Search - Dave Kerman, 5uu's :: Abandonship

Continuing Evolution

Dave_42 | Australia | 02/11/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"While the 5uu's always was Dave Kerman's band, on "Abandonship" it takes the final step from a collaboration of musicians into what is essentially a solo project with guests. Dave played all the traditional instruments on the album as well as composed the pieces and wrote the lyrics. Deborah Perry did contribute the vocals, but in a rather unusual situation. She recorded her vocals in Oregon, and sent them to Dave in Israel. Udi Koomran helped Dave record the album, and is credited with Sound on the album. There are a few guests who perform as well, but in a non-traditional way such as speaking, hand percussion, a toy-monkey, and a tap-dance solo.



The trend started on "Regarding Purgatories" of longer pieces is continued on this album, with 3 of the 10 pieces being close to 9 minutes or more. There are also some very short peaces, such as "Ringing in the New Ear" which is only 40 seconds long. The result is an interesting album, but not one that I would recommend to someone who is unfamiliar with the 5uu's. The absence of Sanjay Kumar, from most of the prior 5uu's albums, is certainly felt in my opinion. However, there are still many strong moments on this album and those who enjoy the other 5uu's albums will probably like this one as well.



There are definitely some interesting pieces on this album. "Thoroughly Modern Attila" is the longest piece on the album, but it is broken into sections and has some very intriguing rhythms. "Noah's Flame" is another piece which really grabs the listener. I also liked "Penguins on Dizengoff" quite a bit, and the other very long piece "Belly-Up" is once again a fully textured piece. The fact is that the listener is never going to be bored listening to Dave Kerman or the 5uu's.

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A Great, Great album but only three stars, because

J. Speer | Philadelphia, PA | 02/20/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"...because 5uu's have produced much records. Hunger's Teeth and Crisis in Clay set a standard way way high, and it's unfair that subsequent recordeings need to be compared to them, but here goes anyway. Abandonship is a very planned sounding and is a lot less organic in execution than previous 5uu's. This is probably because there's one guy now playing most of the instruments, and that takes a lot of multitracking and overdubbing, and perhaps even MIDI sequencing, I dunno. HT and CiC sound extremely spontaneous and human, and sport creatively built tracks. Sanjay Kumar is certainly missed on keyboards, but even more missed is the weird ingregient of Bob Drake, with his indescribable vocals.Here, Deb Perry does a great job. Best track: Noah's Flame."