Customer Reviews

Flying Vegetables of the Apocalypse

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

 

 

Personnel:
Guy Klucevsek: Accordion. Bobby Previte: Drums and marimba. Tom Cora and Erik Friedlander: Cello. Doug Wieselman: Clarinet and tenor sax. Mia Wu, Diane Monroe and Laura Seaton: Violins. Marshall Taylor; alto sax. Lindsey Horner: Double Bass. Dave Hofstra: Electric bass.
(As you can see, this is an avant-garde all-star ensemble)
Produced by Elliott Sharp

Another album pretty much beyond words. Playful and melancholy. Ambient laments and danceable, avant-polkas and hints of tango. This recording switches moods pretty often, delving into a great different variety of hybrid styles.
Within the realm of avant-garde music this is a very enjoyable album. It is firmly rooted in musical traditions, but through great writing Klucevsek manages to pull away, and re-invents tradition through quirks and pure poetic achievement. There is humor, but also great drama, all presented in such a form that makes this album enjoyable to pretty much all ears. Of course, ears willing to listen.
The work of the strings is of course superb, and it liquefies Klucevsek compositions, making them flow and lifting them gracefully towards a musical zenith. Klucevsek is in top form and exploits the foundation of the strings magnificently. At times roles are reverted and the accordion is the foundation for the strings to build upon.

At no moment of listening did I actually picture vegetables, much less flying and coming from the apocalypse. But then again, one can choose these symbols on a whim. The only thing that flies is the music and the apocalypse is for ideas of the accordion prior to listening to this album.
On a scale from one to ten I give this album an eight for enjoyability and composition, and a ten for the playing. There is some nuance in the string work at times that enhances the overall sound of the album.
Highly recommended.