Search - Judy Dunaway, With Yasunao Tone, and Dan Evans Farkas :: Balloon Music

A truly classic album - challenging and full of beauty.

dbodah@oitunix.oit.umass.edu | Northampton, MA, USA | 07/16/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Judy Dunaway, the experimental guitarist, lays down her axe for an album of pieces created entirely using balloons played as instruments. It is a simple idea, almost the idea for a "novelty" album good for a few laughs and not much more. But far from frivolous, this record instead is a classic of soundwork, exploring unique areas with wit and passion. From the first minute of "Piece for Solo Tenor Balloon", we enter a sonic space of intricate textures and profoundly evocative phrasing. This kind of music is intense and exhilirating, and like all truly worthwhile music it requires effort from the listener. This album belongs in every music collection!"

I sometimes wonder...

P. Micocci | Houston, TX USA | 07/17/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"... if some reviewres don't rave about items they've bought to hide their embarrassment over throwing away perfectly good money on crap. In that spirit, buy this CD!!! It's the most astounding thing you could ever want to hear!



But in the interest of personal honesty, I have to say that I do regret having wasted good money on this CD. It falls into the category of being a interesting concept eclipsed by an extremely poor execution. "Hey, I know! I'll make some 'music' using only balloons in various states to generate the sounds; I'll just squeak and squeak them really fast and use lots of very audible jump cut edits, replete with extremely obtrusive popping and clicking noise - screw editing! I'll make all the pieces monotously similar and drag them out for 10 minutes or more each - that'll be really experimental!"



Actually there was one cut, Champagne in Mexico - Fragment Set #2, that maintained my interest almost throughout its entire length - perhaps that was due to the involvement of two other people besides Dunaway. Believe me, it's not that I'm at all shocked or dismayed by the use of unusual sound sources; I've got some past experience making all manner of strange noises with unusual sources. But as Brian Eno (who used to know how to make interesting sounds himself) once said, originality in music is not in and of itself sufficient if the end results don't sound interesting.



Oh, well, I guess I should have been forewarned by the description of Dunaway as an "experimental guitarist.""

Correction! And More....

Pop Music | Germany | 07/02/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Joseph R. Dalton is NOT a performer on this CD! He is the Executive Producer. All pieces are performed by Judy Dunaway. "Bluebird" is a collaboration with Fluxus legend Yasunao Tone. "Champagne in Mexico City" (1&2) is a collaboration with film music editor Dan Evans Farkas (music editor for "Fargo" and many other great films). For more information about Judy Dunaway and her work, go to her website:"