Customer Reviews

Moondog

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this album because of a memory, but the music stands up remarkably well to a more objective listening.

It was my first trip to New York City, and my father approached the wildly-dressed, tall and intiimidating figure standing on the corner of 56th St. and 7th Ave. They conversed in Norwegian long enough for me to draw nearer and realize the stranger represented no threat. In fact, I left with a book of hs canons, which remains in my collection of piano literature to this day.

I met Moondog once again--serendipitously, on Milwaukee's Wisconsin Avenue one day in the seventies. I have no idea how he got there or how he left, but this time I wanted to protect him from the insensitive pedestrians swirling around us and threatening our shared moment.

Moondog's music is as singular as he is, and offers a glimpse into his creative spirit. It begins with an idea and a form, not with an emotion or sentiment. Each piece is simple and brief, but not simplistic or fragmentary. He avoids any form of dissonance, even seventh chords and "blue" notes (flatted thirds). Music, like life, he seems to be saying, can be a straightforward, delighting adventure, providing one cherishes the quest itself above its so-called object and maintains a focused attention on the wonders of the present moment.

My only slight disappointment with this recording is that the madrigals, sung by Moondog and his daughter, are subjected to some studio effects that make them sound more artificial and commercial than they deserve to be.

You don't need to buy the double-disc "Moondog 1 & 2" to hear the two albums - all that music can also be heard on this (75 minute) single disc.
Even though the only cover art of this edition is the original front cover of the 1969 "Moondog" (no original back-cover thereof nor any art from the 1971 "Moondog II",) all 35 tracks are nicely crammed in here.
What's listed under "Listen to samples" on the amazon page are only the last 20 tracks of this CD and all titles are linked to the wrong tracks.

"Moondog I" (tracks 1-9) opens with "Theme" and "Stomping Ground" - two somewhat coherent pieces which a few years ago were made quite famous through the soundtrack of Coen Brothers' wonderful movie "The Big Lebowski." The album features a 50+ piece orchestra, which, among other greats, includes jazz veterans Don Butterfield (tuba) and Ron Carter (double bass.) In the list of personnel, Moondog is not credited for playing percussion, but the bass, which I assume is a misprint.
The beautiful Charlie Parker homage "Lament I: Bird's Lament" is here performed in its original form, but can also be found on the 1994 Moondog recording "Sax Pax For a Sax" on only saxes and percussion.
The orchestral performances on "Moondog I" aren't flawless, but should not be judged harshly because of the very personal, highly individual, and wonderfully eccentric form of compositions that they are. Budget, which is a very common issue when it comes to orchestral recordings, is another element that probably has not allowed much rehersing or many (if any) re-takes.

Before ordering this disc I knew that I'd love "Moondog I" since I'd heard most of it previously, but I was skeptical towards "Moondog II" because of some reviews I'd read of it. I was however curious, and listening to it when it had arrived was a very nice surprise.
Aside from performances by Louis "Moondog" Hardin (percussion, piano, vocals) and his daughter June (vocals,) "Moondog II" features 6 other musicians who, at different points throughout the album, play virginals, recorders, harpsichords, ancient organs, guitars, schom, viola de gamba, and troubadour harp. These instruments alone make a very individual sound, but the compositions (many of which are in 5/4 and 5/8) and the poetry make this the most wonderful group of rounds (short vocal canons) you've ever heard.

In my 700+ CD collection, this is among my favorites.

Philip Glass or Steve Reich are reasonably known and appreciated. Moondog (Louis Harden) is sadly forgotten, even though his contribution to the contemporary, adventurous, orchestral music is just (if not more) clear. Moondog is not unique in being overshadowed for lack of "marketing skills" (or whatever we want to call it), a tool that should get across the merit of a great musician to audience saturated by ever shorter bits and pieces served by the media. For those who still do not suffer of chronically shortened attention span, Moondog will be a revelation. "Though I was born in the United States, I consider myself "a European in exile," for my heart and soul are in Europe. I am a classicist at heart, and everything is classically conceived, in form, content and interpretation... I feel like I have one foot planted in America and one in Europe, or one in the present and one in the past. Rhythmically, I am considered to be in the present, even avant garde, whereas melodically and harmonically I am very much in the past. But the present becomes the past just as the future becomes the present. As I say in one of my lyrics, "Today is yesterday's tomorrow which is now..."

I do not understand the purpose of labeling music except for business purposes, and I am more than pleased to leave it to journalists and the record companies. Moondog's two LP's featured on this single CD are beautiful, but you will be losing a dimension of it if you shape your expectations to the limits of one (or more) particular genres, be it jazz, classical, or whatever... On the other hand, I understand the references by other listeners to Frank Zappa, John Zorn or Raymond Scott, as I love and appreciate them all. In ideal world every work or art should be approached without expectations, without pre-made notions, and be judged and appreciated by its own merits. But, there's only 24 hours in a day... I hope you will find the truth in reviews for this CD and find yourself sufficiently intrigued to check Moondog's music. The effort is very much rewarded.

This is actually TWO lps on one CD. You get Moondog's entire first CBS lp which is pictured and also his entire second CBS lp, (simply entitled, MOONDOG 2) which is very rare and hard to come by on vinyl. The music on both albums is a collection of quirky symphonic compositions that remind me of George Martin's Yellow Submarine music, or to a lesser degree, Frank Zappa's Orchestral Favorites album. This will fit right in with your Raymond Scott and wild wacky cocktail music collection.

It is simple, it is clear, it is wonderful! I don`t know what style is this. Some people call it `jazz`, but second disc is strongly attached to european madrigal canons. I think, if we listen really good music, we never asked about styles. I heard familiar tunes from Tchaikovsky to Resident`s Duck Stab. You must have this if you`re music lover. If you`re musician (who plays music, dont `have a job`) you must have it too. Listen once or twise, if you don`t like it, simply put it on the shelf. Properly time will come.
P.S. My favorite `I love you` and `Nero`s Expedition`

I was in the St. Thomas Boys Choir in the early 70's. We would walk to church for rehearsal, and pass Moondog, standing on the corner, usually by the ABC building. A couple of us would talk to him in our free time...he knew our names by our voices. We would listen to his poetry, and he seemed intigued by our choir, although he never heard us, I think. I got his album around this time, and have had it ever since. Fascinating pieces, very intricate, but also with "a hook"...that you find yourself humming along with. I heard he moved to Germany, where he wrote a nine hour canon. Overall, an amazing life story, and an incredible talent.

Beautiful, quirky, fascinating. A combination of classical, jazz, and improv, this collection made me close my eyes and just feel the music. Interspersed with several of Hardin's two-line poems as punctuation, the musical pieces are truly a wonder.

After discovering the masterpieces of this most improbable character, I wondered how I could have lived my 43 years being so blind with my two eyes open to the world while this eyeless old man could see so sharply with eyelids closed and a heart so open !!!

I had heard the first of the two albums included on this compilation as a child. My father recorded the vinyl album onto tape, and I loved to hear it as a child. Unfortunately, who it was and where the music came from was lost, and I spent years wondering. In the past 5 or so years, I have heard snippets of this music sampled or remixed in commercials and on NPR. I finally tracked down what it was, and received this great compilation album as a present this year. I think the first 10 or so tracks are great (they comprise, I believe, the first album) and I cannot get enough of them. The remainder of the tracks are rounds and are very interesting. I think not perhaps to my taste, but a few more times through all the tracks might change my mind. Recommended if only for the first half. -- Lyman Green

I had heard the first of the two albums included on this compilation as a child. My father recorded the vinyl album onto tape, and I loved to hear it as a child. Unfortunately, who it was and where the music came from was lost, and I spent years wondering. In the past 5 or so years, I have heard snippets of this music sampled or remixed in commercials and on NPR. I finally tracked down what it was, and received this great compilation album as a present this year. I think the first 10 or so tracks are great (they comprise, I believe, the first album) and I cannot get enough of them. The remainder of the tracks are rounds and are very interesting. I think not perhaps to my taste, but a few more times through all the tracks might change my mind. Recommended if only for the first half. -- Lyman Green