Carnival Detournement is
Hamster Theatre's third album and the first to be released on an important record label. It is no surprise that this duo has been picked up by Cuneiform. Of course, co-leader Dave Willey plays bass with labelmate
Thinking Plague, but
Hamster Theatre fits perfectly into the avant-prog aesthetic the label has helped develop since the early '80s. From the intricate compositions relying as much on complex (or "progressive") rock as on contemporary chamber music down to the silly song titles like "What Makes You Think This Is a Good Place to Bring a Date?" and "Drunken Penguin Tango" (aren't these reminiscent of
Forever Einstein titles?),
Carnival Detournement is a top-of-the-barrel avant-prog fan's delight. Bob Drake's production is sleek without stripping the music of its authenticity. The album's title says it all: this is music of the carnival, a place where everything -- rock, contemporary, folk, Western, Eastern European, serious, ludicrous -- can meet and blend together for the fun of it. The result is not a hodgepodge, but rather complex pieces that recall early
Motor Totemist Guild,
Thinking Plague,
Cartoon,
Miriodor, and the like, with an extra sense of the bizarre and the misplaced. Leaders Dave Willey (accordion, keyboards, guitars, percussion) and Jon Stubbs (trombone, keyboards, guitars) handle most of the writing and playing, but they are joined by ten additional musicians, including
Thinking Plague members Mark Harris and Mike Johnson. "Vermilion Hue Over Lake Lausanne" opens the dance with a reggae number in the style of
Frank Zappa (remember the master's 1988 tour?), which suddenly shape-shifts into a furious
Plague-like riff. Other highlights include the beautiful accordion/glockenspiel melody of "Jeanne-Marie" and the orgiastic rock number "Bur Di Lie Town So." Very strongly recommended. [Following
Carnival Detournement's initial release, Willey and Stubbs expressed misgivings about having tinkered with Bob Drake's master tape, which they claimed had resulted in a "squashing (of) the sonic palette he had created," and in 2009 Cuneiform, in apparent agreement, reissued the CD in a Collectors Edition that restored the album to its originally mastered form.] ~ François Couture