Robert Christgau: Dean of American Rock Critics

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Balkan Roots

***1/2

BORAT
Original Soundtrack
Downtown/Atlantic

The 2005 Rough Guide to the Music of Balkan Gypsies remains the definitive sampler, but for white guys who want to get their toes wet, most of the nine Gypsy tunes on this CD are pretty wild. For those who find the harshly soulful Esma Redzepova opener too esoteric, Fanfare Ciocarlia follow with a Steppenwolf cover, and Sacha Baron Cohen's two unforgiving satirical numbers -- "You Be My Wife" and the legendary "In My Country There Is Problem (Throw the Jew Down the Well)" -- are something completely different.

Rolling Stone, Jan. 25, 2007

Postscript Notes:

Included in an "Update: Gypsy Music" block titled "Balkan Roots: Beirut, "Borat" soundtrack -- and some actual Gypsy music"; the other reviews were: Boban Markovic Orkestar: Boban I Marko Balkan Brass Fest; Ion Petre Stoican: Sounds From a Bygone Age, Vol. 1; Beirut: Lon Gisland.