Rupa & the April Fishes

Cute and groovy, Extraordinary Rendition provides the soundtrack to a 21st-century carnival for people who preferred pop when it included accordions, trumpets and violins. Think Weimar Republic, think Django Reinhardt, think hobos, Gypsies and people who speak French, and you have Rupa and the April Fishes. Lead singer (and band founder) Rupa seems to feed on a steady diet of Lhasa and April March, and it's done her good. These tuneful songs swing, though there's a bit of a political agenda beneath the fun.