CD Reviews

Auktyon

Girls Sing | Geometriya

By TED DROZDOWSKI | March 18, 2008

2.5 Stars

These long-time Soviet art-rockers drafted Yanks Marc Ribot (guitar), John Medeski (keyboards), and Frank London (trumpet) to help them get their punk on. The results run from the noise-colored cool jazz of “Girls Sing” to the acoustic Gypsy folk mash-up “Slova” to the raucous “Tam-dam.” Although this is a radical departure for Leonid Fedorov (whose whisper/croon/bark vocal style leads the live studio session) and his bandmates, the album sounds like a lost artifact of the late-’80s downtown Manhattan music scene, where even Russian-language lyrics would have fit the no-holds-barred æsthetic. As it is, Fedorov and his group could use more of the sly primitivism he praises in his American comrades, whose game efforts can’t quite keep many of these tunes from sounding a little mannered and reserved. Maybe next time Auktyon should have a little more Stoli before hitting the “RECORD” button.

Aukyton | Middle East upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge | March 25 | 617.864.EAST

Topics: CD Reviews , John Medeski, Marc Ribot

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