Corespondents
Land of the Low People
Self Released
Street: 04.12
The Corespondents = a whirling Dervish + a hard bop jazz jam session + the Blue Man Group + the scores of Ennio Morricone
Now I don’t want to come across as turning my nose up at this record, but Land of the Low People just goes too far. It seems to be experimental for experiment’s sake—make this Utah boy just don’t get it, but each of these 15 instrumentals has very little to latch on to. Jazz and country elements sound great when they’re played, but then they are bent into something unrecognizable (or, in most cases, enjoyable). The strange fact is that I can tell it took a lot of talent create this record, I just can’t imagine anybody electing to let this thing play for longer than 10 minutes or so. I’m reminded of an episode of The Simpsons where Lisa is sitting in a club, watching a violinist play, and when somebody scoffs at the playing, Lisa lets them know that you have to listen to the notes she’s not playing. That’s the way I felt about this record. –James Orme