The brilliant
Warsaw Village Band are back with another descent into pan-European musical debauchery. Very few bands make ethnomusicology sound like so much fun. Hailing from Poland and led by violinist
Wojtek Krzak and cellist/singer
Maja Kleszcz, the
Warsaw Village Band joyfully blends folk tunes from its native region with elements of rock, funk, soul, hip-hop, klezmer, and Scandinavian music to create a slightly chaotic and always thrillingly energetic sound. On
Infinity, the vinegary female harmonies of
"Wise Kid Song" give way to the darker and even lovelier tonalities of
"1.5 h";
"Skip Funk" features a nice blend of acoustic instruments, vocals, and funky turntablism;
"Polska Fran Polska" evokes
"Hall of the Mountain King" (and features some really lovely dulcimer playing by
Magdalena Sobczak) while simultaneously demonstrating the connections between Polish and Scandinavian dance music; and
"Circle No. 1" tops off the program in delicately lovely fashion with just violin, suka, and dulcimer. Every so often an experiment does go awry: fake blues is almost always embarrassing, and the
Jan Trebunia Tutka vehicle
"Little Baby Blues" is no exception;
"Heartbeat" is effectively emotive but musically unsatisfying. But it's the clunkers that bring out the texture on an album like this, and this one is a solid winner overall. ~ Rick Anderson
