Kronos Quartet - Floodplain

Kronos Quartet is a unique force in today's music scene, with 46 albums to show for a 36-year career; discs that range from the concert music of Philip Glass to 2002's

Nuevo

, a trip to Mexico City with kitschy lounge trimmings, street sounds and turntabling.

Significantly, when Kronos visited New Zealand in 2005 they played Womad in New Plymouth as well as Auckland Town Hall.

Floodplain

, the quartet's latest release, looks to the various cradles of civilisation centred around the Middle East, with their low-lying riverlands and high-flying music. Opening with a devilishly catchy slice of Cairo-style tango, arranged by Osvaldo Golijov, the next stop is Palestine for Tashweesh, a gritty collaboration with the local hip-hoppers Ramallah Underground.

A certain spiritual dimension is never far away, whether acknowledging the expressive hymn singing of the Lebanese Fairuz, or exploring more meditative spaces in Raga Mishra Bhairavi: Alap, with electric sitar and Terry Riley, that grand old Master of Minimalism, on tambura.

Heels are kicked up to machine-gun-like rhythms in a number from Iraq and, with less sinister accoutrements, through the infectious Nihavent Sirto, a tribute to the Turkish composer Tanburi Cemil Bey (1871-1916).

Perhaps the most extraordinary venture is the track Tew semagn hagere in which the Americans offer their take on a song by the Ethiopian Alemu Aga, using exotic instruments custom-built for them by Walter Kitundu.

While most of the offerings are modest in length, two are more extensive.

The closing

Hold me, neighbour, in this storm

is a 22-minute soundscape by contemporary Serbian composer Aleksandra Vrebalov, a collage that weaves Kronos' contribution in amongst the pealing of bells and a recording of Vrebalov's own grandmother - music with the emotive clout of a hard-hitting festival documentary.

Getme, Getme i

s a spellbinding 12-minute performance from the Barbican stage at last year's Ramadan Nights Festival, featuring Kronos alongside the Azerbaijan duo Alim and Fargana Qasimov and their ensemble. This is a glowing testament to the way that Kronos bring the musicians of the world together and, when the Qasimovs chorus, "Don't go, Don't go", who could not agree?

William Dart