Album Notes

After a brief 17 year absence, 80s icon band 17 Pygmies strikes back with not a one, but a two disc set of new and unusual compositions that not only encompass the elements that made the band a cult curiosity, but in fact includes and expands upon those sounds in a manner assuring them of yet another foothold (but a stronger one) in the world of musical obscurity.

Consisting of original member of 17 Pygmies and Savage Republic, Jackson Del Rey, Jeff Brenneman (original member of White Glove Test) late 80s 17 Pygmy’s member (and resident in-house poet) Louise Bialik, additional classical guitarist Meg Mary at violinist Jean Sudbury, Cello player Tanya Haden and gospel singer Jacquie James, combine their unique talents to create a new blend of unpopular musical styles dubbed arcanaca aka timeless music destined for the dustbin of obscurity, of not one-hit, but of a new breed, the no-hit wonders.

Partly pop, partly folk-implosion, partly classical, partly cinematic, partly electronica, partly…(you get the picture) the Pygmies utilize the Brian Wilson “whatever works” aesthetic to get their musical vision(s) across. Can you play it on the radio? You tell me…I don’t think you can dance to it, but if you are really desperate, I suppose you could dance to anything.

But that is just disc one..disc two consists of 13 different versions of the composition “Lotus” by 13 different guest artists, ranging from Tupac Shakur mixer Lea Reis to New York based chanteuse Jo Gabriel to the sometimes trippy (but always interesting) sounds of in-house mixer Echo Wanderer.

With the recent interest in 80s music and the resurgence of meaningful, acoustic based, but uniquely inspired folk-implosion music, 17 Pygmies would seem to be in the right place at the right time.