Japonize Elephants

Released in 1997, this second album from the Bloomington, Ind., bluegrass collective mixes a heavier dose of Eastern European gypsy folk and Klezmer moves into their ultra eclectic music. The 10-piece band is as known for their sideways sense of humor as much as their prodigious abilities with an array of traditional and exotic instruments. Anyone who is a fan of the hyper-jazz nuttiness of Raymond Scott's music used in Warner Bros. cartoons of the '50s will want to check this out.