II

Raz Ohara and his Odd Orchestra return for their second album for Get Physical, II. II is the follow-up album to the critically acclaimed self-titled record that is considered being one of the album highlights of 2008. It's a warm, organic collection of avant-garde, open-hearted pop music which positively teems with life, a forest of pleasures and possibilities which you'll want to lose yourself in indefinitely. II is certainly less melancholic than its predecessor -- it's imbued with good feeling, energized by the rhythms and cadences of summer and the great outdoors -- but it's not euphoric, there is an underlying note of caution, of trepidation. This emotional mix is what makes the record so powerful, especially when allied to a similarly ambiguous musical mix that imperceptibly melds folk, classic pop, electro-acoustic experimentation and modernist electronics.