Mobtown
Moon - Mobtown Moon
2013, Mobtown Moon
2013, Mobtown Moon
Mobtown
Moon is a collective tribute and
experiment using Pink Floyd’s classic album Dark
Side Of The Moon as its object. A
total of 41 musicians worked together to re-create the album, bringing a range
of styles and sounds to the project. You
will hear Bluegrass, rock, jazz, classical, choral styles and even hip-hop on Mobtown Moon. Award winning writer and musician Sandy
Asirvatham and award winning singer/songwriter ellen cherry conceived and
produced the project, which takes liberties with the original versions of tunes
motivated by the music itself.
Mobtown Moon opens with the sound
collage "The City Speaks", using industrial and found sounds o create
an uncomfortable cacophony that segues into an acapella intro to
"Breathe". "Breathe" is offered to listeners in a
sophisticated easy listening rock arrangement. ellen cherry sings with a voice
as smooth as silk, and the gently flourishing horns and accordion are nice
touches. "On The Run" is an eclectic mish-mash of sounds,
driven by an incessant banjo line. Electronics take over as the song
progresses, growing toward a noisy point on the distant horizon that is sensed
but not seen. "Time" is rendered in subtle yet slick fashion. The
guitar work stands out both for quality and panache, and lead vocalist Andrew
Grimm sounds a bit like Colin Hay at times.
Mobtown Moon approaches "The
Great Gig In The Sky" with a chamber music opening, full of passing notes
in the depths of the cello's range. This quickly passes into the diffuse
instrumental section of the song, highlighted by a warbling vocal and unfocused
muse. "Money" rocks and rolls on a hipster bass line and swanky,
understated guitar riffs. Grimm is a fair vocal doppelgänger for David Gilmour,
and this particular cover goes down like fine wine.
Pink Floyd gets a low-key hip-hop
treatment on "Dream/Counterfeit". The looped arrangement features
some wonderfully off-kilter jazz piano work, and Femi The DriFish spits rhymes
with an academic grace. "Us And Them" captures the spirit of the
original as well as anything on Mobtown Moon. The vocal performance is
exquisite with a laid back style and gorgeous vocal coloring and phrasing.
"Any Colour You Like" gets portrayed as an eccentric modern
jazz piece. The musicianship here is solid, to say the least, but the piece
just doesn't seem to work well in this setting.
"Brain Damage" continues
the jazz infusion, this time as something of a funhouse blue jazz concoction.
This works better than the previous effort, but the pacing ultimately undoes
the effort in a slow fury of drawling vocal lines. "Eclipse" gets
treated as a Pink Floyd cover ala the musical Hair. The group vocal utilized is
too relaxed and ends up sounding more like a disinterested junior high choir
than an inspired group of musicians.
Mobtown Moon is a wonderfully
complex and delightful take on Pink Floyd’s Dark
Side Of The Moon. Not everything
works completely well on the album, but even the tracks that don’t quite break
through for the listener have their merits.
The album does get a little jazz heavy for influence at the end. In a vacuum this is not problematic, but it
does overbalance the back end of the album a bit. Nevertheless, Mobtown Moon I a project worth spending some time on!
Rating:
3.5 (Out of 5)
Learn more at www.mobtownmoon.com.