The obvious point of comparison for composer and "instigator" Paul Minotto and The Prime-Time Sublime Community Orchestra would be Frank Zappa's classical work. Particularly it would compare closer to earlier stuff like Uncle Meat with more the sound of an orchestra, as opposed to the later stuff that Zappa had "executed" on a synthesizer rather than performed by live musicians.
I won't claim much expertise in analyzing classical music styles, but the ( ) album strikes me as fairly listenable, more so than a lot of Zappa's classical work, and specifically more so than his idol Edgar Varese.
Particularly, I hear more pattern, or actual composition and development in ( ) than what I've ever been able to make out of Varese in particular.
The first couple of compositions here especially pleased me. "Holy War in Your Pants" has a particularly cool title, though I don't know how much it reflects the actual musical content, which has basic themes sounding like a purposefully flat high school orchestra.
My favorite track, "A Day at the Mall" offers some nice plucky 50s strings, stuff to gently pump you up as you ascend the escalator. It's fairly compelling.
Two compositions gives you over 20 minutes of outstanding material, so there's at least a good half album already. I didn't find the other pieces quite as interesting, though "Felini's pickup truck" had some nice Americana colors, bits of banjo and such in this dry lineup. Somehow I picture this going with a scene of a pickup truck tearing through a desert with surreality dust kicking up behind.
If you're interested in modern orchestral styles, ( ) rates a listen, even if they are a bunch of clowns.
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
thanks al...my list just keeps growing.
by the way, if you'd like to hear more "purposefully flat high school orchestra" music, check out a copy of Pat Metheny's First Cirle. the song "Forward March" is often referred to as "The Marching Band at Ornette Coleman High" (though the rest of the record is completely different)
2 - Eric Olsen
Have you heard the Portsmouth Symphonia? Eno was in it at one time - they play instruments on which they have no training and try to make it sound right through sheer willpower. It is the most terrible shit you have ever heard, though also kind of cool.
3 - Mark Saleski
no....any recordings out there?
sounds kinda interesting.
4 - Eric Olsen
I have a vinyl album from the '70s but I don't see anything on Amazon -
here is Eno talking about it:
BE: Well, I should explain to the audience first of all what the Symphonia was. Gavin Bryers, who's an English composer, was teaching at Portsmouth School of Art. At that time in England - this was the late 60's - the only place that actually gave modern composers jobs were art schools. The music schools had no idea what they were doing, were just interested in teaching people to play violins and so on. But because of the [John] Cage tradition, because of what had come over from America, there was a strong sense that this music had a lot to do with what the visual arts were doing. So Gavin was teaching at Portsmouth under the guise of teaching painting or something, and he formed an orchestra called the Porstmouth Symphonia. Now a lot of people think that that orchestra had only nonmusicians in it. That's not true. Anyone could join. And so actually the composition was much more interesting than if it were just nonmusicians. The rule was that everyone had to come for rehearsals and people should try not to sound silly."
5 - Eric Olsen
the rest of the interview is here
6 - Bob
where is your music? This site would be more succesful if you played a demo!
7 - Al Barger
Bob- CLICK HERE.