Mecca Bodega - Skin (2005)

Anyone who lives in a city with a subway system has heard a group like Mecca Bodega while waiting for a train, and if you live in New York City, chances are you've heard Mecca Bodega themselves, who have made a career out of busking underground even half a dozen albums into their career. Skin is more of the same: various types of percussion from around the world, from bodhrans to frame drums to found objects, blended together with a hammered dulcimer (and occasional reeds and bass) for melodic interest. The results aren't jazz, despite the obvious improvisational aspect, because the tracks never really go anywhere; it's much more common for a song like the opening all-drums extravaganza "Ravine" to start, proceed for a few minutes, then trail off. Nor is it world music, despite the presence of several exotic percussion instruments. In the long run, it's jam band fans who will be most likely to find a collection of lengthy, intensely rhythmic, but decidedly mellow instrumentals most entertaining; certainly, a song as groove-oriented as "Right Now" (which features a great stop-start bass riff and vaguely Latin trumpet flourishes) might catch the ear of a Medeski, Martin & Wood fan.