1st Invocation
Solstice
A:lmost A:head
2nd Invocation
Loose Canon
Vapor
Thelema At Various Stations

A bass clarinet, sounding more like a hurdy gurdy, issues a call to arms (or instruments in this case) to '1st Invocation', a peculiar dirge that begins the Frogtoboggan morphology haunted by the voice of Jennifer Van Dyke, an operatic singer who fronts the chamber ensemble’s album recorded live in May of 2000. A psychedelic recherché of silhouettes folk, classical and ambient, recrudescence of a disconcertingly refreshing type, Frogtoboggan isolates the listener with sparse fluted instruments (fitted with garden hose extension no less) that call to mind pagan ritual performed in the dark of night far from the eyes of the conservatively theological. At times the musical deviates from troubling silences insouciant with avant-garde jazz forays bordering on the orient, yet even these are darkened off-key by the intrusion of other ensemble members. The majority of the performance consists of trumpet, flute, clarinet, violin, bass clarinet, with the last member, Frogtoboggan fumes the background with drones, prepared piano, and pre-recorded soundscapes, though at times, as in '2nd Invocation' his deformed audio stamps dark intaglio’s to the foreground. Poetic rants add to the bizarre confrere’s performance, backed by wistful meloldy.

Unfortunately the live performance is marred by clips in the audio throughout, noticeable enough to disrupt the unique fusion of otherworldy sounds and experimentation.

Succinctly packaged in a white with dark earth-tone printing featuring a paraphernalia of occult and hermetic imagery with a professionally printed disk.

NYR