Useless Wooden Toys

Jon Kennedy | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 19, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Grand Central
• ASIN: B0006V5QI4
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #532,453 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

RE:UP

"Innovative minds like Jon Kennedy’s are a precious resource."

Product Description

Useless Wooden Toys is twenty eight year old Jon Kennedy’s third album. Instead of relying on the multitude of programs available to him he has made a new standard by his pioneering innovation in ‘sound design’. He sang, played all the instruments himself, as well as made instruments to create his own samples. The actual ‘sounds’ that the music is made up from stretch the imagination: What does a hi-hat sound like when you play it through a wah wah? What noise does a snare make if you down tune it? What happens if you play drums in the bathroom, then cut up that sound, stretch it out, then delay it? And an African drum, what would that sound like with a lump of clay in it?

In the inception of ‘Useless Wooden Toys’ Jon played the Contra Bass, Bongos, Acoustic Guitar, Bass Guitar, Piano, Harmonica and his beloved Drums as well as providing most of the vocals. He created instruments out of tree trunks and experimented with small lumps of clay dropped into a Djembe (an African drum). Many of the instruments are not easily recognizable as he has redesigned the sound and then pushed it to its limits.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Jon Kennedy - Useless Wooden Toys, October 31, 2011

By 

scoundrel - See all my reviews

This review is from: Useless Wooden Toys (Audio CD)

For his third album, USELESS WOODEN TOYS, Jon Kennedy goes back to his hip-hop roots the thick beats of "Cut Up" and "Heavyweight Freight," though those who miss his jazz-inflected outings will be reassured by "You, You & You" that he hasn't lost his touch at that either. Kennedy tries his throat out with vocals on "We Milk Life But Dress Smooth," but it's the swinging double bass that seems to stand out the most. He tries his hand at a more dub-oriented track with "Save The People," though it feels slightly out of place amongst his other work. But "Pick Up Sticks" gets back to the more gentle work from his earlier albums, and is that a bit of country blues that I hear in the title track? That feeling lingers on into "Lodestar," which features Sarah Scott's aching vocals. The mysterious vocal sample on "Never Wed An Old Man" seems like it's beamed straight from an Irish folk song into a smooth jazz setting, and "They Made Us Too Many" takes the album out on bits of harp and string shimmers and, of course, the drums. Useless? Not in the least.

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, March 31, 2009

By 

E. Yingling - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Useless Wooden Toys (MP3 Download)

I usually like 3-4 songs on an album, but I like almost every one of these songs!

Great sounds!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A most enjoyable aural trip, November 9, 2005

By 

sam (Salt Lake City, UT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Useless Wooden Toys (Audio CD)

This is an album of sounds, an album of songs and an album of beauty. If you are looking for something different check out this pioneering album by Jon Kennedy.