SALVADOR DALI & IGOR WAKHEVITCH: ÊTRE DIEU

It is rare for someone to be a virtuoso in more than one field. Salvador Dalí is perhaps my favorite painter, but his branching out into the audio world is bizarre in an unwelcome way. Perhaps someone fluent in French could appreciate the experience better, but as an album, Être Dieu sends me to sleep. More than that- this may be the most monotonous thing I've ever forced myself to sit through: Recommended for those who want to hear a man talk in French for a very long time.

"Ouvertüre und Erster Auftritt" Thunderous narration and windy squalls compete with crashes and low synthesizer lead. An ominous choir enters. After a spell of narration, it sounds like extraterrestrials are firing lasers in an operating factory. This opus also contains dark orchestral movements, splashes of cymbals, and shrill feminine vocals.

"Zweiter Auftritt oder Kampf mit dem Engel" Bizarre percussion and dramatic speaking opens this second part. A lot of it is barely audible. Vocal passages are extremely eccentric. Operatic singing and strings make up the end.

"Dritter Auftritt und Erster Abgang" Menacing strings and the sound of a cockerel underscore a foreboding voice. Clucking continues. One might as well be listening to a sermon in barnyard. After the seventeen mark is the first trace of honest-to-god music. It's rock, and it's good! It is a stark and welcome contrast from the tedium to which the past hour was devoted. It is a shame that it goes away in favor of more talk, though eventually a shadowy organ arrives.

"Im Traum" This is a cut from someone's Halloween mix tape, complete with gales and moaning people. And it has dungeon sounds. I think. The music (?) morphs into something pleasantly cinematic halfway through.

"Vierter Auftritt oder Das Glaubensbekenntnis" Sounding like something from a made-for-TV fantasy movie, this has exotic chants and unusual sibilating. Arguing (I think) comes later. More talk (and more talk) follows. A breezy bit of nonsense takes up after a while. Then there's the circus music with the blurting of a word I don't know. Then footsteps. Then more talk. Then quiet.

"Finale und Zweiter Abgang" A thick choir opens the final movement. Much of this consists of distant strings. Piano bashing ensues. There are further cinematic qualities that represent one of the rare high points of this nearly three hour drudgery.