THE SURSIKS: I Didn't Know I Was Singing

The Sursiks

I Didn't Know I Was Singing

© 2006 David Minnick (634479267888)

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The melodies of human speech as found on answering machine messages become the "singing" in this set of 16 mind-blowing progressive rock/jazz songs.

tracks

1 2 Saved Messages
2 Pork Chop Dinner
3 Slashin Your Own Tires
4 I'll Be Guiding You
5 Communism Part 1
6 Communism Part 2
7 Please Call Me
8 A Bundle A Pistol of Rahina
9 Martial Arts
10 David Lee Part 1
11 David Lee Part 2
12 David Lee Part 3
13 Sister!
14 I am So Fuckin' Sorry
15 Hey Gary This is Kirstin
16 Hi Gary This is Elenore

notes

The Sursiks, the masters of musical reverse-engineering, have taken 16 phone messages from the answering machines of family members and friends and set them to music, largely unaltered. The messages are not simply slapped on top of pre-existing music for the sake of novelty, but they ARE the melodic material from which the rest of the music is born. The result is a truly brilliant, hilarious and mind-altering concept album that will change the way that you listen to the human voice out in the real world.

Because the lyrics were all improvised when the messages were recorded, they contain a type of honesty and life that pre-meditated singing often lacks. Emotions from the whole rage of human experience, (joy, anger, loneliness, drunkenness, deceit, humor, contrition, alienation, envy and desire) are matched and amplified by excellent musicians playing real instruments.

The musicians include 3 members of the legendary American ska band "Gangster Fun", and the playing is all top-notch. The musical style and instrumentation varies from song to song, which makes it an interesting listen all the way through. The arrangements are deep and colorful enough to still be interesting after listening many times.

Rating:***** Dick Cheney, Vice President of the United States

reviews

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  • Humour
    author: Robert Davidson

    I'm fascinated by this whole approach to prosody - my own album on CD Baby, Airwaves, takes a similar approach to some key speeches of the 20th century. The list of music made from speech recordings is growing: Scott Johnson, Steve Reich, René Lussier, Hermeto Pascoal, Frank Zappa, Sherre Delys, Victor Wooten, Steve Vai, Loops, Topology, Peter Ablinger, Jocelyn Pook, Jason Moran, Marco Minnemann, Red Symons, Rudresh Mahanthappa - Thank you Mr Janáček for starting this off (well, thanks to the talking drum masters of the last few thousand years in West Africa, etc etc). Anyway, this is a particularly nice instance of making damn catchy music from unintended melodies.

  • Songs out of messages.
    author: Breno Couto

    Hermeto Pascoal used to do small samples of this in the 70s and 80s, but the tracks were usually about 30 seconds long, and the song usually never developed beyond the actual recording. The Sursiks here go beyond what's being said in the messages and make full-fledged songs out of these messages. Just listen to a few samples: if you dig them, then by all means get this album, it's quite amazing. (In a few cases it's hard to understand what's being said, though)

  • A Magnificent Achievement
    author: JUDGE SMITH

    Congratulations to David Minnick and all on a superb piece of work. Wonderful musicianship and a humane, positive and strangely compassionate vision. But, above all, it is the exploration of 'Speech Into Music' technique makes this a genuinely significant and important album. I have a feeling that music like this, and a few other 'Speech Into Music' works, like 'Le Trésor De La Langue' by René Lussier, are pointing the way to a whole new kind of writing, a whole new category of music. Maybe this is the way forward.

  • author: Wilson

    First heard Sursiks on Myspace. Loved it, had to have it, very glad I got it and now the plan is to choreograph Sister soon. Thumbs both up on this cd.

  • Surprise!
    author: Diane Krstulovich

    I bought this CD on a whim. The first time I heard it, I was sincerely surprised that I listened to it all the way through. Even more surprised when I found myself laughing out loud in several places. You are extremely talented musicians. (And I can't stop asking myself HOW you pursuaded all these people that this was a good idea and they should do this! Or even that they should contribute their very personal messages!! Perhaps your calling is in sales - lol) When it was done, my first thought was, 'you need better friends'. Truly, if you ever had the phone messages of someone famous, you would have a hit single or a hit comedy album. If you just want to be mercinery and make money at this, I bet this would be an incredible birthday present for rich people: To set personal messages to music the way you have done here. What an ego boost for someone who can afford it! Anyway, I'm still surprised and I and my friends have listened to it several times more. And I laugh every time. I very much enjoyed some of the pieces which can almost stand alone ('chicken shak' and 'please call me'). Besides all those wonderful musical things, your liner notes and your cover art are all fabulous. Good luck and tell me if you do something else!

  • Great album!
    author: Cosmow

    This CD keeps surprising me the more I listen to it.. not so much the lyrics as the musical framework that is put around it. Minimalistic yet funny. I find myself singing about pork chop dinners even though I am a Veggie!

  • this band will emerge to national prominence before your eyes
    author: k9wire

    The musicianship stands on its own. The fact that this band is also so outrageously funny, mirrors the genuine creative talent that they are.

  • Buy this disc!
    author: Jeff Benson

    I bought this CD on the recommendation of a very good friend, who's a very good musician. It floored him and it's floored me for its innovation, humor, and outstanding musicianship. Reminds me a lot of Frank Zappa, particularly his song, The Jazz Discharge Party Hats. Anyway, this disc refuses to wear thin on repeated listenings, which is uncommon when someone's working with a concept like this. Certain songs just worm their way into your brain, and pretty soon you find yourself going to the Chicken Shack to try a...Pork Chop Dinner.....highly recommended! (The disc and the dinner.)

  • Down Right Cool!
    author: Daniel J Evers

    These folks are excellent musicians and their arrangements really kick ass! It's important to point this out because most folks will probably buy this CD for the “novelty” factor and, certainly, their use of the voice messages to set both a song's beat and melodic content is certainly novel (Hint: Listen to how the guitar follows the voice in “Hey Gary, This Is Kirstin”). And, OK, that's fine if that's what it takes to make a sale! But, just as Frank Zappa was novel he was also a wonderful musician and arranger - and so are the Sursiks! I find myself listening and enjoying the arrangements to a greater extent for the actual music then just their adroit use of the message machine recordings. So, buy this CD for the novelty, but the odds are good that you'll keep listening to it for the music because it's extremely cool!

  • author: Tamara Turner, CD Baby

    For entertainment value alone, this album is worth mentioning. It's one of those novelty albums you need to play at a party to impress your friends, new and old. But that's not where this album ends- not even close. The concept of taking answering machine messages and turning them into music is only the first level of playful ingenuity in "I Didn't Know I Was Singing." Beyond that idea kernel, The Sursiks play with and tweak each message in a unique way, whether by breaking them down rhythmically or melodically or inferring genre styles and emotional qualities as diverse as hip hop rock to folk to jazz to funky R&B. Each message-turned-song is so cleverly woven that it brings to mind the notable contemporary classical composer, Steve Reich, and his work "Different Trains" which beautifully demonstrates the great musical potential of human speech. The Sursiks, with a similar end in sight, give us yet another way to appreciate this phenomenon with humor and fun.

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