Etnotronica

The Norwegian duo of Andreas Eriksen and Morten Lund records a strange but very attractive fusion of electronic and ethnic music under the name Green Isac. This is their second album, and the "etno" aspect of their sound still comes across as something of a put-on, a gloss of exoticism designed to give their understated techno funk a marketable veneer of multiculturalism. What saves the music from its own pretensions is its good-natured warmth and its genuine, quiet richness. On "Siamese Drum" guest vocalist Anneli Drecker (of fellow Scandinavian etherealist rockers Bel Canto) sings wordlessly through an electronic treatment that makes her sound like Jon Hassell's trumpet; on "Adm. Bulctow," a swinging rhythm is layered over a straight one, to very cool effect, while a darkly clangorous and funky guitar hints at trouble down below. "New Shoes" is something of a dreary letdown, a combination of sounds from Enigma and the Twin Peaks soundtrack, but overall Etnotronica does a very good job of adding up to more than the sum of its parts. Highly recommended.