Review: Ripoff Raskolnikov – Budapest Days
Ripoff Raskolnikov – Budapest Days
Format: CD – Vinyl LP – Digital / Label: XLNT Records
Release: 2026
Text: Tom Wouters
Ripoff Raskolnikov is a veteran of the Austrian blues scene with a strong connection with Hungary. He is known and admired for his unusual songwriting talents for which he is compared to Tom Waits, as he is for his stage presence. Many international blues musicians have recognized Raskolnikov’s talent and are eager to play with him, such as the likes of Ian Siegal (in the Braindogs), Oliver Mally and Italian slide guitarist Roberto Luti, known from his work with music collective Playing For Change.
It is this Roberto Luti together with his musical companion American singer-songwriter Luke Winslow King, who teamed up with Ripoff Raskolnikov for his new album ‘Budapest Days’. The album shows all of Raskolnikov’s forces: strong songs deeply rooted in the blues with interesting, personal lyrics. The collaboration with Luti and Winslow-King give the songs an extra dimension, as, for instance, is heard in the Stones-like Lonesome Tear, the lyrically brilliant Madness, the Waits-like One Sided Love and the down-right blues Primary School.
In all songs Roberto Luti’s guitar work is brilliant. Remarkably so and a bit of an oddity is Edith, the only song on the album that is recorded without Luti and Winslow-King. It’s one of the best songs Raskolnikov ever wrote and underlines his tremendous songwriting skills. Edith gets a Springsteen-like performance.
‘Budapest Days’ shows us the songwriting and performing skills of one of the best kept secrets of the European blues scene.
Tracks:
01. Halloween Song (feat. Roberto Luti & Luke Winslow-King)
02. Strange World (feat. Roberto Luti & Luke Winslow-King)
03. Lonesome Tear (feat. Roberto Luti & Luke Winslow-King)
04. Madness (feat. Roberto Luti & Luke Winslow-King)
05. Death Shall Have No Dominion (feat. Roberto Luti & Luke Winslow-King)
06. Edith
07. Worried (feat. Roberto Luti & Luke Winslow-King)
08. One Sided Love (feat. Roberto Luti & Luke Winslow-King)
09. Primary School (feat. Roberto Luti & Luke Winslow-King)
10. Black Crow (feat. Roberto Luti & Luke Winslow-King)
11. The Clouds And The Rain (feat. Roberto Luti & Luke Winslow-King)