MUSIC FROM THE PENGUIN CAFE

Multi-instrumentalist Simon Jeffes is joined by a collection of guests on eclectic backing instruments for this weird, occasionally folk-tinged slice of abstract avant-garde art-muzak. Presenting chamber music with no apparent connection to any pre-existing musical tradition, in retrospect (thanks in part to the Penguin Cafe's early championing by Brian Eno) we can see this as a sort of mellow, more acoustically-oriented cousin to the sort of ambient pop that Eno and Brand X cooked up on Another Green World. Minimalistic, yes, but never boring, the Penguin Cafe flock are always doing something interesting which sounds like little before or since. Followers of the more abstract jazz, folk, or pop tendencies will likely find it worth their time.