Evil Monkey Man

Yazbek

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 26, 2008)
• Original Release Date: February 26, 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ghostlight
• ASIN: B0012908J6
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #58,047 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

The New Yorker

"edgy and inventive pop..."

Product Description

DAVID YAZBEK'S music is grounded in a hodgepodge of performing and non-performing arts, breaching categories and genres that listeners seldom imagine working together: comedy writer, musical soundtrack composer, and confessional songwriter. The inquisitive listener might be curious but skeptical: can such disparate media be made cohesive? Yazbek's answer is Evil Monkey Man, an album that, at least during its first half, pulls together these elements with aplomb. The humor is dry, understated, and absurd. In "Terrible Thing," the narrator repeats, against a jazzy backdrop, that he has really screwed up, lightly tossing off -- in the climax -- that he is now dead, his head covered with blood and his "face stamped in clover." The titles, including "Monkey Baby Hanging on Chicken Wire" and "Bazooka Joe," hint at Yazbek's absurd outlook. He mixes up the arrangements, too, combining elements of jazz, rock, and pop, and keeping the overall soundscape intriguing. These smart qualities work less well as the album reaches the midway point, and as a result, the second half of Evil Monkey Man is less imaginative. The material that works, however, works quite well, and half of an unusual album that is unusually good is more worthwhile than the same old, same old. And Yazbek should also get credit for the cool title.

"The songwriter David Yazbek is a daredevil juggler catching spiked pins in the traveling carnival of his imagination. The nihilism in his deceptively rollicking songs is sometimes so pungent that you wonder how much of his own bile he can stomach before he shrugs and allows those pins to bop him on the head." - NY Times

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant songwriter and performer, May 26, 2009

By	George Barker (Morehead, KY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Evil Monkey Man (MP3 Download)

This is the fourth Yazbek album I've purchased and it is a fulfilling as the previous ones. This guy is great!! He deserves more recognition. His music is quite eclectic with elements of jazz, rock, latin and more. It is harmonically sophisticated and clever lyrically. I hope he continues to compose and release music for a long time.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Music Ever Written or Performed Ever, May 25, 2009

By	D. Yazbek "Smiter Of All That Is Unholy" (Titusville, FLA.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I enjoyed this album. I did not have to buy it however. Anyway, you should buy it though.