Infinity in Bloomington, MN

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
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