R. Stevie Moore & Yukio Yung
The Yung And Moore Show (Orgone, 2004)

If you know me, you know I'm beside myself here. R. Stevie Moore and Yukio Yung. Two of my favorite artists. 1/2 the Chrysanthemums and the King of Home Taping. Two of the most gifted (and funniest) songwriters alive. And the album surpasses every expectation. There are few better ways to spend an hour than listening to this disc.

I'm not sure how this collaboration works as the notes say it was recorded in London (Yung's home?), Scotland (I believe this is Yung's home), and New Jersey (Steve's home) - I'm guessing via file trading with maybe a little face time somewhere - but the synergy of these two pop masters is nothing if not stunning. The disc opens with "Schwann's Catalog", which is pretty indicative of what's to follow. The first half of the song is about renting a boat, some masturbation allusions ("Couldn't prevent this old sailor from dancing alone...."), and fishing. Then the last verse is straight out of the mouth of a record store clerk - how to use Phololog, the catalog of recordings in print - and finally, Schwann Catalog, which is the classical music bible. And all this non-sequitur lyrical weirdness happening inside a really terrific pop tune.

Then quickly into yet another (but can there ever be too many?) version of the Chrysanthemums classic "I Wish Marvin Gaye's Father Had Killed Me Instead". This time it has a vaguely Brazilian feel, what sound like P-Funk horn samples and a brilliant mellotron coda based around the infamous Flute and Cha-Cha samples (reversed and cut up, these are the weird backwards bits of "Strawberry Fields Forever"). They could stop here and have a better album than 90% of your local record store. But they go on for fourteen more tracks.

Other highlights include: a nice version of the lovely "Norway" [from their previous OBJECTIVITY collaboration (Jar Music, 1997)]; "Nametag the Entertainer Take 12" which sounds like Sun Ra covering a Squarepusher song with a lounge singer doing the verses ("Fridge Magnet Poem #1" mines this same territory but without the lounge singer); "Taking Your Stuff" - a cover of a Shari Elf ditty; "Subjectivity" which is pure Yukio Yung pop at its catchiest; a medley of Moore's "I Go Into Your Mind" with a Yung tune; and the final cut "I Like Yellow Things", a great dork rock song.

This album will make me happy for many many listens. If you think this sounds interesting, you should buy it. You won't be sorry. And the great thing is, there is a TON more where this comes from.

Posted 5 October 2005.