07-05-2017, 16:54
(This post was last modified: 07-05-2017, 22:31 by Music Head.)
PENGUIN CAFÃ ~ The Imperfect Sea (released 05 May)
![[Image: R-10244087-1494019920-2009.jpeg.jpg]](https://img.discogs.com/tkYf8rKXHZ6RAHkDiaJOGN07Z0U=/fit-in/300x300/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():qualit y(40)/discogs-images/R-10244087-1494019920-2009.jpeg.jpg)
Arthur Jeffes has donned the mantle of his father and is keeping the Penguin Café philosophy alive, albeit in slightly different guise. A talented composer in his own right, his family realised heâd follow in the paternal experimental footsteps when, at a young age, they found him taking a hammer to the keys of the piano :eek:. Fortunately, matters have progressed significantly since then, and if anything, I find his works less avant garde than those of the late Simon Jeffes and his Penguin Café Orchestra. From what Iâve heard thus far, Iâd say my personal taste errs on the side of the son, but that said, I am not an aficionado of either and should probably revisit both some time. What I can say is that if I had heard The Imperfect Sea without knowing who was involved, I would have immediately drawn comparisons with the PCO, and in fact, the simple Penguin Café do still perform some of the PCO works. This is their third album.
A trifle off topic, but an interesting snippet nonetheless (IMHO) - I love it when people make art in celebration of, or inspired by significant events, especially when weâd not necessarily hear too much about them otherwise; musical documents, I suppose â courtesy of Wiki ⦠âIn 2012, Jeffes was commissioned by the artist Nelly Ben-Hayoun to write several pieces for the NASA Kepler mission, to be played by the International Space Orchestra.The pieces "1420" and "Aurora" were beamed into space in 2013. "1420" was inspired by the WOW! signal.â So-called because the person who noticed the anomaly recorded by the Big Ear radio telescope scribbled a large red WOW! on the transcript. More about that - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow!_signal
Like PCO, there appears to be a changing line-up of musicians and the music truly is genre defying; eclectic, esoteric, ambient, classical crossover, etc., etc., which is why it has wound up here. Discogs pins it as Alternative/Indie - a bit like the composer himself who not only does the musical thing but is also an anthropologist, archaeologist and Arctic explorer. Coming next, Mr Jeffes will be working with a couple of astrophysicists named Samaya Nissanke and Jean Michel Desert â not sure exactly what is proposed, but it will be an audio visual experience exploring said rocket scientistâs latest discoveries in âGravitational Waves and Exoplanets respectivelyâ. The mind boggles.
I canât find a list of the contributing musicians to this album, but I know that theyâve been a pretty diverse bunch in the past, including members of the Royal College of Music (London, I would imagine), Gorillaz, Razorlight and Suede! Thereâs expertise, for sure, even if it seems impossible to categorise. As a vague clue, the album is instrumental, kind of like chamber/jazz fusion in places, but then thereâs a properly ambient piece and some rather interesting and persistent bass notes and percussion along the way which lend a contemporary flavour. Throw all of that together with lovely flurries of strings, a splash of fairground accordion, some tinkly and some found sounds, shake (or stir), and voila!
This is âCantorumâ ...
[video=youtube;I_FsjLoyz90]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_FsjLoyz90[/video]
Arthur Jeffes has donned the mantle of his father and is keeping the Penguin Café philosophy alive, albeit in slightly different guise. A talented composer in his own right, his family realised heâd follow in the paternal experimental footsteps when, at a young age, they found him taking a hammer to the keys of the piano :eek:. Fortunately, matters have progressed significantly since then, and if anything, I find his works less avant garde than those of the late Simon Jeffes and his Penguin Café Orchestra. From what Iâve heard thus far, Iâd say my personal taste errs on the side of the son, but that said, I am not an aficionado of either and should probably revisit both some time. What I can say is that if I had heard The Imperfect Sea without knowing who was involved, I would have immediately drawn comparisons with the PCO, and in fact, the simple Penguin Café do still perform some of the PCO works. This is their third album.
A trifle off topic, but an interesting snippet nonetheless (IMHO) - I love it when people make art in celebration of, or inspired by significant events, especially when weâd not necessarily hear too much about them otherwise; musical documents, I suppose â courtesy of Wiki ⦠âIn 2012, Jeffes was commissioned by the artist Nelly Ben-Hayoun to write several pieces for the NASA Kepler mission, to be played by the International Space Orchestra.The pieces "1420" and "Aurora" were beamed into space in 2013. "1420" was inspired by the WOW! signal.â So-called because the person who noticed the anomaly recorded by the Big Ear radio telescope scribbled a large red WOW! on the transcript. More about that - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow!_signal
Like PCO, there appears to be a changing line-up of musicians and the music truly is genre defying; eclectic, esoteric, ambient, classical crossover, etc., etc., which is why it has wound up here. Discogs pins it as Alternative/Indie - a bit like the composer himself who not only does the musical thing but is also an anthropologist, archaeologist and Arctic explorer. Coming next, Mr Jeffes will be working with a couple of astrophysicists named Samaya Nissanke and Jean Michel Desert â not sure exactly what is proposed, but it will be an audio visual experience exploring said rocket scientistâs latest discoveries in âGravitational Waves and Exoplanets respectivelyâ. The mind boggles.
I canât find a list of the contributing musicians to this album, but I know that theyâve been a pretty diverse bunch in the past, including members of the Royal College of Music (London, I would imagine), Gorillaz, Razorlight and Suede! Thereâs expertise, for sure, even if it seems impossible to categorise. As a vague clue, the album is instrumental, kind of like chamber/jazz fusion in places, but then thereâs a properly ambient piece and some rather interesting and persistent bass notes and percussion along the way which lend a contemporary flavour. Throw all of that together with lovely flurries of strings, a splash of fairground accordion, some tinkly and some found sounds, shake (or stir), and voila!
This is âCantorumâ ...
[video=youtube;I_FsjLoyz90]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_FsjLoyz90[/video]
"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us." ~ Bill Watterson
mile:
