Customer Reviews

Nonkertompf

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

 

 

Of this 35-track assault of beautifully recorded, extremely eclectic studies and interludes, Mike Keneally writes, "I started dreaming about this album when I was 12"; I think I've been waiting for this album at least that long.

Jaw-droppingly diverse, with a stream-of-consciousness yet deliberately controlled approach, Keneally wrote, performed and produced this instrumental work entirely by himself ..... and Nonkertompf is a significant testament to creative control, not to mention release. In the course of its constantly shifting 1.2 hours, on pieces ranging from 12 seconds to nearly 8 minutes, the material runs the gamut from soundtrack music to abstract jazz, from Rundgren to Residents, Frith to Zappa, Nancarrow to Larajii, and Mike to Keneally. It's very doubtful that you could find more styles and moods clashing and melding on one disc. As such, it is best approached with an open, if not hungry, mind.

Thank you, Mr. Kineally, for sharing your dream ..... we look forward to more.

Former Frank Zappa protege and all-around crazily eclectic musician Mike Keneally took a break from making albums with his band Beer For Dolphins and made an actual "solo" album (he plays all the instruments himself). The album is wildly bold and experimental. While other MK discs like "Sluggo" and "Dancing" are more easily digestible, this one deserves your attention due to its uniqueness. There's really nothing else like it. It's just Mike doing a musical brain dump, truly letting go of all boundaries. If you like this, try everything else he's done! Mike is a supremely talented individual who deserves your attention!

This may be a masterpiece: completely bizarre - but absolutely listenable. This is the ultimate eclectic item! All instrumental, all performed by MK (incl. drums). Odd, varied, exquisitely uncommercial music. Completely intriguing. Zappa influence is 'undeniable'. I could mention 'Burnt Weeny Sandwich"... and half a dozen other albums too. But it does NOT sound like a Zappa album. So there you have it. Having consumed MK's work over the last ten years or so - and enjoyed it - I now find myself saying THIS is the pinnacle.

This largely instrumental album (everything played by his Mikeness) is one of the best, if not the best projects Mike has brought to us so far. 74 minutes seem to last forever and are gone in seconds. Buy it. Now!

I mean REAL music. The kind where a very talented person writes a variety of songs ranging from sad to happy, loony to somber, dreamy to rigid, and a whole bunch of other combinations that my vocabulary is not large enough to espouse into this little box. Well, then by this album. Do it now! You won't regret it.