Ici D'AilleursNarcophony : plays the Residents (US,2005)***°

The group Narcophony prepared already some compilations interpreting unusual music. This CD is based upon Residents but became in fact something different. It became like a conceptual album as if it is expressing music from a play, based upon the Residents music, with a kind of pleasant dark theatre-podium focused chamber music. The surreal musical fundament of Residents is not here, but a small avant-garde strangeness and a reminder of some of the strange harmonies are still there, but in a much more neutral, and pleasant-to-listen-to way. A few tracks have singing in a entertaining theatre-performance way, and there's an attempt to an art-rock energy, in a similar spot-on-images dark theatre podium way ; this is especially successful on the last track.

Audio : “Hello Skinny
Info (with three audio tracks) : http://www.narcophony.com/
Label entry : http://www.0101-music.com/playstheresidents.htm (from index)
French review : http://www.adecouvrirabsolument.com/narcophony2.htm
Christine Ott, guest ondes matenot player webpage : http://ondesmartenot.free.fr/site%20anglais/homepage.html
One singer-songwriter related item with a theatre concept and chamber music band accompanying it : Gloria Deluxe : Accidental Nostalgia (US,2004)*°°° is reviewed on http://singersong.homestead.com/newsingers-6.html#anchor_272
Cuneiform Rec.      Far Corner : endangered (US,2007)***°

This newest release from the group is much more a dark progressive release than it is related to chamber music. The dark territories of Kopecky’s inspirations, sometimes experimental are noticeable influences, as well as Dan Maske’s melodic progressive keyboards improvisations, with some dark sounds here and there as well. Angela’s Smith’s cello is less noticeable, also because mostly it is more than once fuzz distorted, adding dark sounds to the compsitions, sometimes in the form of dark electricity to the dark matter. Even when one hears just now and then references to other compositions (a small piece of Mozart even !), most of them are swallowed into the dark by a black hole, while around that centre, the compositional movements are for a huge part still being lead by a post-Bartok Rock In Opposition inspiration, living symbiotically with its newly created gravitational tensions. The small jazzy piano improvisation gives a certain relief from gravity on “Not from around here”. On the last piece, “Endangered” I realize mostly how much the group is dominated by bass and keyboards mostly, and how the drummer in fact could here have done a bit more than always just simply fit in. Because of its inner nature the album demands repeated listens before each detail presented is heard more clearly and its multi-faced life in its own logical system, instead of feeling emprisonned by it.

Audio : "Creature Council"
Info : www.far-corner.com & audio : http://www.myspace.com/farcornerband
& with 3 audio tracks : http://www.far-corner.com/discs/endangered.htm
Label info : http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/bandshtml/farcorner.html
Other reviews : http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=25077 & http://www.waysidemusic.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=RUNE%20246
http://www.far-corner.com/discs/endangered-review.htm
http://www.scaruffi.com/vol7/farcorne.html#end
German review : http://www.babyblaue-seiten.de/album_7866.html
Another project from Kopecky is Yet Rain. Review on next page->
GO TO NEXT
(CHAMBER & THEATRE MUSIC ROCK RELATED)
REVIEW PAGE->



or go back to progressive music index
go back to general music index


Scummy Job Rec.   John Ringer : Stravinsky : the rite of spring
   for electric guitar, electric bass and percussion (US,2003)*°°

There has been lots of attention paid to the scummy job Johnny Ringer has, like in the name of the label or by describing this job at another complete webpage, while the theory, thoughts and visions behind this project didn’t get any attention. Just “buy the CD !” -because of a scummy job ?- makes me wonder how much this music fits in.

I happen to be a fan of Strawinsky’s “Rite of Spring”, “Firebird”, “Nightingale”, and “The Flood” where except for “Firebird” -which is more classical-, there is a much more a natural feel and melodic flow I’ve never heard before in any other classical music piece from earlier periods (-It was the same feeling I had here as with Pink Floyd’s “Interstellar Overdrive”-), so I expected at least to have this element here in this version too.

The starting theme on Strawinsky's piece is one the most unobvious selections of a combination of melody with rhythm and sound, which does not make it successful when  playing it only melodically just note by note on guitar. That still does not sound "right" or give it that 'natural flow' it needs, which I expect to come from a harmonic pulsation from within an occasion, in this case the occasional instrument. For this, new, electric version in the first minute I think it just starts wrong. The guitar sounds too sticky. Although some ideas are potentially in development, it doesn’t have this 'natural flow' yet which groups from the Zeuhl and Rock-In-Opposition genres almost always has. The playing does not progress beyond its attempted playing and still is a bit too stiff for it. On the other hand the drumming is much more on the right spot. The bass line still needs more notes and interfering layers (-listen to the best Magma-) to really convince as something which comes naturaly. (listen to the first minutes of "The adoration of the Earth"). After more or less 4 minutes the musical guitar elements build up much better, although I think the complete piece still would be better replayed with a live group, with an additional live energy and with a recording after having replayed the whole piece a couple of 100 times more. This practice is necessary before the execution itself really begins to work as a ‘new vividly brooding new piece’. The hard rock edge here and there could have been even harder. And this version could use also some echoing and other effects to overcome these -let's say- small failures. Thoroughly when the “rocky” edge is there, several parts are really successful in its core. Some theme changes could have still been stricter, perhaps with again such corrections in the production itself, but in general I must say the middle part of the CD works well. But except for the melodic part of the guitar playing, there must be some work done on the idea of the connection between the natural sounds of the instruments and the melodies, which has been done partly in some of the more "rocky" interpretations, but not enough with the melodic structure of the vivid creation of the piece itself. Melody, structure, rhythm but also the natural flow of sounds on its own (from the instruments) must be interconnected to make an intuitively justified piece, which for the whole score of this version -except for some elements and for various ideas- still is not. Just listen to some arrangements which Italian symphonic groups did (like Latte e Miele,New Trolls,Il Rovescio della Medaglia,etc..) or to the arrangements of some R.I.O. groups (like the reinterpretation of Bartok by Univers Zero’s around '1313',…) and you’ll hear some essential difference. Making an interpretetation of such a complex piece as this needs the sacrifice and hard labour work on music, preferably with a group. This again will need even more time, perhaps even leaving any scummy job, to practice for weeks to make the piece really alive to something that only than can achieve this creative vividness when it begins to create and write its own life. This particular result sadly still is, unless some great rocking ideas, tempting too much and therefore in many parts is even too tedious, both in the execution and the arrangements.

I heard of another existing version by the Butcher Shop Quartet. They worked on the same piece calling their version “Spring Rounds” and "Mystic Circles of the Young
Girls". The soundfiles I heard on the net, seemed to have a somewhat natural feel to me, also at their starting off, and seems to have some good ideas as well, but I still need to hear the CD version itself, to see if it will leave me unsatisfied as well or not.
I don’t care how much someone is close to the original piece or not. When the final result is perfect on its own, it  was worth the try. If it still is not, it still needs more effort, like I think it will need that here as well.

On the webpage there’s also enclosed a remark “Go to The Sound Garden CD store. Hit the e-mail option and tell them they are jerks for not selling my CD”. With so much anger I wish Johnny had put even more a “flow of anger” into this music, and more skilled improvisation around the core of sounds within the music, so that it had given that final energy it still needed to finish it. Now he will probably blame me too for it, because me, asking about his music and now not being over-enthusiastic enough about it ? Why not just be realistic and see the positive elements in it as well as what is still failing.  We’re lucky that Stravinsky lived in this century. This way we can still enjoy the classical recording which he directed himself. That version is of course prefect as it is.

I'm sure there will be listeners left who don't mind if there is a possibility of we can have a better electric version one day. Who else would attempt this and create a better result ?
I only know I can imagine already some improvements..

Info : http://scummyjob.home.att.net & http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/stravinsky


Another version of the same piece by Stravinski is reviewed here :
CHAMBER MUSIC ROCK
AND THEATRE-ROCK






CHAMBER MUSIC RELATED ENSEMBLES
AND SOME THEATRE CONCEPTS

listed on this page :
Squonk Opera (4x:SO1,SO2,SO3,SO4), Tarantula, Petri Kuljuntausta,
Far Corner (2x:FC1,FC2), String Quartet Difference, John Ringer, Slow Six,
The Butchershop Quartet, The Red Masque,The Residents, Narcophony


SQUONK OPERA :
Private        Squonk Opera : Inferno (US,2002)***°

For this release Squonk Opera made a huge effort to make the show itself better with video projections on some of the objects (see my favourite picture on top of this page), with a huge amount of people participating, they used a story concept, based upon Dante’s Inferno, worked hard beforehand on the musical performance and production, and attracted new musicians for it : singer Jody Abbott and bassist Nathan Fay as well as pre-recorded sections by a group called The Balkan Babes, incorporate sounds of an electric guitar, with Dempsey moving up to play on stage a grand piano, and playing much more accordion too. She sings passionately and her voice sounds often even more concincing, and the band performs often with more power.

Info on this release : http://squonk.org/hark/inferno/ & with video's : http://squonk.org/inferno/ & audio http://squonk.org/hark/inferno/audio.html
Reviews : http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/20011123squonk1123fnp2.asp
Interview about this performance : http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/search/s_5048.html
RigaString Quartet Difference: take care of the difference (LAT,2000)**°

This quartet bridges the difference playing jazz like contemporary classical music, or better the other way around. Old jazz standards are played as if it's classical music, played with jazz tempo. The main difference is: this is not a jazz combo, but a classical combo. The compositions sound as if they are improvised on the moment, but at the same time remaining close to "classical" composition (like on Summertime, a piece which gives a very good approach in the album, remaining in balance between both worlds). Also Miles Davis music ("Blue in Green" and Solar) sounds now more like a contemporary music composition, especially on "Blue in Green", with structural evolutions in two layers. All arrangements and two compositions are by Pierre Tassone. Also the solos were written by him.

P.T. : "What I did is that I played the solos in real time, recorded in Cubase. The major point is that I didn't play on violin but chose to play on a keyboard with a concert piano sound, which would inspire me more in a jazz vein. I also had to have in mind that the solos would LATER be played by string instruments so I restricted my playing to the range of those instruments, a very difficult task very close to personality split; my spirit thought piano while my mind thought violin ( range and fingerings had to be physically possible). Once the solos were shot, I did some editing in Cubase, corrected some mistakes, added some lines or runs which I couldn't technically play but strongly felt. Then the whole thing was written out on paper for the string players. That way I hoped to keep some freshness and jazz authenticity to the solos. The piano has been at the core of the project throughout. Solos were played on a keyboard, the harmonic arrangements were focusing on piano voicings, etc...

The feeling I had the combo almost seem to improvise in a natural way was because

"The cellist was instructed on basic things related to the feel of  walking bass lines and the other players got ONE basic instruction as regards how to translate swing on string instruments. But most of the time, I tried to AVOID having them to swing because this is the problem number one with string players - and many times the key to fiasco! Instead I moved the jazz spirit on other areas such as chords and harmonic colours, irregular rhythms and polyrhythms ... sometimes mixed with classical stuff (atonal, serial ...)."

The album was something which grew on me, also in understanding what was going on, which each listen. Its inner strength really is that the complete score always hold a perfect middle between contemporary classical music and jazz, but also remains working like a classical music composition.

Info : http://cdbaby.com/cd/sqdifference
& http://www.musicbymail.dk/projects/string.htm
Aureobel Petri Kuljuntausta : Momentum (Fin,1996-2001,iss.2004)***'

What interests me using frozen sounds is their dreamy; slow and timeless character. After stretching and transposing the sounds down you could start to hear hidden characteristics –micro level sound phenomena, interesting overtones, colourful, vibrating and sometimes strange textures” introduces the booklet and this describes already the intention.


-review must be finished later !!-


Intro's : http://www.valotalo.com/kaiku/kaiku02/artists/petri.html & http://www.move.com.au/artist.cfm/841
Info : http://www.nic.fi/~petriear/
Big Balloon MusicThe Red Masque : Feathers for Flesh (US,2004)***°

This Red Masque release heads much more for a theatrical astral-dark concept-piece, more than based upon an experimental musical improvisation and compositional trip, like it worked like this before. After a brooding entry with some Magma-esque, semi-contemporary, avant-rock, (art-rock), and progressive elements in parts, the music will then move the listener completely into the 'theatrical' concept, much more than the musical inspirations, which for me, having drawn me into it so much, could have easily lasted for 2 hours at least, but then suddenly seemed to have finished after almost 55 minutes.

Audio : "House of Ash (intro)","part 2", "Passage","part 2", "Yellow are his opening eyes, intro" /"second part", "Beggers & Thieves" (intro) / "part 2", "Scarlet Experiments" ;
Info : http://www.theredmasque.com/ with this release : http://www.theredmasque.com/Feathers_For_Flesh_CD.html
Other releases are reviewed at http://psychedelicfolk.homestead.com/expanding.html
Jamie Reeder-violin-Saunder Jurriaans-bass-Gregory Rogove-drums-Danny Bensi-cello
Private  Tarantula (US,rec.2003)****

Tarantula is a NY based independent chamber music (rock) group who performe here basically composed music, played with a Tango-Rock like energy (like "Rail", "Backdoor Carni", and "Embedded in Ice"). This is a splendid mini-cd release (with 5 tracks from around 6 minutes each). Mostly the chamber music band leads (Jamie Reeder-violin ; Saunder Jurriaans-guitar, bass ; Danny Bensi-cello ; Gregory Rogove-drums, glockenspiel, melodica and some Afro-Cuban percussion on last track, "Palo Borracho",  where the acoustic guitar leads mostly. Very good debut !

EP version of 4th track : "Opening Theme" ; Real audio fragment of "Palo Boracho"
Info : www.tarantulamusic.com
Review : http://www.digitalisindustries.com/foxyd/tarantula_st.html
& http://www.splendidezine.com/review.html?reviewid=1090385964301449
If The Else Rec.Slow Six : private times in public places (US,2004)***°

The beautiful fender Rhodes is used (especially on the first two of three tracks, like in 
"Evening Without Atonement") as a fundamental pulsating instrument to create the basic mood, sound and slow evolution into an ambient mode. This is combined with background textures, some quiet guitar, and some violin improvisations on top of it, in a minimal and minimalist way, creatively building around these basic evolutions, in transfiguring stereophonic melodic sound layers. On the last track, "The Lines We Walked When We Walked Once Together", mostly two electrified guitars take over this role of the fender Rhodes, in complete sound harmony with them. This piece is mostly a beautiful contemporary classical piece. The music by Slow Six has been called ‘electronic chamber music’. It's wonderful to listen to.
The group is based in New York. At their performances the computer (digital signal processing) and visual video projections are part of their show. This has lead to collaborations with some dance companies.

Info : http://www.slowsix.com/
& http://www.habitofcreation.org/slow_six.html
Galapagos 4The Butchershop Quartet : The Rite Of Spring (US,2004)***/°

The electric guitar evolution and interpretation of the first couple of musical themes on solo guitar are very convincing for me, like a (Robert) Fripp-ian exploration, as if it could be meant to be this way. When other instruments come in, it sounds like one possibility of interpretation. Musically the executional logic and approach holds itself together well. The original logic in Stravinsky’s piece –not talking about the musical coloured balances- for me has a perfect combination of a rational evolution combined with an intuitive evolution in the composition, which I think might not have been so easy to adapt or interpret, but these musicians succeed very well. Only here and there some small details might still have a tendency to fragment themselves. Sometimes the rationality of the interpretation also still is stronger than the intuitive balance, but in general the building-this-piece-up-energy is really still strong enough to convince during listening to the complete interpretation. Remarkably well done! The recording has been done after two years of rehearsing and performing, which gives it a more spontaneous sound.

Second CD is a remix cooperation with DJ’s. On the first track the same recorded piece rolls on like an unnecessary background, on an empty hiphop brain-and-heart-chopped-out chitchat. Like lots of hiphop this boring vocal drive is near-brain-dead, lost-spirit and anti-musical, here not even referring a bit to what’s happening in the background and content). The second mix starts better, with a loop-like bass, a rhythm box and a loop of the guitar, first a little bit too repetitive and without much compositional evolution to convince as being a real musical piece, as if DJ’s don’t have to create pieces outside their rhythm evolutions whenever they record their work on CD, then suddenly changing to other mixes. Here comes in another awful hiphop mix (I just hate already the thought of it, and its boring musicality), with more repetitive so called hypnotic boom booms and more loops from the piece, and it continues like this for a while. I must say live in Belgium, and not so far from Köln, Germany, a ground for an interesting techno-scene. So, having heard so far more compositional creators in the field, ( from Köln, Japan and elsewhere), on labels in Belgium and Germany. Compared to this scene, the first couple of tracks as a DJ mix I think are a bit too ordinary and too easily recorded to convince me at all. “Evocation of the Ancestors” started as a good try but is also too quickly accepted as a complete mix. It seemed to me at first after hearing these tracks that a direct mix of such a complex piece does not work with slowly loop-like rhythms at all. But then, the last mix, “Sacrificial dance”, the longest piece on the second CD, suddenly seems to work much better, for it keeps a slowly breathing rhythm in the mix, driven from the composition and the playing itself, so that this mix as new “composition” still works, in a still intelligent way.
Perhaps drum and bass and breakbeats could have worked as another idea in the mixing as well..

Soundfile : "Spring Rounds", "Mystic Circles of the Young Girls"
Info : http://www.butchershopquartet.com/
& http://www.copperpress.com/new/copper/html/CP20/pages/butcher.html
Other reviews : http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/music/otr/documents/03691850.asp
http://www.providencephoenix.com/music/otr/documents/03696519.asp
Cooperation with dance company : http://www.offoffoff.com/dance/2004/brooksmuz.php
Cuneiform Rec.          Far Corner (US,2004)****

Far Corner is a project with William Kopecky (known in progressive rock teritory for his works under his solo name, Parallel Mind, The Pär Lindh Project, The Flyin Ryan Brothers, Tempest) electric bass, Angela Schmidt, cello & electric cello,
Craig Walkner, percussionist, Dan Maske, keyboard and percussion arrangements.

On the first two tracks I had the impression this was chamber music rock / Rock In opposition ensemble in the vein of Univers Zero and the like, with also some progressive rock touches to it (“Silly Whim” and “Going Somewhere” ). The long suite
Something Out There part 1, part 2” is much more of a classical composition with at first some piano & cello, and some percussion mostly, then adding drums and a hammond organ solo, and some bass. It's not only here that I realise much more how “new contemporary music” is composed, as a kind of “new music rock”. On “With One Swipe of it’s mighty paw” there comes a 'metal bass drive' on the cello (like we heard before with Apocalyptica / Allamailman Vasarat etc..), cello, and lots of classical piano. On “The Turning”, the piano is improvisational in a movie-accompaniment way. Where on some parts on Hammond organ, a few people might be reminded easily of Keith Emerson, a style with a classical music background, but with a jazzy improvisation technique, especially with The Nice, even when this might be not such a direct influence. The last track, “Fiction”, another huge 15’24” composition, features a guest appearance on flute & clarinet (Frederick & Heather Schmidt) on top of the compositions. This last track combines all earlier mentioned elements into a complex ‘New / contemporary Music’ piece, of course with its associated"rock" edge.

Info : www.far-corner.com
More info on this CD with audio : http://www.far-corner.com/cd.html
Label entry : http://cuneiformrecords.com/bandshtml/farcorner.html
Other reviews
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=15195
http://www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=1801
http://www.babyblaue-seiten.de/index.php?albumId=4764&content=review

More on Kopecky : http://kopecky.8m.com/    next Far Corner release ->
Angel Rec.Squonk Opera : Bigsmörgasbordwünderwerk (US,2000)***°

The music on its own works pretty well. Musical Director/ Composer/ Pianist/ Accordionist/singer Jackie Dempsey’s work with the group could partly be like a singer’s release, with lots of instrumentals, but it is not. This is a musical broadway-like theatre or better artpop-opera concept, where the music is not just accompanying, but works as one plane of the performance. For the visual aspects and objects Squonk member Steve O’Hearn is responsible, for the choreography and stage performance with a number of people more, behind the stage. The concept of a visual spectacle in general, is something people seem to like, because it makes any performance seemingly a more complete experience. It reminds me bit of the success of ‘Cirque du Soleil’ has each year, or the folk dance performances by ‘Lord of the dance’, both of these have also a degree of acrobatism. Those of you who have seen opera probably were amazed or overwhelmed by the aesthetic ideas of lights, costumes etc. which they can bring over. I haven’t seen the Squonk opera yet (although they seem to have toured in Belgium just before I heard (of) these albums). From some of the pictures, and video fragments, the performance looked really nice. (My favourite picture is printed beneath this review). The music has many elements of chamber music with a poprock edge, a touch of folk(rock), singer-songwriting, some minimalist piano ("Tines", "In Wavelet White"), etc.. always moving onwards in a mercurial and saturnial way, with illusions of images, meaningful melodies and happenings, as very filmic theatre. The execution often goes also into the direction of art-(folk)rock. Very pleasant music to listen to !

info : http://squonkopera.org with this release : http://squonk.org/hark/bsbww/
with video fragments : http://squonk.org/bsbww/bsbww-video.html
article : http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=839202003
Review : http://www.post-gazette.com/magazine/20001222squonkrev3.asp
& http://www.progweed.net/reviews/squonkopera/squonkopera-band.html
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Forgotten Works Pub.Squonk Opera : Rodeo Smackdown (US,2005)****

For this release Squonk Opera made a kind of chamber music rock opera, with visual theatre to it, based upon the Minotaur symbol as a metaphoric hunting image to any average corned beef eating cowboy. The group has found a perfect balance in itself, and the sound hangs perfectly together. Even where piano clearly leads, this sound moves almost organically. I very much like the addition of Irish flute by Steve O’Hearn (besides he also plays wind synthesizer and Tyrolean trumpet), or the driving fretless bass from Nathan Wilson, the opera/soulful flavour in the voice of Christina Acosta and Jackie’s bright piano play, and the rhythmic structure by percussionist Kevin Kornecki. Recommended !

Info : http://squonkopera.org/rodeo/index.html
Videoclips : http://squonkopera.org/rodeo/video.html
Other reviews : http://squonkopera.org/rodeo/reviews.html
Website of percussionist Kevin Kornicki : http://www.kevinkornicki.com/
Website of guitarist Nathan Wilson : http://www.nathan-wilson.com/
Stage reviews : http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04280/390983.stm
& http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_258304.html
& http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_196952.html
The Barbez, Pascals & Bed reviews moved
to the second Chamber Music Rock review page-->
Ralph Rec.The Residents : Not Available (US,1974)****°

The Residents were amongst those groups who were surely 20 years ahead their time. They predated all private tape-recording groups from the 80’s with electronica experiments with strange spheres, vocals and harmonies. It took music history to even the end of the 90’s or even much later before more groups like this came to the discipline of professional recorded material. Residents are a kind of theatre or theatre into theatre into music. “Not Available” plays intellectually and conceptually with the idea of a personal play within a play, which becomes another play with the public and the idea that this shouldn’t be available or exposed, but of course that’s only a typical Residents game. A teacher of mine once said Residents are kind of anti-music but I wouldn’t put it that way. But they use the “not obvious” on the edge of absurdity in a very presentable way, with its own specific, typical and unique harmony patterns. This album is another essential Residents release !
Other favourites of mine are “The Third Reich 'n Roll” -LP version-(playing a musical game with oldies, making absurd versions of them as another unacceptable-art exhibition), ”Mark of the Mole” -LP version- (another surreal rock-opera), and  “Commercial Album” (with its according to Residents hits sensitive tracks of one minute, because the essence of a hit is only 1 minute).

PS. About the listing on this page : Residents are not chamber music related but they are related with theatre music, especially for this piece.

Audio : http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,153151,00.html
Other review : http://www.rzweb.net/albums/classic/notavail.html &
http://www.musicdish.com/mag/index.php3?id=2731
& http://www.tonevendor.com/item/18086
& http://rateyourmusic.com/view_album_details/album_id_is_10584
More info on Residents : http://www.residents.com/ & http://www.ralphamerica.com/
Label entry : http://212.12.33.205/euroralph/kategorie.asp?KatID=CD
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Forgotten Works Pub.Squonk Opera : You Are Here (US,2006)****

The group for their 5th project had the clever idea to make their new project/stage opera adaptable to each town they play. For each new occasion they do a lot of work in preparing the necessary local information and images to fit in. Technically there is also now much more possible with video, and a few laptop arrangements. The core of music remains the same, where each musician adds his own interplaying layer and character, resulting in a variety of logically growing sections. There’s a part in the beginning that sounds more powerful than ever, as a rather progressive, but not overpowering ‘rock’ opera, which is then tempered by piano or keyboards, with some semi-opera-like vocal parts, and many other parts that are song related but that are also presented into the instrumental structure. Just here and there I noticed a folky element of some parts with (Irish) flute, amongst other spontaneous inspirations. The music everywhere convinces and hangs together well in a way which makes it extremely pleasant to listen to.

Homepage with audio : http://www.myspace.com/squonkopera
Info with audio : http://cdbaby.com/cd/squonkopera
Info : http://www.squonkopera.org/shows/hometown.html
Interview : http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06173/700137-42.stm
Stage preview : http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04275/388247.stm