REVOLUTION IN THE ZOO

Part of a small ex-Yugoslavian RIO movement, Slovenian outfit Quaterbriga was formed in 1984 in Ljubljana by multi-instrumentalist Milko Lazar along with two ex-Begnagrad members: drummer Ales Rendla and bassist Nino De Gleria.They settled as a quintet also with David Jarh on trumpets and Igor Leonardi on guitars.The same year they toured around Austria and Slovenia,while 1985 sees the release of their debut ''Revolution in the Zoo'' on Brut Film.

Incorporating elements from FRANK ZAPPA and of course BEGNAGRAD as well as influences from Horn Rock, Jazz and Balkan Music, Quatebriga played a very complex style of disharmonic musicianship almost entirely built around wind instruments and a schizophenic rhythm section.However the dull ZAPPA-esque opener is a bit of a fail with these humurous cheesy voices over somekind of Funk music,really a huge dissapointment.The next few tracks are decent,showcasing Quatebriga's unstructured free forms of Horn Rock and RIO with extremely complex bass lines and endless sax/trumpets dissonances in an improvisational mood.However the three tracks of the LP's flipside are again on the wrong side.The hypnotic sax/bass-driven ''To Be Or Not To Be Stoned That Is Not The Question'' still seeks out for a reason of existence in this whole RIO mess,while the 9-min. follower ''African Girl Is Comming Home'' is even worse,entirely built on sound effects and percussion until the middle,saved a bit by the wind-instrumental attack towards the end.''Uvertur'' delivers back the hypnotic atmosphere of the flipside's opener,some good work on the sax department and the dynamic closing will save this one from being as bad as ''To Be Or Not To Be Stoned That Is Not The Question''.

Filled with the highest point of dissonance but also spending plenty of its running time on pointless music, Quatebriga's debut is a huge dissapointment regarding the band's overall talent.Recommended only to hardcore RIO fans.