Flora & Fauna try to make their mark in the burgeoning world of jazzy downtempo with their debut album, _Schoehn_, with mixed success. "Sensual Discourse" is a slinky little affair, with a Louis Armstrong snippet to ground the ambience. The whistling in "Aggressively Modern" seem to be an off-hand addition to the track, but quickly becomes the focal point. The dub elements come heavy on "Delirium and Excess," but the simplicity of "Beauty and Efficiency" has more of an impact. "Global Ambition" has some interesting Indian musical effects, including some tabla thumping and sitar plucking, but it's the spry "Teak-Paneled Gangway" that sticks in the mind more. Alas, this album falls the way of many others -- nice, but nothing more.

Superb outing from this funky New York label. Sasa Crnobrnja's production hits a whole new level and the whole thing has a clean sound, with more than a hint of the Vienna (Kruder & Dorfmeister) school with lots of dub effects and a nice reverb and flanging sounds. My pick is the brilliant bite of Louis Armstrong's vocals from "St James Infirmary".