The Troubled Youth Orchestra is back with a vengeance. On The Return of Troubled Youth Orchestra, Jefferson Pilot's new release, the TYO is presented as a collaborator, or alter ego, of the artist. Making its first appearance on a single track of The Optimist Field, here the TYO is featured, in a big way, with a two-minute prelude and a fourteen-minute extravaganza. Strange percussive effects, offbeat and sinuous saxophone lines, and dissonant harmonica effects all swirl together in a mélange of effort. These conflicting textures evoke a jagged landscape of sonic possibilities and disorienting psychedelia.
That psychedelic underpinning extends to the whole album. After "Intro," the songs settle into the slightly more familiar territory of slow majesty that informs much of Jefferson Pilot's recent work--songs that, with their Ringo-esque drumming, Robert Wyatt-influenced vocals, and mellotron textures, evoke a Canterbury-like feel that also shares a lot with the pianistic sensibility of Dennis Wilson and structural modularity of Smile-era Brian Wilson. A strong release for Jefferson Pilot that rivals his earlier releases in its ingenuity, flow, and experimentation.
(Full disclosure: Jefferson Pilot's my brother.)
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