 101 Strings Here's a CD that would have virtually zero chance of getting released now, just a few years after it actually was released, because the record buying public has soured so much on what they call "lounge" music. I always thought "exotica" was a better term for stuff like this, which hardly fits into that easy listening "retro" vibe that mainstreamers latched onto. This is truly weirdo music, and just as fun to listen to even as I pack up my "Ultra-Lounge" CD's for a trip to the used CD shop. Apparently, 101 Strings, purveyors of hundreds of albums of easy listening music (so light you could really only even spell it "lite"), made several albums in the 60s that were targeted at specific regional markets, allowing them to explore some wacked-out concepts like this one, which presents "the far out sounds of tomorrow's uncharted trip beyond the now generation." Basically, that amounts to a full orchestra backing a rock band, with the phase button permanently depressed. Titles like "Astral Freakout," "A Disappointed Love With a Desensitized Robot," and who can forget "Where Were You in 1982?" heighten the cheese factor, but I'd say that this album strongly benefits from being so out there. The tracks seem to come and go with little attention to proper starts and fades, just showing up and leaving whenever they like, dig it? Most of the songs sound like backing tracks for late-60s bubblegum pop songs, run through various sound effects to render them "trippy." I'd have to assume that any mind-altering substances consumed while listening to Astro Sounds will only result in a dull headache and possibly the blurry sensation of a nude Jaye P. Morgan humping your leg. Surprisingly, few of the songs rip off popular songs of the day (although "Desensitized Robot" is pretty much a straight theft of "Gimme Some Lovin'"), and most are catchy blues progressions. A few bonus tracks not on the original LP (and I'd like to meet the person who owned the original LP and eagerly awaited its CD release ever since) are included, the best being "Karma Sitar" (you already know what it sounds like). Two others from some ultra-bizarre (aborted?) 101 Strings "erotic" album are included, and serve to embarrass me every time as they include heavy female moaning that causes me to get an erection much like in those high-school sex romps where the busty substitute teacher asks the kid to read his report and he has to stand with his book in front of his bulging erection.
Review by Wimpempy Tarlisle |