Penguin Cafe Orchestra Preludes, Airs & Yodels CD

Recorded between 1976 & 1993. Includes liner notes by Simon Jeffes.

PRELUDES, AIRS, AND YODELS is a 1997 compilation of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra's erratic and unexpected ethereal jazz. This collection includes "Air," "Giles Fanraby's Dream," and "White Mischief," and 16 other tracks that define their sound.

The Penguin Cafe Orchestra was one of those delightfully unclassifiable groups. Not really classical, not really jazz; sort of minimalist, and decidedly not new age (despite their usual classification), the PCO blended the first three of those ingredients into a quirky, beautiful, and timeless music that sounds like no one else. Lots of strings, piano, harmonium, bass, and ukuleles are the main instruments, and the music they produce is pretty, humorous, and utterly unique. Preludes, Airs & Yodels is a collection (one couldn't really use the term "Greatest Hits" for the PCO) that features many of their best-loved tunes like the "Penguin Cafe Single," "Air à Danser," and "Telephone and Rubber Band" (What? No "Ecstasy of Dancing Fleas?"). "Music for a Found Harmonium" actually appears three times: the original version by the PCO, a version by the traditional Irish band Patrick Street, and an electronicized version whipped up by pioneering electronica act the Orb. To be honest, the Orb remix doesn't really fit into the flow of the album all that well, but the point they make about the wide-ranging appeal of the group is well-taken (and it's easy enough to program out). The remastered sound is a marked improvement over their individual albums (as of 2004), and this compilation could serve as the perfect entry point for the curious. Once you hear it, you'll probably want to pick up the four-CD box, History, which contains the rest of their recordings along with various unreleased outtakes and live performances (and, incidentally, does not overlap at all with Preludes, Airs & Yodels). This is great stuff. ~ Sean Westergaard

Comp of the best tracks from their six studioalbums plus Patrick Street's performance of 'Music For AFound Harmonium' and the exclusive Orb remix of it, entitled'Pandaharmonium'.

Penguin Cafe Orchestra includes: Simon Jeffes (various instruments); Geoffrey Richardson (steel string guitar, viola); Gavyn Wright (violin); Helen Liebmann (cello); Giles Leaman (oboe); Danny Cummins (percussion).

Digitally remastered by Tony Cousins (Metropolis).

British import.

Producers: Simon Jeffes, Steve Nye, Patrick Street.