groovetech has pretty extensive realaudio clips i see...it is a
little absurd to come to conclusions based on clips, but it's four in
the morning and i can't sleep, so here's an initial impression:
kinda like my reaction to the ryoji ikeda string ensemble CD: it's
mostly interesting because the guy is known for another style, but
not that interesting from the point of view of the genre being
explored.
The big band pieces remind me of Stan Kenton or something, in the
sense that they're self-consciously quirky, but in kind of a slick,
brass-heavy way. Herbert has worked in vocals, which hover between
jazz, house, caberet and pop-song, and range from "very nice" to
"promise me you'll never write a Broadway musical". The music isn't
dance music, it's kind of a jazzy stage-band fantasy.
he works in bits of electronica to good effect.
maybe it's just the nature of this project (it's not Herbert's usual
thing, probably rehearsed quickly for financial reasons, etc) but the
stock proficiency of his session players combined with his use of a
professional arranger gives his ensemble sound a certain impersonal
glass that's kinda amusing, but also kinda dull. At least, comparted
to what Herbert usually does with his sampler, which I find more
fluid and sonically creative.
I won't be throwing away my Ellington albums, or my Herbert house
music cds. But it seems like a bit of a quirky romp.
Good night.
kurt
At 7:40 PM +0000 7/9/03, idm-digest-help@hyperreal.org wrote:
quoted 13 lines Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 22:45:43 -0400>Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 22:45:43 -0400
>To: idm@hyperreal.org
>From: "Jason J. Tar" <tarjason@pilot.msu.edu>
>Subject: Herbert's Big Band
>Message-Id: <5.2.1.1.0.20030708224423.01202778@pilot.msu.edu>
>
>So, this has been listed by UK mailorder shops for weeks, but yet
>not one US shop has gotten it (at least none that I've seen). How
>come? US release forthcoming?
>
>BTW--Any reviews of it?
>
>JJTar.
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