First of all, if you're not familiar with Gogol Bordello or Balkan Beat Box, go familiarize yourself with them.

"J. U. F." stands for "Jewish Ukrainishe Freundschaft"--Jewish Ukrainian Friendship. It's about what you'd expect with these two projects coming together--Eugene Hütz and his oversized personality provide well placed yelps, howls, raps, and singing. Tamir Muskat, the drummer/programmer for Balkan Beat Box lays down techno beats, which are augmented by his drumming. All this provides a great pad for lots of saxophones, percussion, dub bass, gypsy violin, and whatever else these guys had lying around (i.e. bagpipes and shit).

This album isn't as good as either of the groups' best efforts, but it's still a lot of fun. It's pretty consistent, and stands up well to repeat listens. The whole thing is exellently dancy, and never seems to be taking itself too seriously--everyone sounds like they're having a good deal of fun.


culture is a cultural construction