Customer Reviews

Magical Moods of the Theremin

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Tunes such as Calcutta, Caravan, and Bali Ha'i are amazing and full of theremin-goodness, but much of the rest is good lounge music with the theremin as support. Fun, interesting, kitschy, but not as much a study in the theremin as one might hope.

Project: Pimento have taken two great things from the 1960s, lounge jazz and theremin exotica, and melded them together into a roaring good time. On their debut album, vocalist Lola Bombay and thereminist Robby Virus weave their magic web with a dozen pop and lounge standards. If you're a fan of the theremin, you probably already own this album. My favorite songs here are "Black Magic Woman", "Caravan", "Bali Hai" (where Robby uses his theremin to make some dead-on bird sounds), and "Star Trek", if for no other reason than it's the first time I've ever heard the words Gene Roddenberry wrote for his show's theme. If you live near San Francisco, make a point to see them live sometime.

I wanted this CD primarily because I love the sound of the Theremin. It's here alright, but a little too clean. Not pulsating ghostly the way I like it in so many 1940s films.

The music is good; the lounge singer is decent and quite retro. And who knew there were lyrics to the 1966 Star Trek TV theme?! I think I would have enjoyed this more if it were an anthology of different singers and musicians for each track.

I'm keeping it in my collection, for now. (And thanks Chad!)