Oi Va Voi ‎– Laughter Through Tears CD

It's been three years now since they started their experiments in musical and cultural fusion, and Oi Va Voi have at last got round to releasing what is officially described as their "debut album", despite last year's offering, Digital Folklore.

Confusing? That's part of their style. This, after all, is the London band who set out to shake up the capital's Jewish music scene by mixing klezmer - the rousing traditional Jewish music of eastern Europe - with anything from soul and jazz to contemporary dance beats.

The album starts as a slick, contemporary soul set with a curious east-European edge, then develops into a series of musical collisions. The sophisticated ballads, dance songs and digital beats are intercut with declamatory traditional vocals, wailing violin, epic brass, a dash of reggae and an emotional spoken celebration of Jewish culture, ending with a celebratory work-out.

It's all highly enjoyable, but at times curiously restrained, perhaps because of the cool, careful production work and those clinical electro-beats. A band reviving a grand tradition could afford to sound just a little more wild.

Label: Play It Again Sam

Country: Europe

Media Condition: Near Mint (NM or M-)
Sleeve Condition: Near Mint (NM or M-)