Gogol Bordello: Gypsy Punks Underdog World Strike (2LP, frosted shadow vinyl) [SIDEONEDUMMY RECORDS]

Why you'll love it

This limited 2LP set comes on translucent frosted shadow vinyl in a gatefold jacket. Steve Albini co-produced, Robert Christgau gave it an A, and "Start Wearing Purple" became the band's calling card.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Frosted shadow vinyl
• Gatefold jacket
• Limited edition

About the album

Gogol Bordello took their name from Nikolai Gogol, the 19th-century writer who smuggled Ukrainian culture into Russian society, and they set out to do the same with Romani and Eastern European music in the English-speaking world. Formed in 1999 on Manhattan's Lower East Side by musicians from all over the globe, they spent years honing a wild, theatrical live show before this, their third album and first on SideOneDummy.

Recorded between October 2004 and February 2005 with Steve Albini, it catches the band at full gallop. Eugene Hütz leads a racket of accordion, violin, punk guitars and dub bass on "Sally," "Not a Crime," the rallying "Immigrant Punk" and the title track, and "Start Wearing Purple" is a whirling, shout-along classic that also turned up in the film Everything Is Illuminated, where Hütz co-starred with Elijah Wood. "Mishto!" closes with almost seven minutes of celebration.

Pitchfork gave it a 7.8, and the band went on to tour with Primus, Flogging Molly and Cake. Its influences run from The Clash and Fugazi to Manu Chao, and its natural habitat is a crowded room where nobody is standing still, our shop floor included.

Also at Kops: more Gogol Bordello on vinyl · browse Punk

Tracklist

Listen

On SideOneDummy (cat# SD1271-1), a reissue of the 2005 album.