Description:
Most listeners probably associate the words "Eastern European Folk Music" with klezmer, polka, and just about nothing else, but that may change after listening to the Warsaw Village Band's Uprooting, which in its sometimes gut-wrenching juxtaposition of ancient Polish instruments like the hurdy-gurdy and dulcimer with modern DJ scratches and trance beats is somehow both more traditional and more futuristic than the group's debut, People's Spring released in 2002. Devoted to updating Polish folk music, on Uprooting the band teams up with several traditional Polish folklorists who contribute some short interludes ("
Most listeners probably associate the words "Eastern European Folk Music" with klezmer, polka, and just about nothing else, but that may change after listening to the Warsaw Village Band's Uprooting, which in its sometimes gut-wrenching juxtaposition of ancient Polish instruments like the hurdy-gurdy and dulcimer with modern DJ scratches and trance beats is somehow both more traditional and more futuristic than the group's debut, People's Spring released in 2002. Devoted to updating Polish folk music, on Uprooting the band teams up with several traditional Polish folklorists who contribute some short interludes ("Janina Zdrzalik" and "Josef Lipinski") that make portions of the disc sound like the Polish equivalent of early American field recordings. But the band's skill is in blending these traditional Polish musical elements so seamlessly into their own compositions, which use a striking half-screamed vocal style called "white singing," cello and szuka (a small Polish violin) along with sometimes dirge-like drumming. "Women In Hell" manages to sound trance-inducing in both the ancient and modern sense of that word, while "Let's Play, Musicians" is a beautiful cello-based ballad and "When Johnny Went to Fight in the War" marries Polish folk music with Tom Waits-ish trip-hop. Overall, Uprooting proves that at least in the Warsaw Village Band’s hands, the meeting of ancient and modern isn't so much a collision as it is cause for celebration. --Ezra Gale
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Manufacturer: World Village
Release date: 1 November 2004
EAN: 0713746803629 UPC: 713746803629
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