It’s Only Life!
Blah Blah 666
The sense of fun comes through… — Paris Transatlantic, France
This is Blah’s long-awaited debut release. An eclectic assortment of unfortunate accidents that stumbles and falls somewhere in that exquisite grey area between pure old-fashioned entertainment, pre-harmonic bop, and Canada’s new wave of avant garde mariachi.
Jean Martin and Nick Fraser (aka Skins) simultaneously play one drum kit, Justin Haynes plays home-defretted guitar, Ryan Driver plays a bristle from a standard street-sweeper (as a bass), and Tania Gill plays melodica. The results are truly unprecedented. It’s Only Life! features wild-hearted interpretations of fascinating original compositions by each member of the band (with a few Mexican classics interspersed).
Blah blah blah blah blah blah…
- Composer(s): Justin Haynes, Tania Gill, Nick Fraser, Ryan Driver, Jean Martin, Quirino Mendoza y Cortés, Jaime Nunó
- Writer(s): Francisco González Bocanegra
- Performer(s): Blah Blah 666, Justin Haynes, Tania Gill, Nick Fraser, Ryan Driver, Jean Martin
CD (BR 0307)
- 1Blah Overture (Justin Haynes), 1:50
- 2Paso (Tania Gill), 2:29
- 3Home Sexuality (Justin Haynes), 3:34
- 4Cielito Lindo (Quirino Mendoza y Cortés) (1882), 1:15
- 5Chico Lympico (Justin Haynes), 3:29
- 6Blossom (Justin Haynes), 3:52
- 7Dogs (Nick Fraser), 2:08
- 8Distracted by the Moon (Ryan Driver), 4:43
- 9Big Teepee (Jean Martin), 2:19
- 10Specificity (Jean Martin), 3:13
- 11La Cucaracha (Traditional), 3:21
- 12It’s Only Life! (Justin Haynes), 4:28
- 13Mexican Hat Dance (Traditional), 0:58
- 14
- 15Sonata Tragica (Jean Martin), 1:24
- Label: Barnyard Records
- BR 0307
- 2008
- Total duration: 40:26
- Digipak
- 126 mm × 141 mm × 6 mm
- 55 g
On the web
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Review

Critique

On Barnyard
It’s Only Life! is by the determinedly offbeat quintet Blah Blah 666. It’s best described as postmodern, DIY vaudeville (banjo, ukulele, ricky-tick percussion, tootling melodicas, glockenspiels) with south-of-the-(American)-border touches, including covers of La Cucaracha and Mexican Hat Dance. They’re probably a band to see live, given the bizarre visual component of the music — Ryan Driver (of the Reveries, another of Toronto’s more self-consciously bizarre ensembles) plays a bass made out of a broom, and Martin and Nick Fraser play a single drumkit simultaneously, at least when one of them’s not playing “plastic blow thing” or trumpet — and perhaps it’s better to think of this as a kind of celebration of the collaborative, communal nature of this city’s music scene. The sense of fun comes through even just on disc, but unlike other offerings on the label, this one relies too much on charm and stylized tattiness.
Blog
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Monday, December 15, 2008 / New releases
The Barnyard Records catalogue keeps growing with three new releases: It’s Only Life by Blah Blah 666; Toronto (Duets) 2007 featuring none other than Anthony Braxton and Toronto saxophonist Kyle Brenders; and Freedman, with Justin Haynes on… More