CARTOON

CARTOON have been compared to UNIVERS ZERO and HENRY COW for their classical influenced, Avant- gard style of music. What amazes me about their debut is that it is played by a trio (drums, keys and guitar) when the music often seems like it is being played by a 6-8 piece band, as the soundscape is often filled by a collage of intricate sounds.The drums and piano really lead the way most of time.This is so complex, yet so melodic at times.Very impressive.

"Shark" opens with a good beat as piano and guitar take turns taking the lead. Things get a little dissonant before 2 minutes when the melody stops. A new melody takes over and it sounds fantastic. Very melodic and beautiful. A change after 5 minutes as another melody takes over after some cartoonish sounds. Guess what ? This sounds really good as well. That melody stops before 7 minutes as some samples come in.The last section includes some aggressive guitar. Nice. "Ptomaine Poisoning" opens with some random piano sounds. We start to get a piano melody after a minute. Drums come in and then a full sound before 4 minutes. The full sound comes and goes. Great sound 6 minutes in. "Anemic Bolero" features some intricate guitar and beautiful piano melodies as drums keep up the beat throughout. "Flotsam" features what sounds like violin sounds as drums jab away. It gets dissonant a minute in with voices in the background. It all stops as different sounds come and go with no melody, then the previous melody returns with some angular guitar. Nice. The contrast coninues. Great tune. Some cartoon moments as well.

"Apathy In America" features outbursts of drums and piano that come and go. They become more steady until before 2 minutes it changes to a calm as it settles down until 3 minutes. Then back to that soundscape of intricate sounds. "I Have No Teeth" is experimental and turns spacey. "Shredded Wheat" is rather dark and haunting as we all know shredded wheat can be. You'll never hear corn flakes described this way. Anyway I like the dark mood they create here. It kicks into gear 2 minutes in with some ripping guitar. This is intense. Check out the piano. There is yelling in the background after 4 minutes. Vibes 5 1/2 minutes in. It's eerie again after 6 minutes. A new melody 8 minutes in with drums and piano. Angular guitar 9 1/2 minutes in is fantastic followed by a complex array of intricate sounds. The song and album ends with a funny phone call. My favourite tracks are the opening and the closing ones.

This is music for those who like it challenging, well played and humerous. 4.5 stars.