Wonderful, Magical
author: Mary F.
This CD is a wonderful, magical, multi-layered beauty. Thank you, Andy and Rick, for bringing your creative life into form.
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A wacky, hypnotic feast of words and music
author: Trev Faull (ex-Outlet, UK)
The wacky, hypnotic world of Zru Vogue, the Penn & Tellers of the music biz, will have you rigid on your seat for 40 minutes whilst longtime poet Andrew Jackson sing-talks his way through some interesting stories set to music with much help from Rick Cuevas.
A funky groove surrounds “Pretty Fairies” with deliciously creamy bass notes and an overall hypnotic caramel flavour. The second track resembles a Kraftwerk-like backing to Andrew’s distinctive vocals and word-play projecting the song upwards.
“If Blood Was Wine” (a play on Hendrix's “If Six Was Nine”?) is a love story with an unusual lyric and snappy arrangement. The track rises above most of the others and proves to be a real standout piece.
Next we have a Middle Eastern twirl of hot sand that buries the listener in more hypontic spirals and lasts a full five minutes. After a second 'interlude' from Professor Hawking (on speed it seems), “Dig Deeper” has the rock stance of an angry brontosaurus but the whispered, Dylan-ish vocals (reminding me of Everything Is Broken) rests over a ponderous drum machine.
By contrast “Iron Man” is pure play on words and a real cheeky chappie. “Iron Man wears ironed pants,” sings Andrew and with its bushy keyboard approach is both vibrant yet teasing. “No One Knows” has a long intro where the voice interacts with the rhythm of the song perfectly. “Nuthin” is the token bad boys rock song more tap than spinal but then it truly is about nothing!
“Japanese Schoolgirl Mapping Device” arrives suitably dressed in oriental schoolgirl uniforms with the most simple of keyboard riffs and you wonder what this is all about, what can be in the San Francisco drinking water? More sinister is the “Imperfect” song that follows.
The dramatic finale “Falling Into Quicksand” again is a feast of words that wouldn’t be out of place at the end of Sergeant Pepper (really) — it's the best track on a consistently good album that stands out from the pack. Penn & Teller would approve I am sure.
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a sublime audio excursion
author: Max Tyrell
Bee-ootiful production, excellent playing, amazing music. The vibe of the first track, then the groove of the second just grabs ya from the beginning. The bass on Pretty Fairies On The Daisies is fabulous, Andy's vox are tight as an anaconda in a death grip. Fantastic performances on the whole cd, stunning guitars, great bass playing throughout, and synth sounds that are delicious just a flyin' all about everywhere.
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Great ZRU music!!
author: WINEAU
Wow, classic ZRU VOGUE music! This is a great CD. Hard to add to the review above, but this is one great CD! Funky experimental rock, all you can call it is ZRU! This disc is up there with the best of ZRU VOGUE, even their prime stuff. If you like their other music you will love this one, get it now!
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