Strange Weekend is Porcelain Raft's debut record, yet in many ways it's his 156th.

Somewhere in New York, Rome, or maybe London, there is a suitcase full of tapes, minidiscs and CDs -- days and days worth of music, all of it the result of Mauro Remiddi's 27 years of travels across Europe -- from his native Italy to London; of caravaning with the Berlin Youth Circus playing traditional gypsy Klezmer music; of reinterpreting traditional music in North Korea; and of a stint playing piano for an Off Broadway tap dance show. At this point, Remiddi has lived three musicians' lifetimes.

Remiddi's...