Back sometime in the 1970s an ensemble known as The Penguin Cafe Orchestra achieved a level of popularity previously unknown for a group playing contemporary compositions. While individual composers like John Cage, Philip Glass, and Steve Reich were known and appreciated by those interested in the field, The Penguin Cafe Orchestra's compositions and recordings were reaching a broader audience. Of course popularity is a relative term; they weren't what you'd call chart toppers. But they gained enough celebrity for rumours to be spread about them.

The rumour that was most often passed around was that they were a project of ambient composer Brian Eno, but because of contract obligations he was forced to release the material under an assumed name. Whether or not there was any truth behind those rumours, it didn't hurt sales of their releases. The fact remains that it was because of the relative success of Eno's projects that a group like The Penguin Cage Orchestra was able to find an audience.

When punk rock blew the doors off the pop music scene it also encouraged and popularized experimentation among popular musicians resulting in collaborations like the ones between Brian Eno and David Byrne, lead singer of The Talking Heads that produced albums like My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts. While popular interest in contemporary compositions waned again by the mid 1980's the impact that the groups and individuals of that period had on the genre can't be denied. One of the results was today's composers find their inspiration in places that would have been unheard of before.

Listening to the recent release by Build, the self-titled Build on New Amsterdam Records, I was immediately reminded of The Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Not that any of their compositions sound anything like those of their predecessors, it's more like the same sensibility had been applied in the composition process.

As an ensemble Build resembles a mixture of a jazz combo and a classical quintete. While the cello, bass, and violin are what you'd expect to find in a classical ensemble, the Fender Rhodes and the full drum kit are more often associated with blues and jazz than anything else. Of course, in recent years we have seen many instruments playing outside of the fields they were traditionally associated with, so you really can't draw conclusions as to what anybody would play based on what they are playing. In fact Build's configuration is such that it could just as easily be a jazz combo as anything else.

What they do play is an interesting mix of melody and rhythm that depending on the composition range from approximations of atonal minimalism to variations on rhythmic patterns. Unlike some other contemporary compositions that seem intent on sounding as unmusical as possible, Build appears to apply the premise that people might want to enjoy listening to music, rather than have their ears assaulted by discordance. While that might reduce their credibility among certain circles (pretentious snobs), I personally find it a relief that there are still composers who remember that music can still be a pleasurable experience, and interesting, at the same time.