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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. Theme And Variations | |||
| 2. Down Is Up | |||
| 3. Bumbo | |||
| 4. Big Cat | |||
| 5. Oo Debut | |||
| 6. Lament 1 'Bird's Lament' | |||
| 7. Moondog's Symphony 1 | |||
| 8. Moondog's Symphony 2 | |||
| 9. Rabbit Hop | |||
| 10. Rimshot | |||
| 11. Snaketime Rhythm | |||
| 12. Instrumental Round | |||
| 13. Double Bass Duo | |||
| 14. Why Spend The Dark Night With You | |||
| 15. All Is Loneliness | |||
| 16. Snaketime Rhythm | |||
| 17. Dragon's Teeth | |||
| 18. Oboe Round | |||
| 19. Be A Hobo | |||
| 20. Dog Trot | |||
See all 36 tracks on this disc
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Product Description
CD Description
Louis Thomas Hardin, better known by his pen name, Moondog, was a blind street musician, poet, and denizen of New York City's streets during the mid-20th century. Noted for his outlandish Norse-inspired costumes and use of odd, homemade instrumentation, Moondog's idiosyncrasies sometimes served to overshadow his very real and important contributions to modern American music. THE VIKING OF 6TH AVENUE, is the first retrospective spanning the composer's entire career, highlights Hardin's influence on modal-jazz forms, and his importance as a precursor to minimal, pattern-based composition of the `60s and `70s. The collection encompasses everything from full-scale orchestral pieces, like the swinging "Lament 1 `Bird's Lament'" (famously sampled by Mr. Scruff and subsequently used for a well-known car advertisement), to brief percussion interludes, as in the tribal Native American inflections of "Snaketime Rhythm." Other tracks provide candid, on-location snapshots of his infamous street performances, with various traffic sounds all discernable in the mix. These remarkable recordings underscore how Moondog's intimate contrapuntal rhythms contrasted with the hustle and bustle of the city, offering a poignant look at an outsider seemingly out of step with the modern world, but at one with the rhythms of the universe.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I'd heard of this guy back in the late 60's and early 70's from the record sleeves of CBS albums. Really interesting and varied resume of his career from 1949 to 1980's. A lot of rhythmic percussion and plenty of instrument surprises (oboe, sax, and some home made or adapted ones). Music is varied and a warm humanity and sincerity comes through. I wonder if Tom Waits has picked up some influences? A humourous track where he demonstrates how he plays in 9 different times (all in 4)- and that's only a few of them. Gonna check out his other stuff!
18 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Im a big fan of Phillip Glass and Steve Reich. Moondog is an underdog of these gods, mixing very tribal music with minumalist phase and post beatles electronica. Reminds me of a commercial Raymond Scott crossing the Electronica Psychedelia and Musique Concrete Genre with something that makes you sit back and enjoy music, rather than struggle with it!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
A Good Place to Start
25 Sep 2007
Format:Audio CD
This is a very good place to start with Moondog's music. I disagree entirely with the previous reviewer as to the quality of the performances. Here, "Bird's Lament" is more dynamic, faster paced and, as with most of this cd, a lot of fun. If you can't find anything to like on this disc (for instance, "Theme and Variation" or "Chaconne in G" or the lovely "Fog on the Hudson"), it may just be that the man's music is not for you.
The work here consists mostly of miniatures from a musician who began life as a percussionist and it shows: his sense of rhythm is fantastic. I've heard it said that Moondog's work prefigures the minimalism of Terry Riley or Steve Reich, but it's less formally rigorous and much more playful: a sudden burst of melody, great counterpoint (his debt to Bach is even more obvious on some of the other discs available), eccentric use of voice, and even traditional songs.
The music is odd and familiar at the same time. It deserves to be more widely known.
The work here consists mostly of miniatures from a musician who began life as a percussionist and it shows: his sense of rhythm is fantastic. I've heard it said that Moondog's work prefigures the minimalism of Terry Riley or Steve Reich, but it's less formally rigorous and much more playful: a sudden burst of melody, great counterpoint (his debt to Bach is even more obvious on some of the other discs available), eccentric use of voice, and even traditional songs.
The music is odd and familiar at the same time. It deserves to be more widely known.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
No Fleas on Moondog
2 July 2007
Format:Audio CD
This is the only Moondog recording I own so far. I plan to get more . I've heard his name mentioned time and time again in relation to many other artists I listen to. I thoroughly enjoy this recording. It reminds me of the the tapes of experiments I've done over the years - little snippets of ideas. This is happy music from a man sincere enough about what he was doing to do without a lot of comforts for a long time. That sort of dedication I feel deserves at least 4 stars. This might not be his classic set of recordings, I have yet to find out for sure, but it's a good one. I don't regret buying this it in the least.
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