Music Review: Blue Man Group
Becca Shattuck
Issue date: 2/1/06 Section: features
- Page 1 of 1
Versus Magazine Online [Image Edition]
Across campus has developed a new phenomenon: from freshmen to grad students, the 'mood music' for studying is no longer Bach, Mozart, or even Led Zeppelin, but the eccentric sounds of Blue Man Group and Cirque du Soleil. Difficult to classify into any existing genre, these albums are versatile enough that they can provide everything from energizing guitar riffs and om-inducing rhythms to anyone's daily fix of multicultural sound. Between Blue Man Group's two available albums "Audio" and "The Complex" and Cirque's broad collection of at least a dozen soundtracks, there is something for everyone.
Blue Man Group's first album, Audio, proudly proclaims: "This is not a soundtrack. This is better." This CD, like the show itself, is highly percussive, which is to say that there is a steady rhythm underlying each song. While some songs may be recognizable from the performance, others have been extended or otherwise modified to stand alone. In addition to standard percussion instruments-drums of all shapes and sizes-Audio incorporates items more akin to overzealous middle-school science fair projects than to standard instruments. The unique sound created by the artful mixture of standard bass drums and electric guitars with air poles, zithers and the PVC 'drumbone' is at once vitalizing and hypnotic. Of course, some songs lend themselves to a studious environment more so than others: the soothing white-noise of the final track, "Endless Column" is perhaps the complete opposite of the brisk rhythm of "Rods and Cones." Whether your studying calls for the musical equivalent of espresso or green tea, you'll find it on this album.
Similar in type to "Audio" but by no means the same is Cirque du Soleil's album Dralion. With its distinctive Asian sound, "Dralion" incorporates traditional oriental instruments such as Taiko drums and the Chinese dulcimer into a cello-and-electronic background. This melding provides "Dralion" with a unique ambience: it is mesmerizing while, at the same time, unique enough in its sound to keep the listener wholly engaged. However, this is not to say that the music on the album is entirely Asian in origin. The final track, "Kamande," seems more Celtic than Chinese, yet again proving that the composer, Volaine Corradi, has a little something for everyone. Unlike "Audio," the Cirque album integrates vocals, though these, too, are a bit different than would be expected. Corradi employs a soprano and a countertenor who sing both separately and in harmony. The interweaving of these voices with the background's Asian ambience in the songs "Stella Errans" and "Ballare" create a soothing atmosphere ideally suited for study.
Clips from both these albums can be found on Amazon.com, and are available both on Amazon and at Tower Records.