Fortean Reviews by L.O.W.F.I,
The League of Western Fortean Intermediatists
Charles Fort and his invention, the game of SuperCheckers...
Bringing you the high quality reviews you crave of the latest in Fortean-tinged media of all types... books, videos, films, cds... everything we can uncover... classical stuff, too.
Destination Space!
by Jean-Jacques Perrey and Dana Countryman
(available through http://www.oglio.com)
As one half of the pioneering 60s pop duo, Perrey and Kingsley, the 80-something mad French scientist Jean-Jaques Perrey shows no signs of slowing down. This reporter has it on good authority that he still travels to Vancouver Island with new music, to debut it for the local dolphins — if they swim around the underwater speakers in circles, he knows it’s worthy of being released; if they swim away, the efforts go back in the vault.
Managing to remain just as whimsical as the duo’s previous 2006 effort (“The Happy Electropop Music Machine!” also available through www.oglio.com), “Destination Space” at times displays a more sophisticated understanding of the type of folk drawn to electronic music, even in its most extremes (read: they sometimes lack a sense of humor; YOU try making a one-liner out of the concept of musique concrete and see what happens!)
Of course, the title track features a chorus of mewling kittens and barking dogs built around a delightful harpsichord melody; and bubbly dementia and funky guitar swirl around “Funky Little Space Girl,” a poppy paean to sexy extraterrestrials.
More relaxed space aged pop (“The Spy From Outer Space,” “Pour L’Amour de Toi”) can be found than on the legendary Mr. Perrey’s recent work. Synth-heavy and reminiscent of British studio wizard Joe Meek, the opening “Prologue” segues out with a sample of astronaut patter—and throughout, this disc flies through the musical cosmos, a perfect soundtrack for astral travel, lunar landings, and spacey shindigs.
--Skylaire Alfvegren
