Unlike their earlier collaboration, 2009's Deux, Croatian cellist Asja Valcic has contributed compositionally to add to the Austrian Paier's tunes here on Silk Road. Valcic, better known for her work with the acclaimed radio.string.quartet.vienna, has an energy that complements the charming selection of tunes with their roots in central European café society along with intimations of South America introduced via the bandoneón. Their collaboration can be compared to that of Anja Lechner and Dino Saluzzi's perhaps (although with the bandoneón more to the fore in that pairing), but there are as many differences as similarities at play here. Paier isn't so much a dramatic player as Saluzzi, and Silk Road lacks the kind of violent intent that unbridled improvisational abandon sometimes needs. Yet he blends astutely with Valcic, whose semi-improvised approach has a narrative drive that delivers its own welcome rewards. ‘Waltz for Mama’ is the pick of the 11 songs for me, with Paier in the lilting lead and Valcic enjoying herself that bit more, and that sense of letting go makes all the difference.