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| The opening spoken lyrics on the title track, "Well, it must be the weekend 'cause it's raining" offers an immediate rapport with the workaday world - with the only respite here from the un-cooperative forces of nature being a delightful morning sexual interlude. From that point, the CD becomes totally surrealistic. Byron Edwards, apparently somewhat of a reclusive Ottawa musician and composer, created this exciting, multi-faceted, kaleidoscope of music in 1998. I had been given this CD at least two years later by my younger brother, who either found it not to his liking or else he simply wanted to share the symphonic brilliance with me. In any case, I immediately adored it (and still do) and was loath to "dissect" it in any way. That being said, after guiltily hoarding it to myself for almost three years, I felt the need to finally give it the acknowledgement it deserves. The "ARM" project, as I like to call it, was a major collaboration with a long list of members of numerous Ottawa bands and solo artists, some dating back to the �70s, if not earlier, including J.P. MacDonald (a.k.a. Johnny Vegas, and brother of comedian Mike McDonald), Andrea Karam (of Andrea and the Fun Guys), Peter Foret (of Peter & The Wolves), Mike Reilly (of Bolt Upright & The Erections), Fred Guignion (of the Hammerheads), Steve Berndt, Sandy Gordon, Brian Magmer and "Wild" Bill Rowatt (from the Jivewires' horn section), Beth Henderson (of Tangleroot) and more from bands like The Blue Currant Preserve Swing Band, The Tired Band of Revolution, The Crayons, Goodfellas, Malaika, The Srelhooh, The Schreyer Triplets, The Muse, Chapter 23, Crucial Moments, The Stuntmen, Those Crazy Bi-Peds, This Minor Tremble, Crucial Moments, etc., etc.! The overall sound of the CD is "theatrical glam-rock", due, no doubt, to Bryon's vocals, which alternately evoke the late Marc Bolan of T-Rex, the late Freddy Mercury of Queen, David Bowie, Graham Gouldman of 10cc, Steve Winwood of Traffic, and even John Lennon (if you listen to the VERY end), but the compositions themselves are instrumentally diverse in their specific cultural influences (Indian, Japanese, French) spanning various genres (rock, funk, jazz, rhythm & blues and electronica). In fact, there aren't too many instruments in existence that haven't been utilized in this production - fiddle, banjo, piano, all sorts of fuzzy, crunchy, funky, screaming electric, bass and acoustic guitars (including steel and classical), horns-a-plenty - "chortling" trombone, saxophone, trumpet, clarinet - harmonica, autoharp, sitar, tambourine, accordion, along with a variety of drums and percussive instruments. Any other particular desired sound emanated from a Moog synthesizer or from a large cast of background vocalists/percussionists. Under "scooped, snafued and bamboozled instruments", there is mention of "The Annalude" by Steve Rowatt, Leslification by Skidmore Studios' Al Bragg & Ted Gerow, Theremin by Don Marcotte, and The Ian Tamblyn Philharmonic, c/o Mr. Tamblyn himself. It was executively produced by the mysterious "John", who also plays various instruments on the CD, at Ka Sound, The Sound of One Hand Clapping Studio in Ottawa. There is not a single bad track on this CD, and, in fact, the excitement level and dynamic modus operandi is solid throughout. The sometimes oblique but nevertheless fantastical lyrics deal variously with romance, lunacy, alienation, survival, flying machines and freaks of nature. On reflection, though, it seems as though I'm painting a very dark and depressing sound here - not at all. Byron has offered a series of vignettes from the perspective of an outsider looking in, a part of the "lunatic fringe", if you will. He is the first to admit his attraction to the "dark side", while still getting a great deal of enjoyment from it. Despite his protestations of indifference towards, and mockery of, society in general, he certainly knows how to turn a poetic phrase when singing about a certain female. It all seems extremely "tongue-in-cheek" but it's still a slick production whose tracks still delight me so many years later! Bryon throws in familiar literary catch-phrases like the Shakespearean quote, "There's something rotten in Denmark", the Chinese reference to "yin and yang", the universal urban cynicism of "been there, done that, got the t-shirt" and gives a nod to the late Frank Zappa with the "number one with a bullet" line in the weary rock-star anthem, "My Deep Sleep", on which he declares "I'm not suicidal, I just like my deep sleep". Elsewhere he goes off on complete lyrical tangents, introducing "phantasmagoria, the grotesque, the gonzo and bizarre", but describes a world turned upside down without his lover as being "Dali-esque" - a great analogy! |
| THE ALIEN, THE RABBIT & THE MONKEY - BYRON (EDWARDS) |
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