Results tagged “gogolbordello”

Last Friday, before X-Ray Press took the stage at Chop Suey, we ran into an acquaintance who described them as "math rock, circa 1994." After their set, another friend described them as "intellectual" musicians. Both are fair assessments: we wouldn't credit it as "original," but "skillful"? Hell yeah. Jumping between jerky time signatures, with a jagged, frequently dissonant guitar opposite thundering bass-lines and fuzzy keyboard melodies, X-Ray Press got down old-skool Don Cab-style.

Dengue Fever falls uncomfortably somewhere between Gogol Bordello and Beirut in the musical spectrum: unlike Gogol Bordello, this really isn't traditional music, nor are the band members--mostly indie rockers from LA--as diverse or international as Eugene Hutz's crew; but unlike Beirut, Zach Condon's Balkan brass band, Dengue Fever does have itself anchored to its musical pedigree: lead singer Chhom Nimol. Nimol comes from a family of successful Cambodian wedding singers. She moved to the US in 2000 at age 21, and wound up in Long Beach, California where her sister already lived.

When the Crocodile Cafe abruptly closed down a month ago, we turned to a friend of ours looking for the inside scoop. Kultur Shock guitarist Val Kiossovski was bar manager down for quite a while (he's now running his own place in Lower Queen Anne, Solo, one of our favorite hangouts), so we figured if anyone knew, he would. Unfortunately, he was busy with problems of his own: rescheduling his band's show.

Our first taste of the 2007 Bumbershoot lineup leaves us hungry for so much more.

The first time we saw Kultur Shock, they were opening for Gogol Bordello at Neumo's, and we have to admit, we'd never heard of them. It was an all-ages show, so we were drinking our fill in the Bad Juju lounge next door, until the insane sounds of the band dragged us away from our beers. Quickly we came to regret missing the first half of their set.

Seattlest serves up musical jambalaya for the masses… Delicious!

In all the annals of music, it's hard to imagine anymore specific a genre than "gypsy punk." But that's just the sort of cabaret-esque insanity that Gogol Bordello brings to their shows.