Photo: Video Selecter: RotFront
OCTOBER 9, 2009

Video Selecter: RotFront

Watch new animated video from Berlin's favorite "emigrantski raggamuffin kollektiv".

In our never-ending quest to bring you the freshest and finest music videos from around the globe, Nat Geo Music turns this week to one of Berlin's favorite homegrown bands: RotFront.

Founded by two immigrant musicians, Ukrainian guitarist Yuriy Gurzhy and bassist Hungarian Simon Wahorn, the nine-piece outfit reflects contemporary Berlin's unique multi-ethnic, multicultural immigrant churn with an energetic mashup of punk, ska, reggae, raggamuffin, cumbia, klezmer, polka and Ukrainian and Hungarian sounds-with a side of post-Soviet nostalgia-that the band calls "emigrantski raggamuffin".

Or, as the band's website states: "A Ukrainian, two Hungarians, an American, an Australian and five Germans mix Ska, Reggae, Dancehall and Cumbia sounds with Klezmer, Berlin's own in-your-face brand of Hiphop, Eastern European Turbopolka, Mediterranean melodies and rock riffs. Russian, Hungarian, German and English lyrics tell of life in Berlin and the adventures of immigrants in the city."

Either way, Rotfront has been perfecting this sound with a residency at Berlin's legendary Kaffee Burger since 2003, and captured all the raw energy of their live shows on their latest album (also titled Emigrantski Raggamuffin), released earlier this year.

This video, for the single "Sovietoblaster," with its breakdancing cossacks, sexy cosmonauts, mustachioed contract killers and South Park-meets-Nintendo 64 animation captures the RotFront vibe perfectly.

Na Zdorovye!