Warsaw Village Band
16 September 2008The Warsaw Village Band were one of my highlights of the 2007 WOMAD Festival (reviewed here in August 2007) so I jumped at the chance to see them closer to home at The Stables last Sunday. WVB are six young, classically-trained musicians on a mission to seek out and learn traditional, rural, Polish folk music and re-interpret it for a generation raised on rock 'n' roll. Seriously authentic and reverent to their sources they manage to create a nonetheless modern and distinctive sound. Traditional acoustic instruments (violins, 'cello, cimbalom and a variety of percussion), amplified with plenty of echo, create rapid, repetitive, pulsing textures. Sudden shifts of rhythm and time signature add interest and uncertainty. The three female voices are strong and piercing, their jarring harmonies placing them, geographically and musically, between the distinctive Bulgarian choral sound and the Finnish folk vocals of groups like Värttinä (reviewed here in August 2006). The contrasting timbres of the three vocalists add interest as they take turns with the melody and create an effect of harmony even when they are in unison. WVB are very musically slick, bringing precision to the rough folk sound without losing any of its edginess. They are very exciting to watch - though sometimes a little overly serious: it would be nice to see a bit more interaction with the audience and the occasional smile! I particularly enjoyed some of the tracks from their new album, 'Infinity', which used pizzicato violin and 'cello to conjure up beautifully hypnotic music - an entrancing contrast to their usual excitingly frantic whirl. ‘Uprooting’ (2004) was the album that brought them to international attention but, after listening to it this week, I think ‘Infinity’ is even better.
Labels: Albums, Concerts, Music
posted by Robin Simpson @ 10:02 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home