Eddie The Rat

"Food For The Moon Too Soon" CD

Entartete Kunst Records

Genres: experimental, free jazz, avant garde

Entartete Kunst
PO Box 411194
S.F. California
94141-1194

Feb 3 - 9 2003

I've recently been really impressed with the Entartete Kunst label.  Known for their experimental releases ranging anywhere from downtempo electronica to radical political speeches, EK's output thus far has been absolutely amazing.  Not to be confused with the (also excellent) Canadian Entartete Kunst who released those No Music Festival boxsets a long while back, San Francisco's EK are currently celebrating the release of their most accessible album thus far, Eddie The Rat's Food For The Moon Too Soon.

Comprised of twelve or so members, Eddie The Rat is something of an orchestra, with members playing everything from the cello and the violin to a mouth harp.  This album documents a live performance by the ensemble at the "Artist's Television Access."

Though definitely not for everyone, Eddie The Rat's style is a surprisingly accessible one.  Tracks like "Food For the Moon Too Soon Pt. 1" and "I Ovulate In Mode" have definite melodies - the second, in fact, boasts a moody female vocal bit that really has a smooth feeling to it.  "Life (As A Prosthetic Workaround For The Soul)," meanwhile, is a strong track with an eerie melody that's intertwined with all sorts of little soundclips and noises.

Altogether, Eddie The Rat's Food For The Moon Too Soon is a fantastic live release that really shows off the band's inventive style.  Sometimes outrageous, sometimes creepy, but always enjoyable, the band have a fresh style that's really worth checking out.

86%

Fun Fact: Entartete Kunst gets their name from the German phrase meaning "Degenerate Art."  An "Entartete Kunst" exhibition was set up in Nazi Germany in 1937 by Hitler and Goebbles - the point was to ridicule art that didn't follow the "virtues" of the Natural Socialist regime.  In 1939, most of the paintings were burned by German authorities in Berlin.  The majority of this was modern art that was deemed too avant-garde to fit in.

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 9 songs, distributed by AK Press, released 2002]