The world music album of the week reviewed...

Yurodny

Evenset

Diatribe ****

Less than 18 months after the release of their live debut (Odd Set), composer and saxophonist Nick Roth and his band are back with a studio-recorded and aptly titled companion piece.This time, original band compositions are given free reign, and while the disparate influences of Eastern Europe and the klezmer tradition still suffuse the collective spirit, Yurodny's character is more finely etched on Evenset.

Roth's title track follows a sinuous path, cinematic in scope, yet muted in tone, while Francesco Turrisi's Foliatakes a more improvisational route, exploiting the rhythmical flow of piano, sax and percussion. Former Loyko violinist Oleg Ponomarev lends a military presence with Red Hora, but Yurodny's overriding achievement is to produce an album saturated with foreboding that might just be an ideal aural soundtrack to the precarious times we live in. www.myspace.com/yurodny

Download tracks: Crude Black Strap, Evenset