Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Aristocrats, The
Label: Boing!
Release: 2015
Duration: 161:40
Rating: 4.5/5
Ever since the brilliant Frank Zappa left us far too early in 1993, technically masterful strains of progressive rock and jazz rock fusion have been struggling with a chronic shortage of humor of any kind, the sort that would make their highly virtuosic feats at least a little more ‘human’ and a lot less ‘robotically’ calculated and academically structured. A good example of this kind of ‘robotic’ extreme over the past few years was Dream Theater, who went overboard with bare academic virtuosity, stripped of any real character and warmth. Luckily, in their case things have noticeably improved lately. But here we’re talking about whether humor belongs in music at all, a question Zappa himself once asked in his own sarcastic, satirical way.
The international trio of brilliant virtuosos known as The Aristocrats, made up of guitar fanatic Guthrie Govan, bass oddball Bryan Beller and drum wizard Marco Minnemann, has the answer right at hand, since they approach writing their songs in a completely different way from most modern virtuosos. With them, goofy humor with the obligatory Zappa whiff has been one of the driving and unifying forces from the very start, though of course it’s still nowhere near the slapstick scale the legendary American musician was once capable of. That’s also because their music is entirely instrumental, so besides the witty structure of most of the pieces, the humor comes mostly from the use of various effects and the banter with the crowd.
»Culture Clash Live!« is their second live album, recorded at various venues on the tour supporting the second The Arisctocrats studio album, »Culture Clash« (2012). That’s exactly why it’s dominated by material from that album, plus three more performances from their debut, »The Aristocrats« (2011).
Among them is the opener »Sweaty Knockers«, which (how very ‘Zappa-esque’) is dedicated to the female bosom and serves as a kind of trailer for the whole instrumental jazz fusion orgy, with a wealth of absurd sounds and goofing around. The debut is also where the super-goofy »Get It Like That« comes from, which, after a relatively sophisticated start, features around the middle the oinking of (rubber) pigs and other farm animals via assorted effects. Fans of heavier sounds within jazz fusion will especially enjoy the punchier numbers like »Ohhhh Noooo«, which has ‘metalized’ riffs and, according to Minnemann, was inspired by the Judas Priest classic »Metal Gods«.
»Culture Clash Live!« also comes with a ‘companion’ DVD that has just three of the same songs as the CD version, while the rest of the performances were again recorded at completely different venues, which is one of the main reasons it’s worth watching.
The virtuoso orgy that is »Culture Clash Live!« is a real concert treat for anyone who at least occasionally enjoys witty, instrumental jazz fusion, spiced with the odd outburst of absurd humor and ‘heavy’ guitar passages. A bit of this kind of relaxing silliness is especially welcome during the often gloomy, rainy autumn days, when the sight of mostly dour faces forever chasing after profit really brings out the emptiness, vacuum and senselessness of modern neoliberal society.
Line-up
Guthrie Govan – guitar
Bryan Beller – bass guitar
Marco Minnemann – drums
Production
The Aristocrats
Track list
CD:
1. Sweaty Knockers
2. Ohhhh Noooo
3. Get It Like That
4. Culture Clash
5. Gaping Head Wound
6. Louisville Stomp
7. Desert Tornado
8. Living The Dream
DVD:
1. Furtive Jack
2. Ohhhh Noooo
3. Louisville Stomp
4. Get It Like That
5. Culture Clash
6. Blues Fuckers
7. Gaping Head Wound
8. Desert Tornado
9. Living The Dream
