Thelonious Moog's debut album was, as you might expect, jazz cats playing Mr. Monk on vintage synths. Their 2007 follow-up, "American Standard," ditched the music of their namesake for an unpredictable, irreverent romp ranging from heavy cats like Gershwin, Brubeck, & Zappa, to the EZ kitsch of those thrift-store inevitables "Alley Cat" and Al Hirt's "Java," all getting the same zany Space-Age treatment and some ingenious arrangements. Raymond Scotts' "Powerhouse" is dunked in wacky cartoon sound-effects, Duke Ellington's exotica standard "Caravan" goes surf-rock (+ odd noises) and one of my fave kooky '70s glam classics, "Hocus Pocus" by Focus, gets tackled here twice. All quite silly, but played by pros, and plenty fun - one of the best novelty albums of the '00s.
Thelonious Moog - American Standard
- 1.Powerhouse
- 2.T 4 2
- 3.Hocus Pocus (Swingin' 60's)
- 4.Caravan
- 5.Take 5, 6,& 7
- 6.Got Rhythm?
- 7.Alley Cat
- 8.Duodenum
- 9.Hocus Pocus (Bossa Nova)
- 10.Have U Seen It Yet?
- 11.Java
- 12.Harlem Nocturne
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