Customer Reviews

Poi Dog Pondering

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In all of my years of introducing friends to the first 2 Poi Dog Pondering records, never has their been anyone who didn't think it was one of the most amazing records that they had ever heard. Your punk rock girlfriend will love it, your hippie sister will love it, your Simon and Garfunkel listenin' parents will love it, your 10 year old little brother will love it... Poi Dog Pondering fuses together many folk and roots styles and ties them together with the catchy yet offbeat lyrics of lead singer Frank Orrall. The music is infectious and delightful. Do yourself a favor and add this cd to your collection.

This CD, together with their later release "Wishing Like a Mountain and Thinking Like the Sea" are the two most irreplacable CDs in my collection. They have been scratched beyond recognition, the lyrics and original sketches in the insert have been stained and loved beyond belief, and every syllable and note has been committed to my long-term memory. Poi Dog Pondering has created their own genre. Their words are like the sprinkling of cool rain on a hot summer day combined with an avant-garde collection of instruments transcending the normal to include a tin whistle, recorder, flugelhorn and hula hoop. Certain phrases make you laugh, others make you dance, and all make you think... "she says my work is like eating cold oatmeal; yesterday's oatmeal, day after day," "fall upon me in my quiet pain," "relentlessly climbing, conquering, and swallowing fresh pain; melting, reemerging and rising up clean in the pouring rain," "I saw a picture of you and it took me through so many visions of you... I couldn't stand it," and "I'm falling, but it's o.k.; never know just where I'll land; no sense to force plans-- I'm flying..." This music is so textured you could touch it. It picks up your soul in its safe and loving hand and carries you with it to experience all the possibilities of the universe. Play it while you're crying, play it while you're driving, play it while you're playing... BUT PLAY IT!

This album - a combination of PDP's first two EPs - is tremendous!

This very early incarnation of the band was quite acoustic, but don't let that make you think this isn't powerful stuff. On the contrary, songs like Pulling Touch and Fact of Life have the rare combination of musical drive and focus combined with lyrical beauty and depth.

Pulling Touch alone is a must-listen for anyone who is or ever has been in love. It is stunningly beautiful and evocative.

I could go on and on, but the point is really simple - buy this CD, because you will always always be happy that you did.

p.s. In the late 80s when this music came out, I worked as a DJ at a small college radio station in Castleton, VT - three of us at the station discovered and promoted this music, and the first EP became the most popular album of the entire year there. The same thing happened in a few other widely dispersed college markets. Too bad the others didn't notice.

I had this album for years until I turned someone on to it, whose dog then ate it! I am so glad to have this album again! An absolutely beautiful blend that is fresh as water and air. The music is completely uplifting but not sappy. The blend of styles which includes folk, hawaiian, rock, punk, and big band jazz is absolutely unlike anything you have ever heard and yet very memorable. I cannot recommend this album enough. It is Poi Dog Ponderings first album and just starts you up, gets you moving and prepares you for everything else that they've done. Fractyllic Seal of Approval!

The fact that this album went pretty much unnoticed is sad. I would never have heard this if I didnt see the video on MTV's 120 minutes.I went out immediately, and got it.I was thinking there would be only one good song-Dreaming Body.How wrong was I? There is not a dud on this album, and most of the songs are completely different from each other. It reminds me of Graceland by Paul simon, which was a success. They were on Columbia, so they had the promotion money. Maybe Franks voice was still a little too alternative for 1989 top 40? Maybe their name made people think they were heavy metal? Nevertheless, radio didnt touch this album. They really missed out. If you live in cold temperatures, put on ALOHA HONOLULU in the dead of winter, and you will be transformed to a tropical paradise----- Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side.

In his first big-label outing, Frank Orral presides over the playful, organic sound of this eclectic ensemble of voices, horns, tin whistles, violins, and slide guitars (among other instruments). Far superior to Poi's subsequent releases, it is a joyous exploration -- of simple pleasures ("Toast and Jelly") and the fascinations of new romance ("Pulling Touch") -- beguilingly unstained by self-consciousness. This genre-defying Pacific breeze of a pop album would make a perfect soundtrack for a new love or an island sabbatical. Enjoy (wiki wiki)!

This cd is definitely a classic! If you know what Poi Dog currently sounds like, you will really appreciate their evolution and growth as a band because on this cd, they sound a lot different. This cd is a lot more acoustic than much of their later/current stuff, which often seems to be rather techno/dance oriented. This cd is full of raw acoustic guitars with catchy rhythms and many different types of drums and percussion. Most importantly, this album is FUN! The band just sounds like they are having a lot of fun playing together and it is reflected in their joy-filled hollars and yelps. The sound almost reminds me of rusted root, maybe even Dave Matthews. This album is great for anyone's collection!

... in a genetic experiement, they might end up sounding like Poi Dog Pondering. Fun catchy songs, whimsical lyrics, fun-sounding instruments. Even the drawings and the way the lyrics are written in the booklet are whimsical. I got this CD solely for the single I heard on the radio, "Living With the Dreaming Body" and I was pleased to find out all the songs had the same whimsical flavor and had upbeat melodies. This is a fun CD and great for parties and road trips.

i first heard "pulling touch" (#4) from an old true love... it has such insanely intense bittersweet emotions tied up in it for me, that it took me years to be able to listen to the entire album itself. "sound of water" (#5) is permanently dedicated to that wonderful flame & nearly sends me into a trance everytime i even hum it ~ it is such a source of strength & beauty for me! "circle round the sun" (#7) reminds me the most of stuff off of /wishing like a mountain.../ (which was my first encounter with this wonderful musical family) "aloha honolulu" (#8) always perks me up & makes summertime out of the greyest of winter days. and finally, i burst into "postcard from a dream (toast & jelly)" (#3) whenever i get frustrated with everybody leaving their dishes in the sink *grin* "if you're eat off 'um ~ you gotta wash 'um" & we all laugh & remember that we're really here to love one another.

November, 1989: A party where only my roomate , my girlfriend and I remained conscious (at 4AM), and the television is tuned to MTV. "Living With The Dreaming Body" was screened as a new video, and instantly captivated the three of us with its loping bassline, the warm, rich tones of the lead singer's voice,with his tin whistle weaving through the melody line carried by the many other instruments producing beautiful, heavily mutated bluegrass. 6 hours later when the local mall opened I stopped by the music store to purchase the tape, the only time I have directly bought any CD, tape, or record based solely upon viewing just one video. I have since worn out 2 CD's and have just ordered my third. "Sound of Water" , "Fall on Me", "Pulling Touch", "Fact of Life" "Circle 'round the Sun", Wood Guitar", and "Falling" are all superlatively structured songs, but more than that, they are full of warmth and sensitivity. If you have to choose one Poi Dog Pondering CD to buy, this is the one.