Trans-Continental Hustle

Gogol Bordello | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 27, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: COLUMBIA / DMZ
• ASIN: B003BEEI3M
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,262 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Trans-Continental Hustle is the avidly-awaited fifth studio album from rebel rockers Gogol Bordello. Produced by Rick Rubin, the album is an extraordinary 13-song powerhouse that continues the band's cultural crusade to unite and celebrate unending originality against all odds. Rubin brings Eugene Hutz'ssongwriting skills to focus and also lets the band speak to its authenticity with deeper melodic qualities. "Rick inspired us to focus on the very soul entity of the song," says Hutz on working with Rubin for the first time. "He inspires confidence to always do your best and mature work." Songs on Trans-Continental Hustle bring the listener straight into the heart of the situation whether it be joining forces with gypsies of Brazil as on "Uma Menina Uma Cigana," melancholy strike in the midst of carnival near death experiences as on "Sun on My Side", or themes of transcontinental love devastations. As one of today's most revered live bands with over 200 shows a year, Hutz's intense per --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars what's missing, my companjera?, April 27, 2010

By 

gonzobrarian - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Trans-Continental Hustle (Audio CD)

It's hard to continually raise the bar on a genre that you create for yourself and yet still remain fresh or creative. That said, there's something missing on Trans-Continental Hustle that was so eye-opening on Gogol Bordello`s Gypsy Punks, so explosive on Super Taranta! that it's hard to pinpoint. The energy is here, Hutz is still Hutz, the pace is frenetically balanced between traditional punk, gypsy, and Carnaval atmosphere, with the immigrant-centric worldliness still representing the core of the band. And despite the difficult task of incorporating a more discernible Latin sound tied to punk, there's still something missing.

Many have noted the now infamous photo of the band wearing matching garb promoting the release of the TCH, a ominous sign of something completely antithetical to the core of GB and punk itself, a band comprised of wildly diverse elements too unrestrained to be coerced into uniformity. It could point to the more polished nature of the album as a whole. For since this album is under the purview of mega-producer Rick Rubin, I suspect that GB's talents, and perhaps its greatest asset, raw unpredictability, may be sacrificed for family-friendly airplay. Take the songs Uma Memina, Last One Goes The Hope, Rebellious Love and To Rise Above, for example. The backup singers sound distinctly bored with their restrained wailing. Gone is the occasional though necessary explicit lyric, and less predominant is the evocative gypsy violin from Sergey Ryabtsev in favor of the strumming of acoustic guitar.

That's not to say there are unworthy tracks here. Rebellious Love, My Companjera, In the Meantime in Pernambuco, and the epically momentum building When Universes Collide are all worthy of addition to the elite GB songs. GB's songwriting has always been intelligent, fun and belligerent, and it doesn't deviate much on TCH. In fact, the lyrics are probably as tight as they have been on previous albums; the fever to which they're musically set simply isn't as wild or spontaneous.

For the handful of standouts in this album, for me it doesn't match the intensity of Super Taranta! and Gypsy Punks. I don't blame the band for going in a more polished direction; it was bound to happen that someone influential with the promise of a big payday would try to latch onto GB. I'm thankful that it didn't detract too much from Trans-Continental Hustle, and that it happened after two supremely powerful releases. Trans-Continental Hustle is a fine, if perhaps too well-produced album that while not as overwhelmingly definitive, continues Gogol Bordello's recognition in the realm of worldly punk.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars passion and innovation, September 4, 2010

By 

shiranaize871 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trans-Continental Hustle (MP3 Download)

I was surprised when I first read several user reviews of Gogol Bordello's new album that criticized it heavily. After having listened to this album several times over, and being a long time listener of Gogol Bordello, I feel comfortable saying they were quite wrong. I suspect they wanted the band to just rehash the sound and beats that they had gotten used to. The thing is that Gogol Bordello has a stated purpose of constantly innovating and changing up their music in order to prove an aesthetic argument. And I think they succeed here. There is the same underlying passion and energy, but it is at times more subtle or subdued. Furthermore, they once more find ways to incorporate new folk traditions from around the world and emerge with a sound that is novel and refreshing once more. If you only like the punk sound of the Gypsy Punks album, maybe this is not for you. If you enjoy interesting and innovative music, than I would suggest this album. One user was trying to declare Gogol Bordello's music dead with this album. Fortunately, they seem to be in good aesthetic health.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, June 1, 2010

By 

StarShine (JOHANNEBSURG, GAUTENG South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trans-Continental Hustle (Audio CD)

This is what happens when you take a good punk rock gypsy Balkan band (or whatever descriptors fit it best) with a great formula, and try and change the formula by over-producing it. The soul has been stripped out of this band by mediocre backing instrumentals that could easily be a "one sound fits all other rock bands", namely acoustic guitar.
I was eagerly awaiting this new release, and so much wanted to like it, but there were too many things that did not sound right.
Stripped of the debauchery, humour, screaming backing vocals, Sergeys energetic violin and the accordion, this album is sadly lacking - a lot.

The publishers blurb says "...primal energy...Ska, Metal, Punk, Rap, Dub". Unfortunately, in my opinion, these have all been produced right out of the original sound of Gogol Bordello. What is left is a mediocre rock/pop sound. You would be hard pressed to find anything Balkan or danceable (in the crazy style of Eugene Hutz) here.
On the good side, the vocals and lyrics are still great, and definitely have potential. If the album was redone with the wildness of "Gypsy Punks" it could still be a great album. No doubt when performing this album live, some of the wildness will creep back in. I will await the remake...