Results 1 to 19 of 19

Thread: Max Tundra - brilliant experimental pop musician

  1. #1

    Max Tundra - brilliant experimental pop musician

    After searching for a bit, I didn't find any threads dedicated to Max Tundra (aka Ben Jacobs) even though IMO he is definitely deserving of one. For my money, his album Parallax Error Beheads You is a modern masterpiece of eccentric and experimental pop music. Perhaps this doesn't belong on the main forum, but while not "prog", I think his music is progressive in the literal sense.

    Has anyone heard the new Daphne & Celeste CD that he wrote and produced for them? Listened to most of it today, and it sounds very much like Max Tundra -- perhaps a bit less "out there" but still unmistakably his style. I ordered a copy of the colored vinyl and the CD for myself. Considering it has been 10 years since his last record, it is so good to hear from him again.

    I know a few here, like Kavus and miamiscot, are already familiar with his music. Have you guys heard this, and if so, what are your thoughts?

    Also, Kavus: Was the Daphne & Celeste music the new stuff that Ben had been working on? Or does he have a proper Max Tundra album in the pipeline as well?

  2. #2
    I've had the Daphne & Celeste album for a couple of weeks and it's fantastic, very much 'the next Max Tundra' album musically and especially lyrically.
    Particularly good is the version of Beefheart's Kandy Korn. It was a favourite Beefheart tune anyway, but when Ben does a cover version he *really* does one. It's brilliant.
    The whole album is an exploding colourful pop firework but as always with Max Tundra, repeated listens reveal many depths.
    Inventive production too.

  3. #3
    I think he wrote the stuff specifically for D&C but the Tundra fingerprint is sttong. That's the way he writes and that's how his stuff sounds.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Kavus Torabi View Post
    I've had the Daphne & Celeste album for a couple of weeks and it's fantastic, very much 'the next Max Tundra' album musically and especially lyrically.
    Particularly good is the version of Beefheart's Kandy Korn. It was a favourite Beefheart tune anyway, but when Ben does a cover version he *really* does one. It's brilliant.
    The whole album is an exploding colourful pop firework but as always with Max Tundra, repeated listens reveal many depths.
    Inventive production too.
    Quote Originally Posted by Kavus Torabi View Post
    I think he wrote the stuff specifically for D&C but the Tundra fingerprint is sttong. That's the way he writes and that's how his stuff sounds.
    Totally agree with all of this. This disc is wonderful.

    Some of his arrangements are dizzyingly elaborate and intricate, while remaining catchy too. Not an easy achievement.

  5. #5
    Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Wisconsin
    Posts
    717
    Quote Originally Posted by Kavus Torabi View Post
    but when Ben does a cover version he *really* does one. It's brilliant.
    I remember he did a cover of "What Time is Love?" that was both hilarious and downright unlistenable. Dude is just on a different wavelength. Most everything he's done is absolutely brilliant but it (unfortunately) seems to be done in a way that makes it take forever to finish. I remember hearing "Orphaned" for the first time and thinking, "ahh, that's why it took six years to make this"

    Excited to hear this new album, I've dug the singles so far ("Alarms" especially). I just love the idea of it - D&C are such an odd group to bring back, I think a lot of people probably remember them but they're not exactly subjects for the "whatever happened to...?" game. 18 years, Christ...that's My Bloody Valentine territory!!
    Critter Jams "album of the week" blog: http://critterjams.wordpress.com

  6. #6
    Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    1,902
    Quote Originally Posted by aith01 View Post
    After searching for a bit, I didn't find any threads dedicated to Max Tundra (aka Ben Jacobs) even though IMO he is definitely deserving of one. For my money, his album Parallax Error Beheads You is a modern masterpiece of eccentric and experimental pop music. Perhaps this doesn't belong on the main forum, but while not "prog", I think his music is progressive in the literal sense.

    Has anyone heard the new Daphne & Celeste CD that he wrote and produced for them? Listened to most of it today, and it sounds very much like Max Tundra -- perhaps a bit less "out there" but still unmistakably his style. I ordered a copy of the colored vinyl and the CD for myself. Considering it has been 10 years since his last record, it is so good to hear from him again.


    I know a few here, like Kavus and miamiscot, are already familiar with his music. Have you guys heard this, and if so, what are your thoughts?

    Also, Kavus: Was the Daphne & Celeste music the new stuff that Ben had been working on? Or does he have a proper Max Tundra album in the pipeline as well?
    Ben Jacobs is a genius. You cited Parallax Error Beheads You but I prefer 2002's Mastered By Guy At The Exchange. Both are masterpieces but you are correct that anyone here not familiar with Max Tundra probably should start with Parallax as it's slightly more "proggy." He is so under appreciated it's not even funny. Kinda how I feel about Kavus Torabi - although his star is certainly ascending these days!!!
    The Prog Corner

  7. #7
    ^ Aw shucks. I thank you kindly.



    Quote Originally Posted by JAMOOL View Post
    I remember hearing "Orphaned" for the first time and thinking, "ahh, that's why it took six years to make this"
    Yeah, that's an especially ridiculous one. It's an entire piece constructed, mosaic-like, out of a dizzying amount of almost microscopic fragments of sound. He did tell me how many he used but I've since forgotten. As always, aside from the painstaking process of making it, it's a brilliant tune anyway.

    Back in 2000, my old band, The Monsoon Bassoon and him released a split 7" single on which we each 'covered' one of each other's songs.
    He chose one of our most complex and detailed, Commando, and basically reimagined it as a Tundra piece while staying true to every single meter change and funny chord. We felt somewhat humbled with our relatively pedestrian reworking of his Life In A Lift Shaft.

  8. #8
    Member chalkpie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Hudson Valley, NY
    Posts
    8,193
    The stuff I've heard from Max "Headroom" Tundra is ridiculously good. I met him in London with Kavus - such a cool dude too.
    If it isn't Krautrock, it's krap.

    "And it's only the giving
    That makes you what you are" - Ian Anderson

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by chalkpie View Post
    The stuff I've heard from Max "Headroom" Tundra is ridiculously good. I met him in London with Kavus - such a cool dude too.
    Frank-- I'm jealous! To meet both Ben and Kavus at the same time would be beyond cool. Two of my most favoritest modern musicians working today. Was actually spinning Knifeworld's Home of the Newly Departed when I opened this thread.

    If you don't have them, you seriously need Mastered by Guy At the Exchange and Parallax Error Beheads You by Max Tundra. In fact, I think it was because of Parallax that I ended up getting into Cardiacs.

  10. #10
    Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Wisconsin
    Posts
    717
    MBGATE was my first one - I remember someone recommended it because I mentioned I liked some album by YACHT, like "oh if you like that sound check out Max Tundra". As it turned out they sounded nothing alike, but I still appreciated the recommendation. I remember hearing the first track and thinking "is it supposed to sound like this?" - if you've heard the album then you know it sounds like someone's got their finger on the fast-forward button. Once it was clear this was intentional I knew on the spot the guy was a genius.

    IMO the best thing he's ever done was "Which Song" on the following album. If nothing else it got me dreaming of a perfect world where Max Tundra teams up with Michael Jackson to make the wackiest pop album of all time. If not MJ, I guess Daphne & Celeste will have to do!
    Critter Jams "album of the week" blog: http://critterjams.wordpress.com

  11. #11
    Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    1,902
    Quote Originally Posted by JAMOOL View Post
    MBGATE was my first one - I remember someone recommended it because I mentioned I liked some album by YACHT, like "oh if you like that sound check out Max Tundra". As it turned out they sounded nothing alike, but I still appreciated the recommendation. I remember hearing the first track and thinking "is it supposed to sound like this?" - if you've heard the album then you know it sounds like someone's got their finger on the fast-forward button. Once it was clear this was intentional I knew on the spot the guy was a genius.

    IMO the best thing he's ever done was "Which Song" on the following album. If nothing else it got me dreaming of a perfect world where Max Tundra teams up with Michael Jackson to make the wackiest pop album of all time. If not MJ, I guess Daphne & Celeste will have to do!
    My recommendation for anyone new to Max Tundra is the Prog masterpiece "Until We Die" from Parallax Error. Wow!!! All this Ben Jacobs talk got me listening to this last night.
    The Prog Corner

  12. #12
    I love Parallax Error. Reminds me slightly of Todd Rundgren.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by JAMOOL View Post
    IMO the best thing he's ever done was "Which Song" on the following album. If nothing else it got me dreaming of a perfect world where Max Tundra teams up with Michael Jackson to make the wackiest pop album of all time. If not MJ, I guess Daphne & Celeste will have to do!
    Agreed, "Which Song" is perhaps my favorite track by him overall. It's just, like, a perfect distillation of his idiosyncratic pop-form.


    Quote Originally Posted by miamiscot View Post
    My recommendation for anyone new to Max Tundra is the Prog masterpiece "Until We Die" from Parallax Error. Wow!!! All this Ben Jacobs talk got me listening to this last night.
    Another great one! That extended outro is just killer, with the laid-back section that seems to go on and on -- and then the bass note changes and it starts building to a climax.


    Quote Originally Posted by Facelift View Post
    I love Parallax Error. Reminds me slightly of Todd Rundgren.
    Good call. I could see it being a sort of spiritual successor to A Wizard, A True Star in some ways.

  14. #14
    After having spent a few weeks with Daphne & Celeste Save The World, I think this is album-of-the-year material for me. Definitely a strong contender.

    "Song To A Succulent" is just so wonderfully composed, it actually kinda reminds me of something that could have been on Guns by Cardiacs. Maybe a little too lighthearted to fit with the rest of Guns, but the musical sophistication is definitely comparable IMO.

  15. #15
    Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Wisconsin
    Posts
    717
    it's really great isn't it? though I think of "ALTO" as the real Cardiac-like one. kind of amusing that D&C's vocal timbre is sort of similar to Tundra's own. I swear he puts his own vocals in there in spots. for the record, if I didn't know beforehand that Max Tundra was involved, I probably would have figured it out in about 15 seconds.

    now, the real question...who is "BB" about? It's got to be Ed Sheeran, right?
    Critter Jams "album of the week" blog: http://critterjams.wordpress.com

  16. #16
    I love Parallax... whole album is fantastic, but Until We Die is one of my all time favorite songs any category

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by JAMOOL View Post
    it's really great isn't it? though I think of "ALTO" as the real Cardiac-like one. kind of amusing that D&C's vocal timbre is sort of similar to Tundra's own. I swear he puts his own vocals in there in spots. for the record, if I didn't know beforehand that Max Tundra was involved, I probably would have figured it out in about 15 seconds.

    now, the real question...who is "BB" about? It's got to be Ed Sheeran, right?
    Yeah, I can see how ALTO sounds like Cardiacs too for sure. That chorus...

    Pretty sure that 'BB' is about Ed Sheeran, or at least folks like him.

  18. #18
    I love Parallax (I think it's a little more developed and more consistent than MBGATE, but they're both great). Absolutely progressive in my eyes, the guy probably doesn't get the recognition he deserves. I'll also add my regular plug : if you like Max Tundra, check out Dominique Leone, 'Abstract Expression' probably being the best place to start.

  19. #19
    ^ Seconded. Leone is terrific.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •