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08/15/12
OUR SILENT CANVAS
CHRISTOPHER BONO/Invocations: Sometimes, you just have to think outside the box. Bono is a contemporary classical composer that can't ignore the world around him. Taking contemporary instrumental music to new places while starting from familiar paths, he touches on the experimental fringes contemporary classical stylists are drawn to, but he always keeps it musical and engaging. A fine new look at an old form that'll wind up adding a new name to the honor role of composers that have really made a mark.
STEINWAY & SONS
JEANNE GOLAN/Viktor Ullmann Complete Piano Sonatas: And just when you think there's nothing new under the sun, along comes a highly skilled pianist that has what it takes to take on and rescue the complete works of a Czech composer that was killed in Auschwitz. With an experimental edge that still seems fresh 70 years later, one of many musicians whose work came close to being lost forever as there was no one to champion it, this work is in good hands with Golan who shows herself to be in the front ranks of contemporary players. With depth and vision to bring the work to life, this twofer is the next best thing to being there and will bring you back for more. A stunning work throughout.
UNIVERSAL MUSIC ENTERPRISES
FRANK ZAPPA/Just Another Band from LA: How can you argue with an album that serves up one of the greatest dada suites ever and tops it all off with the moral, "Don't Fuck Around" repeated in various ways to make sure you get the message? Well, Eddie are you kidding? No! No! Wildly surrealistic and a total gasser this is a slab of wonderful, way out early 70s madness that all seems to come together. Fun stuff that helped to ferment a legend as it moved in to a new decade.
FRANK ZAPPA/Fillmore East June 1971 : In which we find Zappa predating Jackson Browne's bleeding gums version of life on the road with a set that celebrates groupies and lunacy on the road. With the Turtles, Aynsley Dunbar and a crew well up to the task of providing music and laughs from the past and present, this is a grand bit of rock theater that launched a host of imitators, you can't go wrong here if you're looking for something timeless that really is one for the ages. Just great.
FRANK ZAPPA/Uncle Meat: The double album soundtrack for the movie that was never completed, this is arguably the greatest work of the original Mothers. Everything and everybody is here, and who could have the energy to make a movie after working so hard on a record like this. Touching all the points including and between Suzy Creamcheese and King Kong, yes, indeedy, there's something here for everyone and plenty for all. As crazy as it comes without flying off the tracks completely, this is one for the true classic rock fan that wants classics that'll probably never turn up on a Time Life infomercial. Check it out.
FRANK ZAPPA/Lumpy Gravy: One of those Zappa you love it or you hate it albums. Picking up where "We're Only in it for the Money" left off with the long instrumental outro, this is more experimental music, this time around fueled by a 50 piece orchestra and more. Your choice of drugs might well determine just how you feel about this sonic experiment over 40 years on.
DVD SUPPLEMENT
INDUSTRIAL ENTERTAINMENT RELEASING
JAY & SILENT BOB GET OLD: Amazing. Kevin Smith has managed to take his angry, young man and sail it into middle age without being a kvetch you tolerate but wish would go away. Kicking it right out of the box with the subtitle, "Tea Bagging in the UK", this duo celebrates 20 years together by making a mess of Jolly Old. Culled from three shows that rocked the country, this disc has more of a DIY feel than Smith's Sony "Evening With" titles, but hell, he's knee deep in pod cast land and is ready to hang up his directing career so it's time to take it back to the streets. Not every angry young man can pull off a transition like this and it's nice to know that those of us that have been digging him for years and continue to do so. Check it out.
www.jimmymulidore.com
JIMMY MULIDORE & His New York Jazz Band: The DVD might have something of a DIY feel and look, but the cats are blazing. With Richie Cole and Randy Brecker bringing their axes along for the windy front line ride, the set card is a heaping helping of some straight ahead classic jazz that's really in the right hands here. Dead solid perfect stuff that easily has the original composers and performers smiling, there isn't a false note anywhere here. And, if you slip it in your computer, you can enjoy is as a record without the visuals while you multi task with some great new performances plugging away in the background. Well done.
Volume 35/Number 299
August 15, 2012
MIDWEST RECORD
830 W. Route 22 #144
Lake Zurich, IL., 60047
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
Copyright 2012 Midwest Record
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