Recorded during a stop in Arcado's 1990 tour, Behind the Myth finds the band playing chamber music with a jazz musician's imagination. The band can hop around like Christian Marclay but without the turntables and trading Marclay's love of chance for all three members' love of intricate composition. This isn't really difficult music -- the tunes are often lyrical and heartwarming -- but it is an album that demands full attention to work at all. You can't "sort of" listen to a Chomsky lecture and get anything out of it; same ...
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Recorded during a stop in Arcado's 1990 tour, Behind the Myth finds the band playing chamber music with a jazz musician's imagination. The band can hop around like Christian Marclay but without the turntables and trading Marclay's love of chance for all three members' love of intricate composition. This isn't really difficult music -- the tunes are often lyrical and heartwarming -- but it is an album that demands full attention to work at all. You can't "sort of" listen to a Chomsky lecture and get anything out of it; same with Arcado. Unlike Chomsky, this trio does have a sense of flair. At one point Dresser's cello sounds like the deep blue sea with Feldman and Roberts acting as speedboats skipping across it. Five minutes into the searching "Ediface," Dresser lays down one the oddest and most minimal of basslines while the rest of the all-string band cry out like the Kronos Quartet tripping down the stairs. In the last minutes the track turns Stravinsky, then swiftly ends on a Prokofiev note. Elsewhere Feldman and Roberts hold the tune, allowing Dresser to add the filigree. Behind the Myth is filled with intriguing musical surprises and enough substance to make it worthy of repeat listening. ~ David Jeffries, Rovi
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