Search - Thelonious Moog :: Yes We Didn't

Yes They Did

kukuruku | Belmont, CA | 06/16/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In Thelonious Moog, producer Joe "Guido" Welsh and keyboardist Steve Million have banded together in an unholy alliance sure to make Monk purists balk while delighting the rest of us.Those who remember the wacky, way-out Moog music Jean-Jaques Perrey made in the early 70's will no doubt get a kick out of this CD. Sadly (or perhaps fortunately), that music went the way of the analog synthesizer. But the Mighty Moog synthesizer roars back on this album joined by Moog-alike revivals such as the Synthesizers.com synthesizer. Those instruments, and others in which nary a nand gate can be found, are masterfully combined and pitted against each other in a Battle Royal for your eardrums and attention.It seems that analog synthesizers and the music of Thelonious Monk were made for each other--or so you will believe after hearing just a few tracks. What might have been tasteless quacks and burps in the hands of lesser talents here combine into a satisfying whole that can be summed up in the word "happy." A sense of fun pervades the entire album. This could be why Thelonious Moog is also a hit with children. Yet this is no kiddy record--just a jazzy and up-tempo musical romp that manages to push the limits while preserving the thematic integrity of each selection. The musicians, apparently drawn from nearby Nashville, are outstanding. The arrangements are also topnotch. The title track, cobbled from four Monk melodies, expertly combines a catchy "hook," a danceable beat, and Steve Million's nearly out-of-control vocals. The current revival in analog synthesizers has spawned a lamentable abundance of mechanically repetitive, amelodic, soulless robo-porn tracks that are banal at best and enervating at worst. Thelonious Moog once again treats us to real musicians playing real music by a real composer. Let's hope it starts a trend."

Wish They Hadn't!

Robert Carlberg | Seattle | 06/13/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Thelonious Monk played on synthesizers, well what would you expect?



This release actually harkens back to a long tradition (at least since 1968) of novelty records rushed out by various studio musicians to capitalize on the sudden boom in "Moog records" following the success of "Switched-On Bach."



And like those records, this one bears not one iota of the musicality of Carlos's 1968 ground-breaker.



The synth sounds used are all parodies (quacking duck sounds, growly square waves, all insanely primitive) plus at least half the sounds are not synthesizer at all -- secret agent guitar, banjo, cheap rhythm box, ring-modulated piano and combo organ. Monk's songs are mostly played for laffs, at the level of Rick Dee's "Disco Duck" (if you like that sort of thing).



To be fair (and hence the second star) this release makes no pretense of being anything other than what it is, a retro cheesy novelty Moog record. The date says 2003... but I'm not sure I believe it."

Love the moog...but

kukuruku | 07/14/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"musical equivalent to a whoopy cushion? cartoon music? production, playing, and synth timbers are good, and it is kinda fun at first, but it grows annoying after awhile and then, epiphany! it becomes abundently clear why the whole 'cheap trick' moog exploitation novelty thing died out in the 70's."