Search - Various Artists :: Shots in the Dark

A Mindblower!

02/18/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Stumbled across this CD in a used record store years ago and the cover and title caught my eye. Being familiar with a previous Del-Fi compilation album of this sort, "Pulp Surfin" (a conscious, semi-irreverent knock-off of the "Pulp Fiction" soundtrack which is well worth the purchase itself) my interest was piqued enough for me to lay out a few bucks for this. It was, without a doubt, the best spur of the moment, "what the hell", blindly optimistic music purchase of my life.This is one of the most addicting albums ever recorded and though the songs were around thirty years old when this was released it was by far the freshest release of 1996, perhaps the entire decade.Henry Mancini's songs remain theoretically intact but are presented in such a different context, mostly a hard edged, surf rock reverb guitar meets late 50's space-age, bachelor-pad swing sound, that it instantly became one of the most ambitious tribute albums ever contemplated. There are plenty of musical quirks that would seem absurd but work to perfection: a laughing clown (don't ask) in the midst of "The Pink Panther Theme", a "space phone" (again, don't ask) on "Lonesome", and best of all, actual vintage NASA transmissions floating through the mesmerizing "Dreamsville". Each group went out on a limb with their interpretations and somehow it pulled together to form a cohesive and deviously entertaining whole.Unlike many instrumental albums, either compilations or by a single group, the songs don't all blend into one another. Each is unique unto itself and the album is aided by three vocal tracks, all sung with a sort of half-drunk casual lounge cool, that further serve to break up the flow nicely, with the most haunting version of "Moon River" ever heard to close the album out. Add to the mix excellent packaging, great liner notes with background on Mancini, plus bios and pics of each of the performers and how they approached these songs, and you have an indispensable album. If I could recommend one CD that most people, regardless of overall music taste and knowledge, probably never heard of, this would be it. However you came across this, accept it as fate and buy a copy. Listen with the lights off as you go to sleep and you're sure to have wild dreams tonight."