Album Notes

This CD is the Live soundtrack for the original DVD movie of the same title and documents 3 different line-ups of Ronnie Neuhauser’s Styrocultural Antidote from the years 2003 to 2006. The DVD features live and rehearsal footage along with interviews giving insight to the band and its music. The music is eclectic rock, funk, jazzy, experimental, orchestrated and improvisational. Witness this slice in the evolution of composer Ronnie Neuhauser and his band. A must have for music connoisseurs. Check out the review below:

New Haven Advocate Music Section Review May 5-11

Ronnie Neuhauser's Styrocultural Antidote, 3incarnation Movie Soundtrack (No Cheez Records, nocheez.com). Here's 68-minutes of audio from the band's 2008 film, incorporating interviews and live performances from three different lineups. Despite the fact that there are two drummers and two bass players, the band's dynamic and the audio edits are seamless (even when switching between recordings) — remarkable for an all-instrumental avant/prog-rock band whose songs are so full of rhythmic complexities and tonal forays into the weird and unexpected. Clarity and tunefulness blast through, and the solidity of the various rhythm sections hits at gut level as Neuhauser's fiery, exploratory guitar solos venture into the wild, then graciously return home. The interview segments provide insight into the musicians' mutual respect and compositional intention: In particular, while describing “Schizo Goes the Weasel,” Neuhauser explains his vision of “composite scales ... I have a whole bunch of rules for harmonizations that create this giant key.” There's perhaps a bit too much mic time given to the musicians' disdain of the music industry and its pursuit of celebrity appeal and the lowest common demoninator. They may be right, but still: The average listener would recognize Styrocultural Antidote as a highly skilled unit with a lot of ear-catching passages in play, but it takes a pretty trained ear to truly internalize much of what they're doing and to understand why and how it's so laudable. Art exists in a dialogue between artist and audience: We know what SA are reacting against, but who are they playing for? —Brian LaRue