People's Spring

The Warsaw Village Band's debut international release, People's Spring, has echoes of the familiar in its heady modern interpretations of ancient Polish Folk music: klezmer, Scandinavian-sounding melodies, singing that sometimes recalls the Bulgarian Women's Choir in its otherworldly harmony, and some trance-inducing backbeats. But it's ultimately unclassifiable, skipping genres and seamlessly melding tradition and experimentation in music that upholds its folk roots while not being bound by them. Using ancient and little-heard traditional Polish instruments like the suka--a Polish fiddle from the 16th century--and the Polish dulcimer, the Warsaw Village Band crafts their own soundscapes, infusing folk tradition with a thoroughly modern attitude. "Chassidic Dance," with its Jewish melodies and trip-hop slanted drumming, and the dirges "At My Mother's" and "Clear Water" achieve an organic fusion tinged with the psychedelic. Meanwhile, the group's lyrics amplify its contemporary leanings: "Who Is Getting Married" takes a feminist stance on marriage and "Cranes" sets an anarchistic protest song to bombastic rhythm. The group's mix of old and new styles is so complete in fact, that the last two songs on the album--dance floor-ready remixes by two Polish DJ's--are almost redundant, mixing electronic beats with Polish folk melodies in a manner not all that different from the organic remixing the Warsaw Village Band realizes throughout the whole album. --Ezra Gale