Customer Reviews

Art of Walking

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Alright, so you love DUB HOUSING and THE MODERN DANCE, but aren't you finally finding yourself SATURATED? Don't the songs on those two disks finally wear so deep a groove in your head that there's nothing left to be learned by spinning them again? I mean, how many times in one lifetime do you NEED to hear "Non-Alignment Pact," HOWEVER great a tune it is? If you know what I'm talking about, it may be time to buy NEW PICNIC TIME and ART OF WALKING. NPT is a little darker and more "challenging," while this disc is more joyous, varied, and complex -- playful, quirky, rich, and goofy, too. Everyone I've ever made tapes for has "Rounder" somewhere on them... Or "Misery Goats," or "Loop," or... There is only one terrifically annoying tune best avoided here, "Lost in Art," the listening-to of which in no way is made easier or more enjoyable by getting the joke of the title. If you love ANY Ubu, I think you'll really like this disc. Of course, if I were you, I'd just buy the box set, if it's still around, but, well...

This album was originally released in 1980. Twenty years later, it still sounds contemporary and intriguing. The closest comparison I can draw are recordings of Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band in the early 1980s. Beat vocals over obtuse and angular melodies (Arabian Nights, Rounder), new wave rockers (Go, Misery Goats), electronic noodlings (Young Miles, Crush this Horn) and assorted ranting (Birdies, Lost in Art). David Thomas has a vocal style that is mysterious and unique. Fans will enjoy the variety on this recording. Although this music is not for the casual listener, the casual listener will not be reading this review, so consider the source. If you like music containing any element of challenge, you will enjoy this somewhere bewteen three and four stars, depending upon your leanings.

It's not just a song title, it's what was happening here. These guys who had so much promise and so much acheivement between them cut a bunch of crappy music that is short on ideas and high on pretensiousness. They had gotten tired of doing music that sounded like rock music, so they ended up making this strange attempt at anti-rock that is nearly impossible to enjoy.

Of course, they didn't fall apart entirely at once. They cut a few tracks on here with some nice angular variants of rock rhythms that swing hard - "Go", "Misery Goats", "Rounder", "Birdies". "Rhapsody in Pink" worked out okay. But by the time you get to "Arabia", you're going to realize that this record is as a whole astonishingly bad considering what these guys were capable of.

Certainly is Pere Ubu at their most unique. Features the song "Birdies" which they performed in the live music film "Urgh...".