Club Foot Orchestra - Wild Beasts Kidnapped and More Rastascan

Slippery as a sizzlin' sausage, the nine-to-thirteen-piece Club Foot Orchestra weaves a complex web of melody and texture around skitchy polyrhythms and butt-thumpin' shuffles. Originally a dance band, the Orchestra currently performs live soundtracks to silent films, but this re-issue includes their first two LPs and then some - a digital document of loopily energetic stuff: sharp arrangements, crisp drumming, and the occasional fanciful, fluttering solo. Perfect for the swank occasion or the twenty-hour drive, this is egalitarian neo-populist swing for the next millennium.

Patrick Barber