Mascarade
(Autobus - AUTO009) CD $13.50
An anti-Christmas album, with songs from all over the world sung in Hungarian, Japanese, German, Portuguese, English, Yiddish and French. All fourteen tracks are thematically related to Christmas and/or winter (most of them are against either or both). The new-music-for-children duo (Franqo Rythmo -- aka Franq de Quengo of Bimbo Tower and the Sonic Protest festival -- on drums, electronic and acoustic percussion, toys, electronics and cheap effects; and Lore -- aka Laure Barges -- on voice and toy percussion) becomes a full quartet on Mascarade, their fifth album, joined by Mr. Pinguin (electric and acoustic guitar, electric bass and ukulele) and Mami Chan (keyboards).
Tutti Frutti
(Autobus) CD $13.50
(Autobus) LP $13.50 (Out-of-stock)
The fourth chaotic album by this French duo who are both kid-friendly and outsider avant wackos. Strange arrangements that'd make The Boredoms proud, toy instruments, ADD samples, warped loops extracted from ancient 45s, bizarre versions of The Cramps' "Human Fly" and The TV Personalities' "Jackanory Stories."
Spectrum
(Autobus) CD + CD-ROM $18.00
(Autobus) Used CD + CD-ROM $8.00
Beginning in the 1950s, ethnomusicologist Király has been collecting the vocal and instrumental music of the people of the Voïvodine region (Hungarian, Serbs, Croats, Slovaks, gypsies) as well as their folk instruments: zithers, drums, flutes and fifes. Includes "The Little Glutton," an opera for children based on a folk tale recorded in 1963; early '70s recordings with Katalin Ladlik and Ensemble Acezantez on citraphone, tablophone, acoustic guitar and zither; and a 1998 home-recorded tablophone solo improvisation. CD-ROM is a 24-minute solo performance on zither, recorded live at Le Batofar in Paris in 1999.