MUSIC! "Ukranian Pajama Party" - gideon freudmann

If you don't know Gideon Freudmann, you should.  A cross-genre cellist, odds are he's got many tracks or albums that will perk your interest. Self-described as "cellobop," he meanders many different genres of music, mostly on the cello alone, albeit an electric cello - not that you can tell the difference.

Ukranian Pajama Party is such an album (although it isn't just his cello). The album itself has such a variety to it that if you don't like one track, you can skip to the next and find something you do like.  It starts off a relaxing, poppy track that utilizes a mixture of bowing and strumming on the cello. It's accompanied as well by a delightful steel drumming. "Brannock Device" starts the album off making it clear that this is going to have a little bit of everything.

A couple of tracks later, we get to the titular "Ukranian Pajama Party," similarly mixing the bowing and strumming techniques. It's a lazy tune accompanied by some electric guitar. It sounds shades of Western and feels like you need to be reclining with your hat tilted low over your eyes.

Freudmann is at his best with his instrumentals. Still, he is something of a funnyman and will occasionally sing over his music. "Japanese Car" and "Stole a Pony" are examples of that. The former is a quick paced song that almost sounds like he's just making it up as he goes, simply listing types of cars. The songs with lyrics tend to be the weakest (although "Japanese Car" has an excellent instrumental component). But it's nice to see his goofy sense of humor shine through.

A few more tracks in and you reach "Camel Sutra," a song inspired by the sounds of the Middle East. Solely comprised of whimsical bowing, it's only enhanced more by the hand drumming. We return to the jazzy sounds of "Melodious Thunk." As the name implies, it draws its inspiration from jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. Freudmann plays the cello more as an upright bass to accompany the Monk-like piano piece. Some steel drum is thrown in for good measure.

"Everytime" breaks out several tracks later with more of a rock 'n' roll sound, with a heavier electric guitar. Lyrically, it breaks from the typical silliness of his vocal songs. "Bugsondrugs" calls back a similar sound to the start of the album with a faster paced, bowing and strumming jam before ending on "Natasha's Galoshes," another song that transports you to lazy summer afternoons chilling on the back porch.

Freudmann's incorporation of different musical styles doesn't always come across as obviously as Ukranian Pajama Party. It maybe lacks an especially memorable track the way that his other albums often do. There is no "Robin Hood Changes His Oil" here. Overall though, the album is one of his better and perhaps most fully represents him as a musician. If you're one of those who feels the cello is an underutilized instrument in music (which it is), you should pick up pretty much any Gideon Freudmann album.

*The above clip is of "Robin Hood Changes His Oil," one of my favorites. It's not on Ukranian Pajama Party, but he's a smaller name musician and not a lot of his stuff is on YouTube. This gives you a great idea of what you can expect from any given Gideon Freudmann album though!