The Good: Edge of Arrival by The Apes of God
What would happen if a bunch of visual artists got together and started making music? Well that's answered by San Francisco based The Apes of God. Performing are Gilbert Marhoefer (vocalist and lyricist), Jason Gibbs (multi-instrumentalist and composer), Myles Boisen (guitarist-bassist and composer), and Gino Robair (drums and percussion). Edge of Arrival is their third album and delves into many avenues uniting music with art and various art periods of the twentieth century. A musical interpretation of visual art and what that particular movement responded to. Using "spoken word" a parallel to rap (?) set to music, the album shifts gears dramatically between funnier pieces like "Why can't Lansberry Get his Mail?" to darker more intense "Luba Banjo" with indications of the paranormal.
I must admit I wasn't aware that the album was "spoken word" until I played the first track, and I cracked up. It evoked in my mind, images of the stereotypical artists cafe, smoky and funky with black berets and a performer on stage with all the wacky artists grooving! I initially thought the music was pretty good but I didn't go in for the vocals. However the CD came packaged with a 34 page booklet of original artwork as well as a press kit with post cards based on the book. In addition the CD has multimedia capabilities with some cool graphics and the video for "Fanfare for Post Modern Architecture" which was ...... intriguing. The art book is excellent and complements the bands intentions fully combining political and social elements together with aesthetic sign of the respective art movements. In fact the artwork was so good I decided I had to like this album, or at least give it another try.
On second spin I think its a good CD. The music is amazing and the lyrics are pretty interesting. However be prepared, this is not your average music CD, you can't have it playing in the background or jamming on the stereo. Rather this is a CD to listen to, to trance with in the night, or ideally on the Ride Rocket to an unknown destination.