Search - Various Artists :: Electric Apricot: Quest for Festeroo

+1/2 - Jam band satire won't spread so easily

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 05/20/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"As a satire of jam band music, this may very well be superb. But the catch is that to really find this funny, you have to listen to enough jam band music to know the touchstones being mocked. And unlike heavy metal and folk (which were so perfectly satirized by Christopher Guest in "This is Spinal Tap" and "A Mighty Wind," respectively), jam band music doesn't have the same mainstream cultural traction. So while jam band fans may enjoy the ribbing, most listeners will fail to recognize the conventions being spoofed. When Spinal Tap highlighted the bombast of heavy metal and "A Mighty Wind" nailed the cloying sincerity of the folk revival, Guest and his cohorts created music that was as good (and in its reduction, almost better) than their subjects. But is that the case here? To these jam-uneducated ears, Electric Apricot sounds like college parody that doesn't fully singe its subject. Most tellingly, the album's actual jam band content (from Gov't Mule, Bob Weir, Jerry Garcia, and others) isn't jaundiced by the light of satire. Even Henry Thomas' guitar-and-whistle recording of "Fishing Blues" remains a happy ditty, rather than being reduced to untenable stoner optimism. The album's non-ironic material is fine, but the parody doesn't feel sharp enough to permanently reshape one's view. 3 stars for the satire, 4 stars for the non-satire, netting 3-1/2 stars. Jam band aficionados may very well rate this much higher. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com]"

Jam band gem

Justin K. Moomjian | 05/12/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I used to be heavy into the whole jam band scene. I've found, however, as the years have progressed (especially since college), I've been falling more and more out of the loop and digressing from the scene.



However, Les Claypool has never ceased to amaze me and this album is no exception. His "fictional" band created for the movie is excellent. It's definitely interesting to hear him play something other than the bass. He is an excellent drummer too, and if it weren't for this album/movie, we would have never known it. The rest of the band is great too. There are some amazing guitar parts.



As for the rest of the album, it is an excellent compilation of some of the jam bands best acts, past and present, with some other interesting tracks thrown into the mix.



Overall, I was very impressed with this album. It went straight from the case to my iPod. It's definitely worth the money. For the record, that is coming from someone who rarely buys actual CDs anymore. It has to be a real good CD for me to invest in a CD rather than buying it from iTunes or other download sources."

The soundtrack is all about one song and you know which one!

The Delite Rancher | Phoenix, Arizona | 06/16/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Here's the real deal on the Electric Apricot album. While "Quest for Festeroo" is an entertaining film, the soundtrack falls short. There are a few reasons for the discrepancy in quality between the film and the soundtrack. First, the original music just isn't that good. Other than 'Hey Are You Going to Burning Man?,' the rest of the material just isn't that strong. Most Electric Apricot songs fail to play great music in their own right while falling short of a parody. To be an effective parody, an experience must generally be an exaggeration. The Electric Apricot songs only go marginally past what an actual jamband would play. A dynamic of this is that the primary target is the scene's 'hippy trippyness;' there's only so much comedic fodder to be found in this area. Claypool appreciated these issues well: this is the reason that outside of 'Burning Man,' none of the other Electric Apricot songs are used in the film any longer than a minute. If the listener does appreciate Electric Apricot's original music, the soundtrack only features six songs by the band. While the first five songs are well groomed studio songs, Yog Sagoff is a live tune that stretches out to almost twenty minutes. The rest of the album is filler material. The remaining music consists of songs that were only played in the background of the film. Most jamband listeners are going to have this material already. The exception and stand-out to this is Stiff Dead Cat's 'Dire Wolf.' It is a wonderful bluegrass rendition of the Grateful Dead song. In the end, there's one main reason to buy this soundtrack: 'Hey Are You Going to Burning Man?' If you saw the film, you probably still have the melody running through your mind. It is a phenomenal song as both satire and a stand alone tune. If only Claypool would work the song into his current live setlists! The tune has a Beatles sensibility with an arrangement that alludes to Phish. Once the song ends, it surprisingly starts up into an extended jam. This pokes fun at both the length of jamband songs and their complex parts. As a spoof and a song for its own sake, 'Burning Man' blazes. At the end of the day, the viewer must ask himself if this CD is worth the price of one song."