ESKIMO

I don't know if I've ever felt so compromised over a rating as here. Is this not the ultimate concept album? There is almost no music on this record. It reminds me of what it would have been like back in the day before televisions, when families would gather around the radio for some theatre of the mind. This was recorded over a three year period('76- '79), and I wonder if Zappa's story about Nanook the Eskimo was the inspiration for this, coming off his 1974 album "Apostrophe(')". Both feature a lot of wind.

Three guests help out here in Snakefinger, Don Preston and Chris Cutler. Of course we get plenty of humour like the picture of "Randy, Chuck & Bob on a fact finding expedition to the polar ice cap in 1977". The picture with it shows four men but one has an "x" marked on him, I guess he didn't make it. Or the descriptions of the instruments that the Eskimo ceremonial band played and the picture with it of them playing these crude instruments out in the snow, as the Northern Lights provide the visual.

I'll quote the liner notes here which explains some of their motives for this album. "This album attempts to recreate not only the Eskimo ceremonial music, but also a living context for it's existence, in the form of Eskimo stories. Although on the disc the stories are told purely by sound, a written account is provided to aid your appreciation of this unique culture." And a web site is given for that information. They also suggest to listen to this recording with a warm blanket within reach, and to have a relaxed sate of mind.

I'm so into this because one of my favourite experiences where I live is in the Winter when it's storming, like a blizzard, and I'm looking out at this world that is completely white from my warm little house. Kind of cool. There's a lot of wind on this record. The vocals tend to sound like a caveman is speaking, I'm sure they made that up and it's not really the Inuit language for example. This rides that line of mocking the Eskimo and their lifestyles, but also seeming to be serious about their plight, living in such a harsh environment.

This is the most unique recording in my collection, and for that alone this deserves some props. I am so anti-concept, and this is the ultimate. Yet, I am so sucked into this recording. This is a band who pushed the envelope. Their next release would feature 40 one minute songs, so there's that. No top tracks for me, this comes across as one long suite to my ears, very uniform sounding too. They got me! 4 stars.