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Rating: THE SAX OF THE 'LOUNGE LIZARDS' ABANDONS JAZZ
Released at the beginning of 1999, "African Swim And Manny And Lo" features John Lurie without his renowned band, the 'Lounge Lizards', with whom he had embarked on a musical journey marked by experimental jazz. The difference is immediately noticeable to the listener: it's a work that abandons any jazz imprint, leaning towards blues, rock, and ethnic sounds.
It is a soundtrack, but the album contains many tracks independent of the cinematic images, excellent for being appreciated even just musically. Other pieces are typical film music. Almost all are instrumental tracks, with John singing on just a couple of tracks and his saxophone blowing only a few times.
Among the very few tracks with vocals, the beautiful slow song "Big Trouble" stands out, where the voice of the Minneapolis musician is low and seductive. Almost speaking, he narrates a bizarre and somewhat grotesque story. Also very beautiful is "Manny And Lo", a rhythmic and engaging piece, instrumental, with a marimba accompaniment. Worth mentioning is "She's Not A Nurse", a kind of brief foray into hard rock (only 50 seconds), where Lurie's voice becomes hoarse and barking amid rapid percussion and electric guitar licks: almost a small parody of heavy metal. Sweet and relaxing is "Monster Trucks", as well as "Wild Bill", performed only with the marimba.
A tasteful and multifaceted album, yet another fun musical experiment by Lurie. Without the 'Lounge Lizards', this artist's music is very different, almost unrecognizable, but from my point of view equally interesting. The movie it scores is 'Manny And Lo' by Lisa Krueger from 1996 starring Scarlett Johansson. John Lurie is no stranger to soundtracks, with titles to his credit like: "Stranger Than Paradise", "Mystery Train", "Get Shorty", "Permanent Vacation"...
At the end of the same year, the 'fraud-album' "The Legendary Marvin Pontiac Greatest Hits" was released, even more beautiful than this record, with which he amused himself by hiding behind the guise of a musician who never existed. < /P>
Tracklist
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