Super Taranta! Explained

Super Taranta!
Type:	Album
Artist:	Gogol Bordello
Cover:	Super_Taranta!.jpg
Released:	July 10, 2007
Genre:	Folk punk, Punk rock, Gypsy punk, Dub music
Length:	62:44
Label:	SideOneDummy
Producer:	Victor Van Vugt, Gogol Bordello
Prev Title:	Gypsy Punks Underdog World Strike
Prev Year:	2005
Next Title:	Trans-Continental Hustle
Next Year:	2010

Super Taranta! is the fourth album by Gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello. It was released on July 10, 2007 by SideOneDummy Records, produced by the band and Victor Van Vugt. The album charted in several countries, including reaching #67 in the UK and #115 on the US Billboard 200. "Wonderlust King" was released as the album's only single, in August 2007.

Reception

The album was ranked #14 on Rolling Stones list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007,^[1] and the track "Ultimate" was #82 on the magazine's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.^[2]

Super Taranta! has a score of 80/100 on the review aggregator Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Music critic Robert Christgau gave the album an A+ rating, calling Gogol Bordello "the world's most visionary band".^[3]

Production

• Produced by Victor Van Vugt and Gogol Bordello
• Recorded by Victor Van Vugt at Long View Farm Studios, March '07
• Additional recordings done at Grace Studios, NY and Integrated Studios, NY, March/April '07
• Assistant Engineers: Josh Sadlier-Brown, Integrated Studios and Ian Neil, Long View Farm Recording Studios
• Mixed by Victor Van Vugt and Eugene Hütz at Grace Studios, NY
• Mastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge
• Design by: Cindy Heller
• Photos by: Bela Borsodi, Keetja Allard, Danny North, Liubov Kulkova, Herman Dahlgren, Thomas Gobena, and Eric James Crawford

Personnel

The Band

• Eugene Hütz – vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion, fire buckets
• Eliot Ferguson – drums, backing vocals
• Thomas "Tommy T" Gobena – bass, backing vocals
• Oren Kaplan – guitar, backing vocals
• Sergey Ryabtsev – violin, backing vocals
• Yuri Lemeshev – accordion, backing vocals
• Pasha – accordion, backing vocals
• Pamela Jintana Racine – percussion, backing vocals
• Elizabeth Sun – percussion, backing vocals

Guests

• Pedro Erazo – additional vocals on "Forces of Victory"
• Piroshka Rac – additional vocals on "Suddenly... (I Miss Carpaty)"
• Slavic Soul Party – brass on "Zina-Marina" and "American Wedding"
  • Ben Holmes – truba
  • John Carlson – truba
  • Jacob Garchik – baritone truba
  • Curtis Hasselbring – trombone
  • Matt Moran – bubanj

Trivia

"American Wedding" is heard at the end of the Fargo (TV series) episode, "The Principle of Restricted Choice".

References

1. ROBERT CHRISTGAU, DAVID FRICKE, CHRISTIAN HOARD, ROB SHEFFIELD (December 17, 2007). "The Top 50 Albums of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-20
2. No byline (December 11, 2007). "The 100 Best Songs of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-21
3. Web site: Robert Christgau: CG: Gogol Bordello. 2021-03-19. www.robertchristgau.com.