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THE STRING QUARTET
Tribute To Pink Floyd (Vitamin)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson
The String Quartet tribute series continues with yet another exciting disc of powerful interpretations and arrangements, this time zeroing in on the work of Pink Floyd. Joining the quartet of Michael Goetz (bass), Jonathan Kass (violin), Dave Keen (violin & viola) and Claire Stancarone (cello) is Doug Munro on guitar. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that make this the String Quintet?
Who cares, it sounds spectacular. Instead of focusing on the hypnotic aspects of Floyd's music, arranger Munro has zoomed in on the power and come up with treatments that crisscross between the beauty and strength of the most confident chamber music and the breathless rush of strident classical avant-garde, all well enough within the context of the various Pink Floyd pieces to leave no doubt as to what song you are hearing. "Have A Cigar" becomes 5-dimensional, jagged, the threat in the unheard lyrics less covert somehow. "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" pulls all the elements together in one place: beauty in the intro, hot violin soloing over increasingly frantic undercurrents, the guitar complimenting and never overshadowing the core sound that the quartet creates. I, personally, find it slightly less stunning when the guitar becomes the focus, perhaps because David Gilmour has already done that for us on the original Pink Floyd albums, but these moments are brief and too few to detract from the overall enjoyment of this gorgeous music.
The final track, "Floydian Slip," is a pure tribute in that it was written for this project, inspired by the music of Pink Floyd. To be honest, I don't hear the resemblance, but it's a beautiful piece of music nonetheless. With wonderful tributes to Led Zeppelin, The Cure, The Who, Floyd and several others (even Madonna), The String Quartet seems to be carving quite a niche for themselves. Tribute albums are a dime a dozen, these excluded.
Track List:
Echoes * Have A Cigar * Take Up Thy Stethescope and Walk * Hey You * Comfortably Numb * Money * Breathe * Another Brick In The Wall * Wish You Were Here * Floydian Slip
© 2002 - DJ Johnson