Extraordinary Rendition [PA] (CD - 2008)

Personnel: Rupa Marya (vocals, guitar, glockenspiel); Carey Lamprecht (violin); Ed Baskerville (cello); Adrian Jost (bandoneon, bayan); Marcus, Cohen (trumpet); Eric Perney, Marcus Shelby (upright bass); Aaron Kierbel (drums, percussion); Sameer Gupta (tabla).

Audio Mixer: Duane "Darock" Ramos.

Recording information: Function 8 Studios; The Sugar Shack, SF.

Rupa Marya was born of Indian parents, lives in San Francisco, spends her days as a doctor, and writes songs in French and Spanish. She's backed by a six-piece band of multi-instrumentalists. EXTRAORDINARY RENDITION, the 2008 debut record for Rupa & the April Fishes, has that rare Manu Chao quality of sounding as if it's from a million different locations at once, and from nowhere at all. Songs like "Maintenant," "Poder," and "Une Americaine à Paris" cull from elements of tango, raga, cabaret, French pop, and American folk for a disorienting rapture of sound. She can also slow it down, as on the Western-tinged indie balladry of the haunting "La Pecheuse." It all wraps up in English with "Wishful Thinking," a mournful modern-folk waltz that somehow is the only possible way the record could end. minimize