 Various Artists Not a bad CD, but one that I can't imagine very many people getting into anymore. I suppose there are probably still people who go into record stores asking for the Ultra-Lounge series, as the trend trickles down to the lowest-common-denominator crowd. These are the same people who love "Saturday Night Live" and say things like "Classic!" Hm, even I'm not sure who I was targeting with that half-baked bit of condescension. Anyway, Space Capades, was one of my favorites in the series when it originally came out (1996, by the way, being about a year late to be really "in" on the trend), focussing on "wacked-out" "hi-fi hi-jinks." This whole thing tires me more and more now that anything vaguely retro has been killed by the hipster crowd. (Therapist: "So who are you mad at, exactly?" Me: "Goddamn if I know, but what if you're one of them?!") The songs are the expected mix of familiar melodies (Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse," Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance," Taco's "Puttin' on the Ritz") done up in "crazy" ways, with lots of stereophonic tomfoolery and wild bongos to provide cheesy chuckles where directed. A couple of cuts even feature the theremin, and a couple more could even provide some choice samples, but overall this type of thing is getting pretty old. It's funny how the stuff was sort of gimmicky-novel when it came out in the 50s, then was considered extremely corny and stupid for a long time, then considered "kitschy"-funny-novel once again, only to ultimately reclaim its place as corny and stupid once more, all in the span of a few years. I don't mean to imply that this CD, or the Ultra-Lounge series, is stupid at all, just that anyone that still thinks it's hilarious probably is. Best tracks: Les Baxter's "Calcutta," Jack Malmsten's organ orgy "Satan Takes a Holiday," and Martin Denny's spooky "This Room is My Castle of Quiet." I actually kind of like it all on a pure musical level, but I can't really bring myself to listen to it anymore. It's sort of like when the jackass in your class was goofing around and everyone was forced to put their head down on their desks for thirty minutes. Those desks smelled heavily of ink and glass cleaner, and what could be more depressing than a classroom full of kids with the lights out, face-down on their desks? But I regret nothing! I was having fun goofing around. Let the world be punished for my sins.
Review by Neville R. Brother |