Yom

There's your everyday virtuoso klezmer clarinettist, and then there's the enigmatic Yom. Hebrew for ‘day’, the word yom also describes many other temporal concepts when used in different contexts. It's apt, then, for an artist who uses his formidable instrumental skills to blend his genre with others in the creation of something entirely unique. This double album is a choice selection of tracks from seven of Yom's previous collaborative albums, and, although contrasting, they work well presented together in this track order.

Here you’ll find traditional tunes from the audaciously titled New King of Klezmer Clarinet alongside the trance-like original ‘Vegetal Love’ from Green Apocalypse. Yom shape-shifts from the Philip Glass-esque ripples of ‘Le Silence de l’Exode’ to hints of Gary Numan on ‘The Unknown’, his playing merging with Middle Eastern percussion and oud (lute) as easily as with synths. His sound continues to morph, evoking the plaintive cry of Armenian duduk (oboe) on ‘Wandering’, and using bass clarinet to imitate the rhythmic drone of a didgeridoo on ‘Petite Fille’; echoed later by Wang Li's super-low Jew's harp on the appropriately named ‘Underground Storm’. This compilation is perfect as an overview of Yom's many different hats, but also highly effective as an album in its own right.