Phillip Bimstein: Garland Hirschi's Cows

Bimstein (Artist), Modern Mandolin Quartet (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 17, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Starkland
• ASIN: B000002GVF
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #401,493 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Alternative Press

Memorable and entertaining...4 Stars.

Product Description

Phillip Kent Bimstein offers five “alternative classical” works on his CD premiere. His music has been performed at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and on the NBC Movie of the Week. Bimstein formerly led the Chicago-based new wave band Phil ‘n’ the Blanks, whose three albums and six videos were college radio and MTV hits.

The delightful Garland Hirschi’s Cows describes a Utah farmer, his cows, and why they moo. Radio airplay of the work has generated hundreds of calls (especially after being heard on NPR’s All Things Considered, where they referred to the work as “cult classic”).

Dark Winds Rising, for string quartet and tape, presents the Kaibab Paiute tribe’s successful fight against the installation of a toxic waste incinerator on their native land. Employing a technique he calls “voice organics,” Bimstein uses sampled speech to develop rhythmic patterns, melodies, and sound effects such as mesa winds, industrial ratchets, a snake pit, and bird calls.

In The Door, Bimstein uses samples of his creaking studio door to create some funky brass instruments, a pulsating rhythm section, fragments of a merry-go-round’s music, and a mournful seal.

The Louie Louie Variations is a contemplative fantasy that deconstructs a classic rock chord progression, while the haunting Vox=Dominum, the most mysterious piece on the CD, deconstructs a variety of Persian sounds.

Stereophile remarks that Bimstein “has used digital sampling technology to tell wry and moving stories, and to elevate the mundane to the level of high art.” Schwann Opus finds that this “highly entertaining” CD is “a virtual breath of fresh air,” adding that “this is new music not just for the adventurous, but for everyone.”

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lively Livestock, January 10, 2000

By 

Allen Salyer "AlarmClockMagazine" (Troy, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Phillip Bimstein: Garland Hirschi's Cows (Audio CD)

Graduate of the Chicago Conservatory of Music, Phillip Bimstein formed the New Wave group, Phil 'n' the Blanks. Fascinated by language, Bimstein incorporates text into his music. In the title track, a Utah farmer talks about his cows, the history of butchery and why cows Moo. "The Louie Louie Variations" deconstructs the classic rock song into a contemplative fantasy with the help of the Modern Mandolin Quartet. Backed by the Turtle Island String Quartet, "Dark Winds Rising" records three generations of the Jake family. They speak of the sanctity of their ancestrial land vs. the toxic waste incinerator built nearby. "Vox=Dominum" is an atmospheric work that cuts up vocal love chants of the ancient Sufi poet Rumi. Another inventive recording from the Starkland label.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Substantive electro-acoustic music that makes you smile., September 1, 2003

By 

Band Guy "bandguy1" (Woodland Hills, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Phillip Bimstein: Garland Hirschi's Cows (Audio CD)

I'm a high school music teacher and I love using "Garland Hirschi's Cows" and "The Door" to expand my students' definition of music. These two compositions especially are entertaining enough to keep the class's attention while introducing some important concepts. I am invariably asked to play it again over the next several days as anyone who was absent returns and hears about it from enthusiastic friends. I've also had to buy it three times so far because, unlike the rest of my classical and jazz CD's, this one tends to walk away. . . You'll enjoy this. If it whets your appetite for something a bit more "serious," try Steve Reich's "Different Trains" with the Kronos Quartet. You may prefer it, but you'll still never forget the cows.