Featured CD - Charming Hostess : Eat

[Duncan Glenday]

Per CD Universe

A three-member women's chorus of East European-styled vocals is rousingly accompanied by nervous violin, guitar and Old World folk percussion. Charming Hostess' success is in their effective integration of such traditional approaches, with rock motifs and arty, avant-garde dissonance. This singular union is the result of the amalgamation of a female a cappella trio and most of Oakland, CA's experimental rock project Idiot Flesh. Cello, saxophone, flute, didgeridoo, and extra percussion also show up in these wild but effective pieces. The material is a heady mix of beautifully freakish originals and covers of such things as "Won't You Keep Us Working" (Residents), Jewish-Moroccan wedding songs, and other traditional material from Bulgaria, Jewish Spain, and Alabama. The volatile arrangements and skilled vocal harmonies make Eat a unique and rewarding recording. ~ Tom Schulte Composer: Abe Schwartz. Personnel: Jewlia Eisenberg, Morgan Guberman, Carla Kihlstedt (vocals); Nils Frykdahl (guitar, flute, saxophone, percussion); Mark Stichman (harp); Wesley Anderson (drums, percussion); Chuck Squier (drums). Audio Mixer: Dan Rathbun. Recording information: Polymorph Recording. Arrangers: Jewlia Eisenberg; Charming Hostess.

http://www.cduniverse.com/productinf...sic&fulldesc=T

[Scrotum Scissor]

Oh yes! Both this one and Punch are amazingly brilliant, vocal-heavy excursions into the avant-garde spectrum of the "ethnic song-form" approach. Incredible performances allround, and as far as I've heard they are completely able to reproduce those acrobatic tongue exercises live. They went almost exclusively acapella after Punch, I believe.

[progholio]

sometimes I forget how many great records I have in my collection, I think i'll give this one a spin tonight.

[Pr33t]

Absolutely amazing album. One of my all time favorites. Beautiful, funny and damn impressive.

They went almost exclusively acapella after Punch, I believe.

Sadly because of this, the other material really pales in comparison for me.

[Van Manu]

Absolutely amazing album. One of my all time favorites. Beautiful, funny and damn impressive.



Sadly because of this, the other material really pales in comparison for me.

Great album indeed !

Somebody has news about Jewlia Eisenberg after she cancelled her participation at Art Bears concert at RIO fest 2010 ?

[Paulrus]

Definitely talented folks, and definitely NOT appearing at Rosfest.

[notallwhowander]

I've been meaning to get this for over a decade now. I should rectify this...

[spacefreak]

Such a great and inventive album. On regular rotation home...

[aplodon]

Both this one and Punch are amazingly brilliant

Never heard Punch, but I agree on this one!

[Musitron]

Oh my gosh! This is prog related?

[Scrotum Scissor]

Oh my gosh! This is prog related?

"Prog related"? There's no definition of progressive rock music other than the fact that the notion initially applied to rock-based music with a definite conscious approach to creativity and development - it was "contemporarily innovative"; 90% of modern "prog" acts do not qualify by those standards, but Charming Hostess certainly did! As have dozens of other names done, most of whom are unheard of in places like PE even though there are people here who keep discussing them - thankfully.

And yes, Charming Hostess kept in with a tradition of European rock experimentalism stretching back to the latter part of the 70s as well - and I'm not speaking of the "big 5/9/7". Pentateuch? Sorry, I don't think so.

[spacefreak]

Oh my gosh! This is prog related?

Of course it is. The definition of progressive.

...Unless "progressive" includes bands like AIRBAG or ANATHEMA.

[Scrotum Scissor]

Of course it is. The definition of progressive.

...Unless "progressive" includes bands like AIRBAG or ANATHEMA.

Whom of course many people seem to suggest are not only "included" but serve as somewhat core templates - without any perspective on the idiomatic representation of semantics or the cultural principle of these names in a larger canon as such.

The main argument concerns whether "progressive rock music" is being made with an eye to the inherent qualities and assets of the music as representation (i.e. what it implies and expresses on contemporary terms) vs. presentation (whether or not it intends to be "prog" - as in sounding like given works of the past). Charming Hostess were a *ROCK* band creating a new and unheard of angle to song-form which was both musically and artistically highly challenging. Some of the greatest progressive rock music has ALWAYS been delivered by artists with little need of "belonging" to set genres - IMHO.

[Zeuhlmate]

This is great !
New to me, another reason to read PE !

[Levgan]

This album was a real eye-opener to me at the time it came out. I never realized you could mix so many disparate elements together into a cohesive blend, and create such a complex musical work while staying totally accessible at the same time. I still cannot praise it high enough, it's a desert island recording!

Interestingly enough, though, I did not really get near the same mileage from their subsequent releases, even "Punch" which is often considered their greatest achievement (or so it seems). Guess that first CD made such an impact that I could not help but see everything else as a (relative) letdown. Or maybe "Eat" was so challenging (and ultimately rewarding!) that I never needed to follow it up with something else. Perhaps if I started with "Punch", it would've been the other way round - so it's more a comment on my own relationship with Charming Hostess than an attempt to objectively rank their releases. Maybe their disastrous Moscow gig also played its part: it was truly awful, a free concert in a local club who never hosted events like this, with atrocious sound, drunken audience, and even Jewlia was in bad form, so they looked and sounded like a throwaway cabaret band. On the other hand, this thankfully did not prevent me from playing "Eat" to death - I still pull it away from the shelf every couple of months or so.

Oh yeah, and count me up among those who think Charming Hostess, and "Eat" in particular, are infinitely more progressive than 3/4 of so-called "prog rock".

[chalkpie]

Haven't spun this bitch in ages. Love it though. The SGM world is amazing.

[Zeuhlmate]

Found this link at Amazon !
ftp://ftp.bunglefever.com/pub/Charming%20Hostess/

[Udi Koomran]

I was lucky enough to witness Jewlia perform here in 2004 with her "Holy Hostess" - what an amazing performance
On stage she is a force to be reckoned with
http://www.charminghostess.com/blog/archives/11
In that visit she got to know some members of Ahvak and formed an ill fated band called Dropkin
http://www.charminghostess.com/blog/archives/13
I mixed and mastered 2 tracks for an album that was supposed to be released on Tzadik but never happened
https://soundcloud.com/udi-koomran/dropkin-lutzifer-1
https://soundcloud.com/udi-koomran/d...-circus-lady-1

[Udi Koomran]

,.

[Zeuhlmate]

The dropkin stuff is quite interesting.
Have just ordered Charming Hostess Eat - have heard that I might expect a CDR.

+ -,.

[Duncan Glenday]

., x 2!