The Plain Dealer, CD Review >>
Warsaw Village Band
People's Spring (World Village)
The six- member group mixes ancient timbres with new tech-
nology in its striking arrangements of Polish folk songs and dances. The instruments -- fiddles, trumpet, dulcimer, bass, hurdy- gurdy and drums -- sound rough, raucous and loud enough to resound through the open countryside. Some of the singing is harsh. But one of the women has a sweet, childlike voice. The lyrics deal with love, longing, marriage and death. The rhythms are repetitive, the harmonies archaic. The electronic effects add a contemporary gloss. At the end, trendy remixes transform a couple of traditional numbers into Indian trance music and a Polish DJ's dance grooves. B
04/11/04