ORKESTAR ZIRKONIUM

Too Hot for Sleep

(self-released)

****

Orkestar Zirkonium is a 13-piece marching band with bouncy tuba rhythms, circus-y horn fl ourishes, and a killer clarinetist (Kevin Hinshaw) who sounds like he's been airlifted from a concert of Rhapsody in Blue and dropped into a Bulgarian brass band playing around a campfi re. Drawing members from Circus Contraption, Infernal Noise Brigade, Reptet, and other projects, Orkestar came to life a few years ago as a mischievous marching band that played impromptu concerts in streets, bars, and supermarkets, collecting crowds as they went. (Find evidence at: tinyurl.com/836463q.) Since then, they've played commissioned gigs and recorded Too Hot for Sleep at Avast! in Seattle. Percussionist Anne Mathews describes their musical organization as a "mobocracy." There's no single music director, but people bring in original songs and new arrangements of traditional songs for the group to try. The result is an exuberant dose of Northwest Balkan brass-plus two saxophones and a clarinet. BRENDAN KILEY