Music Banter - View Single Post - The Album Club: "Music From the Penguin Cafe" by The Penguin Cafe Orchestra

TechnicLePanther · 11-26-2017, 08:30 AM

I quite like this album. I think a lot of its more experimental tendencies work pretty well. I'll go through track by track just because I'm having trouble coming up with something to write.

Penguin Cafe Single - Good, starts out with a nice little theme, and then transitions into a bit of an experimental section, and then back to the initial theme. Nothing terribly special about this one, just a little intro to the band's sound.

From The Colonies - This is such an interesting sound to me. It's like nothing I've heard before. I couldn't even tell exactly what sound opens this song, but whatever it is it works well. The short length of the song to me is a boon, it couldn't have survived much longer.

In A Sydney Motel - This song I think could have lasted much longer, though as it is it's fine. The theme developed in the first quiet section of this song is already pretty great, but when the drums, bass, and the violins come in in the second half, this song goes from great to stellar. Absolutely beautiful song that I wish went on longer.

Surface Tension - This one reminds me heavily of Jonny Greenwood's string arrangements in the harmonies it creates, and also in the way it sort of shifts around. Very haunting and overall enjoyable.

Milk - Others may have found it too experimental, to me this is a pretty good track as well, maybe not as good as some of the others, but still fun and intriguing.

Coronation - Interesting, but nothing particularly special.

Giles Farnaby's Dream - This may be my least favorite song on the album. It's just too cheesy and lackadaisical. That said, it does remind me heavily of a Wes Anderson soundtrack, especially the soundtrack to The Royal Tenenbaums. It's grown on me a bit, I'll say.

Pigtail - Definitely ahead of its time with this one. Experimental electronic music? From '76? Yeah, alright. Odd, but very interesting. And atmospheric as well.

The Sound of Someone You.... - The main guitar theme is quite excellent on its own, but when the strings come in it adds so much life to the song. The way this song progresses is quite great as well. Maybe a bit overlong, but beyond that this is a superb track, even on this album.

Hugebaby - Another guitar/string driven song, and another interesting arrangement. Pretty cool.

Chartered Flight - The arrangement and chord structure here are pretty fantastic, and the keyboard solo really makes the piece. A nice simplistic closer to a soft, simple album.

So yeah, this album is pretty dang good. I enjoy all of the songs, and I think a few of them are really quite special. It's not the absolute top-tier of albums of all time, IMO, but it's still pretty good. 8/10

Sleater-Kinney - Call the Doctor
Penguin Cafe Orchestra - Music From The Penguin Cafe
Hiatus Kaiyote - Choose Your Weapon

11-26-2017, 08:30 AM	#14 (permalink)
TechnicLePanther and the livin' is easy... Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: New York Posts: 1,997	I quite like this album. I think a lot of its more experimental tendencies work pretty well. I'll go through track by track just because I'm having trouble coming up with something to write. Penguin Cafe Single - Good, starts out with a nice little theme, and then transitions into a bit of an experimental section, and then back to the initial theme. Nothing terribly special about this one, just a little intro to the band's sound. From The Colonies - This is such an interesting sound to me. It's like nothing I've heard before. I couldn't even tell exactly what sound opens this song, but whatever it is it works well. The short length of the song to me is a boon, it couldn't have survived much longer. In A Sydney Motel - This song I think could have lasted much longer, though as it is it's fine. The theme developed in the first quiet section of this song is already pretty great, but when the drums, bass, and the violins come in in the second half, this song goes from great to stellar. Absolutely beautiful song that I wish went on longer. Surface Tension - This one reminds me heavily of Jonny Greenwood's string arrangements in the harmonies it creates, and also in the way it sort of shifts around. Very haunting and overall enjoyable. Milk - Others may have found it too experimental, to me this is a pretty good track as well, maybe not as good as some of the others, but still fun and intriguing. Coronation - Interesting, but nothing particularly special. Giles Farnaby's Dream - This may be my least favorite song on the album. It's just too cheesy and lackadaisical. That said, it does remind me heavily of a Wes Anderson soundtrack, especially the soundtrack to The Royal Tenenbaums. It's grown on me a bit, I'll say. Pigtail - Definitely ahead of its time with this one. Experimental electronic music? From '76? Yeah, alright. Odd, but very interesting. And atmospheric as well. The Sound of Someone You.... - The main guitar theme is quite excellent on its own, but when the strings come in it adds so much life to the song. The way this song progresses is quite great as well. Maybe a bit overlong, but beyond that this is a superb track, even on this album. Hugebaby - Another guitar/string driven song, and another interesting arrangement. Pretty cool. Chartered Flight - The arrangement and chord structure here are pretty fantastic, and the keyboard solo really makes the piece. A nice simplistic closer to a soft, simple album. So yeah, this album is pretty dang good. I enjoy all of the songs, and I think a few of them are really quite special. It's not the absolute top-tier of albums of all time, IMO, but it's still pretty good. 8/10 Sleater-Kinney - Call the Doctor Penguin Cafe Orchestra - Music From The Penguin Cafe Hiatus Kaiyote - Choose Your Weapon __________________ Many have tried to destroy it... but... true evil never dies. It is only... REBORN *SUGGEST ME AN ALBUM* - I'm probably not going to listen to it but I will if you bother me enough.