Gogol Bordello vs. Tamir Muskat

J.U.F.

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 31, 2004)
• Original Release Date: August 31, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Stinky
• ASIN: B0002T7YRG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #51,836 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > World Music > Europe > Eastern Europe > Gypsy

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Gogol Bordello live experience is a knock down drag out party where all matter of mayhem, on stage and off, is the order of the day. Singer Eugene Hutz also holds down a more restrained but no less fun DJ gig. Here he lets his music-obsessed self stretch beyond the Ukraine, gypsy and punk roots of his band into all manner of musics, ranging from Algerian rai to Jamaican dub to Indian bhangra to sampling and electronics. This same approach is applied to J.U.F. (which stands for "Jewish-Ukrainian Friendship"): everything is fair game for Hutz, keyboardist Tamir Muskat, saxophonist Ori Kaplan and guitarist Oren Kaplan (both also of Gogol Bordello), with a few guests helping as well. Never dragging as the beat scientists mix and match styles and ideas, the seamless 12-track album goes from song to song without pause. It's perfectly suited for a night in the bars hanging with friends, but it's also fun multi-culti listening at home too. –-Tad Hendrickson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fusion musics unite!, October 2, 2006

By	E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Expect nothing normal when Gogol Bordello's Eugene Hutz does a global DJing gig at the Mehanata, with members of Balkan Beat Box. Instead, expect "Gogol Bordello Vs. Tamir Muskrat," where musical styles dance together and then smash into one enormous reggae-Indian-gypsy-punk-disco-vinylscratching mess. It sounds like the soundtrack to a gypsy action movie, except it's much more fun.

It opens with Eugene Hutz shouting, "The bride's side of the family relatives, come on down through the parking lot, directly through the garden to the house of the groom's family..." Then a rattling klezmer-rock tune kicks in, interspersed with happy cries from the audience. "East Wish Of The Bride" kicks itself into a dancey little tune, with an Arabic twist and lots of dancey, sinuous melodies. Let the party start.

From there on, the unholy musicians veer to the hip-hop side of things with the horn-filled rap song "Gypsy Side of Town," before switching styles to fuzz-punk and accordion pop, to name just a few. It's hard to pinpoint all the styles that these mad musicians cram into these songs -- there are shreds of reggae, rap, Rai, and always a gypsy fiddler on acid.

The fun peaks with "Bassar (Balkan Express Train Robbery)," a sort of Eastern-European version of a James Bond theme. From there on, they switch smoothly to the sensual beats of "Onto Transmigration," some insane horn-punk, and even a stately little traditional march.... which in context appears to be making fun of itself. From there on, they ended the album on a strong note, with a trio of raucous rock tunes that show them in their colourful glory.

If this is an example of what Gogol Bordello and the Balkan Beat Boxers can do, then they should team up more often. This entire collection of songs is colourful, madcap and gloriously energetic. Even better, the talented instrumentation is so thick and tight that it's impossible to decipher on first listen -- it's not a performance, it's a friendly assault.

Tamir Muskrat and Ori Kaplan (a former member) bring an extra dimension to the basic folk-punk, adding their Eastern European dance-folk rhythms to Gogol Bordello's gypsy-punk... plus a dash of the Middle-East, and whatever else Hutz throws into the pot. The music is often saturated in punky drums and buzzing guitar, but then the fiddles, accordions, klezmer, splashes of electronic beats, and an occasional flute.

Eugene Hutz contributes pretty much all the vocals for this album, and his raw, unrestrained howl is perfectly suited for the music -- he yowls, he snarls, he raps, he drawls, he whistles, and even starts calling out in Ukrainian. He occasionally gets swamped by Muskrat's music -- not something you'll often hear -- but always comes back out with a roar.

"Gogol Bordello vs. Tamir Muskrat" is a glorious mishmash of styles, instruments and songs -- and man is it ever fun. Exploding with energy and raucous good times, this is definitely worth checking out.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars JUF, January 26, 2006

By	MOUTH "Mouth" - See all my reviews

Comparing Gogol Bordello and JUF is like comparing apples and oranges. I have seen Gogol live more times than I have fingers and toes to count on. When I bought JUF I did not expect to hear anything remotely resembling a Gogol album. This is a dancehall album. You like it or you don't, but just remember it is a side project. It does not make any sense to compare it to other Gogol albums.

Listen before you buy.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bulgarian Dancehall, November 20, 2004

By	Tzar (Nyack, NY) - See all my reviews

Gypsy violin, dancehall beats, horns somewhere between Jazz Jamaica and Klezmer, transylvanian-intoned singer. Wry lyrics. Simply a blast. Bought this blind and I love it.