the movie is actually played by Eugene Hütz, the lead vocals for the band. And if you listened to the closing credits, you would have heard Eugene sing Start Wearing Purple, one of the bands more popular songs which can be listened to on their Gogol Bordello MySpace website.

Now while their “gypsy-punk” music is incredibly exhilarating to listen to, their performances are even more incredible to watch as seen by this footage taken from their appearance on David Letterman back in July, where they sang one of their new songs Wanderlust King. I guess it’s no wonder so many people comment on their site about their “amazing” concerts, as their live performances almost seem to be a celebration of life.

Deciding to read some of the bands background on their MySpace site (written by Eugene himself), I was surprised and delighted to discover that celebrating life is exactly what the band is all about. Check out the quote below which is just a small part of what he had to say, as he’s obviously put a lot of thought and energy into his music. 

Often you will hear people talking about a concert theyve experienced for years! Why? In Gypsy mythology they say it is memorable because the devil visited that room, others say the other guy was there But one way or another they all link it to supernatural

Considering its power, it is not impossible to think of music making as a sacred art discipline and, for example, in anthropological tribal studies the medicine man functions are not really differentiated from musicians But lets not get too anthropological on your ass These are just elementary streamline reminders of musics rocking good and what it could do.

But instead, saturated with garbage, airways discredit this art and separate people from the power and meaning of music Rivers of meaningless puke are poured into ours ears on daily basis and many forgot to even think about music as of a major source of energy, joy and inspiration and fucking heat too!..

BTW if you live here in Vancouver and want to get a taste for this sort of gypsy music yourself (although not as punkish), definitely check out the band the Creaking Planks. However don’t be fooled by the song samples on their site, as the recorded sound quality is pretty bad. This band totally rocks live and is full of energy, especially with their full ensemble of musicians (as they sometimes play in a smaller group).