A Splendid Tray

Anton Barbeau | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 1, 1999)
• Original Release Date: November 1, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: .
• ASIN: B000035X8L
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #434,931 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Black and White Elvis

2. Creepy Tray

3. The Banana Song

4. Third Eye

5. Cockroach Song

6. Please Sir, I've Got a Wooden Leg

7. Gone

8. Dazzle Girl

9. Once in a Royal David City

10. Suicide Toad

11. Sweetness Dream of Me

12. Yum Yum Bubblegum

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tray Bon, November 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Splendid Tray (Audio CD)

I'll confess freely to knowing absolutely nothing about Mr. Barbeau or his music before getting my hands on this latest release. Apparently it's his first in four years, and to anyone out there already acquainted with his work, it's well worth the wait. Barbeau combines witty lyrics with catchy tunes and kicking guitar riffs to create puncy, off-the-wall power pop that kept me well entertained for fifty minutes or so. His voice - Elvis Costello meets David Bowie in a sixties time warp - is pretty unique, but doesn't detract from the lyrics at all. Psychedelic Beatlesesque tunes like Dazzle Girl and Once In Royal David City are balanced out by the slightly heavier sound of the Banana Song and Creepy Tray. A definite highlight is Black and White Elvis, opening a solid album which never goes off the boil. Some of the tracks are growers though, ask me again in a week and my favourite song will almost certainly be different. Well worth a listen though - put it on and play it loud!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Barbeau's "Tray" well worth the wait, May 27, 2000

By 

Cynthia Jones (Sacramento, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Splendid Tray (Audio CD)

I was excited to discover that Anton was finally signed with a label, Frigidisk. After years of toiling in Sacramento out of the back of his van, now Anton can ask someone else to toil out of the back of their van for him, and deservedly so.

This album's strengths lie in his astonishing ability to play hook-driven, upbeat pop with cryptic and surreal lyrics. It plays like an aural puzzle...with each successive listen, revealing the meaning underneath. From the upbeat pop of "Black and White Elvis" (which held the number one spot in, of all places, Croatia) to the haunting "Dazzle Girl" (Your money/I'm sorry/My Brother/He Says "Hi"), Anton's lyrics plague me for days at a time. What do they mean? What is he saying? Give Anton a try. I think everyone should.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Splendid indeed..., November 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Splendid Tray (Audio CD)

I'd heard a lot of good - nay, great - things about Mr. Barbeau, but had never heard his music until I got this CD on Saturday. Amazingly, he lives up to his advance billing. He employs a diverse array of styles, but always manages to sound like himself (a rare talent that earns major points in my book).

Great energy, solid musicianship, and hooks that crawl into your brain and set up housekeeping back up lyrics that are charmingly surreal on first spin, but begin to make perfect sense as you listen more closely. I'm off to try to find his other three CDs!