Friday, December 12, 2008

Gadjo’s Video Jukebox #4

Gadjo’s Pickin’ Kiev Tonight*!! Yes, as promised. When I danced with the Balalaika Dance Group in London I found that Ukrainians have the butchest Soviet-bloc dances, and music to match. Then I happened upon The Ukrainians, a band from Leeds with some Uke ancestry and the willingness to have a laugh. They’ve done great versions of songs by The Smiths and The Sex Pistols - here, especially for Barry Teeth, is their version of Anarchy In The UK(raine) - and here's something more with the spirit of the Cossacks:



Then I discovered other great genuine Ukrainian bands. Bands fast and unintelligible enough to form the background music to many years studying at my computer terminal. First up it’s Perkalaba. On the map it looks like I could easily visit them from here in their Hutsul hideaway, but flying around the world would actually take less time. They named themselves after their local psychiatric hospital and act as dodgy as possible, as you would too if people had called your homeland "Little Russia" for 654 years!

* There’s a pun there somewhere; find it and you could win a weekend for one in Dnipropetrovsk.

10 comments:

  1. Second prize - two weeks in Dnipropetrovsk!

    I hope you were expecting that.

    The Ivano-Frankivsk band are new to me - thanks for the introduction.

    I'll chicken out on the pun, if it's all the same.

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  2. 1) Arcade Fire?

    2)Goodness me!!! Well blow me down, what's all this about Gadj?
    I'm going to keep my mouth shut.
    Sx

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  3. Ummm... what can one say? In English, at any rate?

    It all starts to take on shades of Molvania...

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  4. Loved it! Especially the first one. If the Eurovision Song Contest were like that, Eastern Europe would win every time. Oh, hang on a minute ...

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  5. The mandolin player could do with fuzzbox wah-wah pedals, and a much bigger Marshall stack.

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  6. Everybody, ooer, I've just looked at the second video again; there was me thinking that all it was saying was "euphonium players can't get proper girlfriends", but it is rather unpleasent - trouble is I never watched it all the way through properly as I was always working at the time! - I'm going to take it off.

    Boyo, use of cruit extra! I think Perkalaba are starting to tour abroad - Poland first, of course - so you may get them at Reading University before long.

    Scarley: Arcade Fire? I think you know about indie music than I do! Yes, I realised now that I'm in danger of losing my cuddly, family-orientated image :-(

    Gypo: I don't think I want to venture into Molvania now - I feel a bit ill.

    Thanks Daph. I'd like East European performers in the Eurovision Song Contest to play more music of their countries' actual music. Though Moldava's Zdob şi Zdub did have a go at presenting a very actual grandmother few years back.

    Dr Francis: Yes, The Ukrainians don't do any shiny videos, as far as I'm aware, so I had to make do with that rather tatty bootleg.

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  7. Ah! Put it back Gadj!!!! It was kind of funny in a gross deflating way, and Mrs P might have something to say about it... Wherever she is....
    Sx

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  8. Thanks Scarls, but I did genuinely feel ill where I realised there was possibly a violence-against-women vibe that could be construed, and I'd not spotted it :-( Yes, Where is Mrs Pouncer these days?? Hope she's ok.

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  9. Bloody hell. I do like the Anarchy nod, but the kit on that drum riser looks like bloody Liberace's own. If you have ANY influence at all with these herberts Gadj, PLEASE in the name of Paul Cook, ask them to butch up the drum kit?

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  10. Baz, I knew you'd have something apposite to say on the matter. Unfortunately I have no influence with anybody and Paul Cook will just have to come and sort it out himself.

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