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 /TiVo
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