Ida Maria, "Fortress Around My Heart"

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Gutsy Ida Maria strikes a chord and a nerve

"FORTRESS 'ROUND MY HEART," Ida Maria (Mercury/Fontana)

Ida Maria is flawed and unpolished. Her lyrics are sexed-charged and alcohol-soaked, and she's so uninhibited about putting it out there on "Fortress 'round My Heart" that she's nearly hysterical at times, which can make for an uncomfortable listen.

In other words, she's a quintessential (would-be) rock star.

The Norwegian rasp-voiced singer meanders down an imprecise path that wobbles from punk to alt-pop to indie-rock, and her outlets for exposure in the United States are few. (Just how would a hybrid of Janis Joplin, Courtney Love and Joan Jett break out these days?)

Still, the effect of her mania is instantaneously contagious on opening track "Oh My God" as she careens over the bouncy cadence, anxiously demanding, "Find a cure for my life/Put a price on my soul."

Before she reaches a tenderhearted finale with the ballad "In the End," she revels in the debauchery of a damaged soul, a masochistic hedonist looking for thrills perhaps only so she can write a searing song about them afterward.

"What's easy in the night/Is always such a bite in the morning light," she reveals in the jangle of "Morning Light," while the title of "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked" proves motive enough for her concluding mantra of "Take me home, come on take me home."

Ida Maria beguiles in all her tattered fury as she ponders a relationship between God and a "43-year-old hooker from downtown" (on "Stella"), dashes through the celebration of "Queen of the World" and simply wrings out the title of the jaunting "Louie."

Her hooks are sharp, pointed and dig deep, and she dives in with a stirring blend of lust, anger, humor and vulnerability.

Just like a bona fide rock star.

Rating (five possible): 4

Warsaw Village Band

Warsaw Village Band taps infinite diversity

"INFINITY," Warsaw Village Band (Barbes)

No matter what direction Warsaw Village Band takes on "Infinity," the group ends up in an alternate universe.

Or at least that's how it might seem to non-Polish-speaking Americans.

The act's intention is to combine past with present, and even if it all sounds unfamiliar, there's clear diversity from track to track.

"Infinity" comes on too strong with opener "Wise Kid Song," a flurry of strings and excitable voices initiating momentum that can't be sustained - and indeed, the track implodes mid-song and then has to regain its footing.

From there, band leaders Maja Kleszcz (vocals, cello) and Wojtek Krazak (multiple instruments) lead the group on a wily journey that includes the penetrating soul and klezmer-flavored nuance of "1.5 h" and the rowdy, stirring instrumental "Polka Story" powered by Maciej Szajkowski's frame drum.

Warsaw Village Band ventures farther beyond the Polish realm elsewhere. The pan-African inflections of the traditional work song "Is Anybody There?" create hypnosis, and the "Slavic raga" cut "Cirlce No. 1" is likewise mesmerizing. Meanwhile, the languid, feminine swirl of "Heartbeat" has a vaguely R&B air to the vocal arrangement, and "Polska Fran Polska" is texturized by the Swedish nyckelharpa.

Yet even when the release shades in modern influences - ranging from DJ Feel-X's guest appearance on "Skip Funk" and guest vocals on "Little Baby Blues" that are allegedly an homage to James Brown - the result is still decidedly alien, albeit compelling.

"Infinity" isn't world music so much as it's otherworld music.

Rating: 4

Wolff, "The Brass Ceiling"

Wolff's 'tuba rock' act taunts tradition

"THE BRASS CEILING," Wolff (wolffandtuba)

Tubas are pretty much relegated to marching bands and orchestras, so Brian Wolff has his work cut out for him in his quest to be a "tuba rock" star.

As unusual as his goal is, he goes about it in a wildly unconventional way: He doesn't merely put a tuba at center stage of a rock band, he makes the tuba a near-one-instrument show.

Wolff is formerly of the trio Drums and Tuba and now is frontman for a duo called simply Wolff, featuring drummer Steve Garofano. Their debut, "The Brass Ceiling," defies expectations because in addition to playing the tuba in a traditional manner, Wolff has it wired for sound (literally), he bangs on it and he sings through it. The resulting noise is improbably melodic and engaging, at least for a while.

Wolff, who also sometimes plays trumpet and trombone on "The Brass Ceiling," and Garofano launch the release with the transcendently weird track "Body" built on a propulsive beat, an electronic-and-brass fusion centerpiece and distantly buoyant, swirling chants. It's sublimely surreal and truly unlike anything else.

Subsequent cuts keep it going, from the cosmic vibrations of "Broken Words" to the whipped-up, fantasy-land dance track "Addition by Subtraction." Produced by Paul Mahajan and Mark Ephraim, "The Brass Ceiling" also features a bombastic pair of instrumentals, "Bull Elephant" and "Screaming Tuba," that would serve as interludes in a rock opera, and a spacious "Bury Me" that sounds like a flamboyant march of the deranged.

And Wolff's lyrics are another surprise, dealing mostly with self-actualization and upbeat philosophy.

Trouble is, once Wolff establishes itself "The Brass Ceiling" feels limited, albeit original, and 53 minutes seems like an awful long time to listen to tuba-centered music.

Rating: 3- 1/2