Donny Who Loved Bowling
Tree Fort
© 2002 Toxic Bag Productions (661669500128)
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A day-tour through the world of laptops and loops, visiting moody ambient alleyways, raging industrial train stations, lost and found sound departments and graffiti-strewn walls of noise.
tracks
- 1 Strawberrie Invocation
- 2 No
- 3 He Causes Things to Look Different So It Would Appear That Time
- 4 Drug Eruption
- 5 Ticket Beautiful Only White
- 6 Goodbye Jennifer
- 7 My Week Beats Your Year
- 8 Doris Smiling
- 9 Cranberry Sauce
- 10 Don't Worry Kyoko
- 11 Strawberrie Invitation
- 12 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
- 13 Stella's Story and What Followed
- 14 Build the Steps/Tear Down the Walls
- 15 Steve Baldwin
- 16 Mecca
- 17 WIthout Me I'm Nothing
- 18 Whale Song
- 19 Broadway Red Lipstick
- 20 In Heaven
- 21 The Ballad of Weird Angie
- 22 Thomistic Illogic
- 23 Card 127
- 24 Strawberrie Denouement
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notes
"Sub-chaotic...refined, and well-balanced. This is the kind of music that makes a statement as an art form rather than adhering to traditional musical boundaries. Kind of reminded me of when Bootsy Collins and Buckethead got together."
--Tim Green, on garageband.com
"Two words: noise art."
-Melissa London, Project 12:01
It's Chicago, about 1998. At least, it feels like 1998. Joe Griffin and Chris Petkus, each pushing the edge of his own minimalistic envelope, meet while working on an indie film whose non-existence, they both agree, would have been a blessing for the universe. Griffin and Petkus discover they both enjoy the works of David Lynch, Brian Eno and Frank Zappa, and want to create experimental music. Griffin likes to juxtapose opposites -- like recording a voice reading Thomas Aquinas' highly structured philosophical proofs over a bed of random and chaotic sounds. Petkus likes to hit or strum or pluck unusual items, just to see what the sound will be. In late 2000, they make it a weekly habit, this "creating sounds" thing, and set only one firm rule -- each session will begin and complete a single piece of music. They play with sounds, twisting and turning them to see where they lead. Out of these weekly adventures, Donny Who Loved Bowling is born. A full-length CD, "Tree Fort," is planned, and the second part of the project begins, as they carve out the time and space they need to let the magic deepen and find new surreal expressions. The One Session/One Song rule is discarded in favor of a more relaxed randomness. Petkus returns to Chicago from his new home in Austin for a week in 2001, and the two rent an abandoned bar on one of those Chicago streets that for more than a century has heard each new wave of immigrants sing its first American song. Behind that bar's black door, they bring their instruments, set up their equipment and make music. Sleep is rare. By 7 a.m. each day, Petkus has listened repeatedly to the last night's efforts and has thoughts for Griffin. By 10 a.m., they are back at their studio, developing, pushing, playing. In seven days, "Tree Fort" is done. "Tree Fort" cannot be pigeonholed as a particular genre or subset of experimental music. It doesn't take itself that seriously. Rather, it creates a day-tour through the world of laptops and loops, visiting moody ambient alleyways, raging industrial train stations, lost and found sound departments and graffiti-strewn walls of noise. The music of Donny Who Loved Bowling is ultimately, irreverently, undefinable. It simply is.
reviews
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- author: D. Clohessy
I'm usually a bit skeptical when it comes to experimental music; while I respect all genres, it's all too frequently I am introduced to an experimental piece that makes my ears bleed. Too many artists like to make some noise with some random objects and call it "experimental," when they are doing little more than breaking plates and moving furniture, not to mention testing my patience. Enter Donny Who Loved Bowling's "Tree Fort" into my CD player, and I am refreshed, pleasantly surprised, and at times, downright blown away. What stands out about this recording is that it’s unlike some other experimental artists to whom I’ve been exposed (for instance that guy who played oven racks a few years back at the Lunar Café in Chicago) - it’s interesting and diverse. It’s also substantial, melodic, dramatic, a little silly, ironic, fun, and complex without being confusing. It’s the kind of stuff that lures, captivates, and really makes one wonder what’s going on inside the heads of these guys; for instance, who was inspired to write a song about cranberry sauce and start it with the sounds of a tuning orchestra and end with a canned laugh track in a (perhaps not so obvious to some) reference to the "Paul is dead" hoax? Hilarious! Brilliant! And what’s really awesome is that from there I go from busting a gut to dancing around my living room to a totally hot, grooved-out cover of Yoko Ono's “Don’t Worry Kyoko (Mummy’s Just Looking for her Hand in the Snow).” There is just SO much going on here, but I don’t lose my patience or interest at all. While every track might not be for everyone (this is experimental, bear in mind), there is no denying the immense level of creativity and talent and imagination that Griffin and Petkus have poured into this project. Seriously excellent, and definitely worth adding to your collection.