FRENCH TV3 |
| Musicians are : Mike Sary : Bass (Tracks 1-5, 7), Tapes (Track 6) Fenner Castner : Drums (Tracks 1-5, 7) Paul Nevitt : Keyboards (Tracks 1-3) Dean Zigoris : Guitars (Track 1) Artie Bratton : Guitars (Tracks 2-5, 7) Reid Jahn : WX7 Wind Synth (Track 2), Sax (Track 4, 7) Gretchen Wilcox : Violin (Track 2) Jon Encifer : Piano (Track 2) Bruce Krohmer : Sax, Clarinet (Track 3, 5) Richard Brooner : Trumpet (Track 3, 5) Howie Gano : Scream (Track 3), Spastic Keyboard Solo (Track 5), Keyboards (Track 6), Drum Machine (Track 6) Bob Ramsey : Keyboards (Track 5, 7) The tracks are : 1. Hey! Real Executives Jump From The 50th Floor! (6:00) 2. Clanghonktweet (6:39) 3. The Family That Oonts Together, Groonts Together (7:41) 4. I'm Whining For The Funky Baby Of Mine (6:20) 5. Empate (7:48) 6. Friends In High Places (Or Boy Do I Hate These Bastards) (8:00) 7. Slowly I Turn... Step By Step...Inch by Inch... (& Featuring The Drunken Viking Chorus:) (12:15) French TV is a Louisville-based experimental rock band based around bass player and founder member Mike Sary. They released their debut album, French TV in 1983 ('SHROOM RECORDS, the American label that put out the HANDS cds among others has agreed to re-issue their 1st LP on CD and should have it available this summer) which was followed three years later by After A Lengthy Silence (1986). "AFTER A LENGTHY SILENCE" was re-issued by the Italian label MELLOW RECORDS back in 1996,and is still in print. French TV also recorded a version of NEKTAR's" A TAB IN THE OCEAN" for this release as a bonus track. There was a lengthy silence before the band re-appeared on the scene with their 1994 album Virtue In Futility. This contained tracks "recorded sporadically" between July 1987 and October 1990, and effectively re-launched the band's career. The opening track is 'Hey! Real Executives Jump From The 50th Floor!', this track has a very strong melody, but there are amny times when the music goes off at a tangent to create different moods alng the way. There are some real nice atmospheric parts to this track, at other times the music is highly complex. There is also some stunning guitar work. The next track is 'Clanghonktweet', starting off with violin and piano, this has quite a classical feel to it, then bass, guitar and drums are added. Mike states that this is their attempt at an Irish Jig and i have to say, that this track does have a dance/jig feel about it, but for me doesn't have much of an Irish feel to it. More of a classical inspired jig. The third track 'The Family That Oonts Together, Groonts Together', this track is more jazz influenced with some stunning guitar work. There are some wonderful moments from Sax, Clarinet and Trumpet. Played with so much feeling an emotion. The next track ' I'm Whining For That Funky Baby Of Mine', is a track with lots of atmosphere. Once again, there is quite a lot of jazz influence here, and quite a lot of the track sounds improvisational. 'Empate', this is what I would call mood music, something you could play to your partner, wife, etc. This opening section is quite beautiful and seductive, that is, until the change in direction, when the music becomes more aggressive and menacing, and this stays for the rest of the track. The sixth track 'Friends in High Places', This is quite a political track with sampled voices of U.S. Presidents with atmospheric drums and keyboards forming the backdrop. The final track is 'Slowly I Turn... Step By Step... Inch By Inch...', this track is the longest on the album at just over 12 minutes, starting off with intricate guitars, nice drums, percussion and bass. The guitar work then takes on a slightly heavier stance, with some mellow keyboards and piano too. As the track progresses the keyboards go more atmospheric, I would even say that they are quite haunting in a way. There's some Sax then added, beautifully seductive and at the same time there is still this haunting theme going on in the background. Then Mike and Artie come in and play their lines in unison and for me this works extremely well and after a while the music then fades away, and for the last three minutes, there is the 'Viking Drunken Chorus', which sounds like the band just having a bit of fun at the end of their recording session. Virtue In Futility is an album with influences such as Jazz, Rock and Progressive Rock. There are moments throughout, when there are political aspects to the album and Mike takes a jab at American culture and social-political naivety. One thing I do wonder about, is that whether there is a band at all, as there seems to be a lot of guest musicians used for one or two tracks on the album. Not that this matter's as long as the end result turns out to be fine and for me it is. Personally, I like this type of music, as I am always looking for something a little bit different from the norm. Recommended! Also Virtue In Futility is released on the band's own Pretentious Dinosaur label. For more information, contact Mike Sary at 201 S. Birchwood #1, Louisville, KY 40206, USA French TV website : http://www.multimania.com/olpa/olpa/frenchtv/frenchtv.homepage.html Email : msarybeep@hotmail.com |