1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wild & Crazy boarders on chaos but Hip, September 11, 2009
This review is from: Making Love to the Dark Ages (Audio CD)
I'll admit that I'm new to this ensemble having only purchased this latest effort Making Love to The Dark Ages. I was curious what a 20 pluse piece improvisational orchestra would sound like. Well I'm into it. I must admit this is pretty left of center music not easy listening or music relegated to the backround. It demands your undivided attention for the listener to get the full experience. What really drew me to purchase this album was the track Thorazine/Eighty One which basically is a creative remake of the Miles Davis Ron Carter composition that first appeared on the Miles album E.S.P in 1965. This remake has the electric bass and drums setting up a dark sounding almost drum & bass like ostinato while the rest of the ensemble brass,woodwinds,strings & even some vocalists play the familiar melody that is Eighty One. After the melody the piece takes a turn into avant garde territory sort of like what Mingus would write for his extended ensembles. Thats probably the toughest thing about this album is the fact that it contains so many influences and so many instruments playing many styles seemingly all at once at times. I'd say fans of Ornette Coleman's Skies of America or Mingus's orchestral album Let My Children Hear Music would do well to give this album a try, also fans of music thats not so pretty & nice,people who want alittle surprize in the listening experience and don't need their art spoon feed will probably enjoy this as much as I have. Give this one a shot. Trust me.
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