For Y'Ears
Joe & Al
Joe & Al Productions
1998
15 tracks
In case anyone imagines these guys are really named Joe and Al, that's a lot of Bull. This is a fact to which brothers David and Eric Bull openly admit in the labelling of their CD, and on their ever-growing web site. All the music, vocals, and production on this release are the work of the Bulls.
The brothers Bull are talented musical dilletantes who, while performing live with bands over the past twenty-plus years, have developed some considerable musical and recording skills. They have some 250 recordings "in the can" to date. From these, they have selected fifteen songs to include on the current release.
Clearly, as indicated in this release, the brothers' interests and taste are highly eclectic. This makes it difficult to know exactly what to say about their music.
There are echoes here of David Gates, Todd Rundgren, Alan Parsons, Warren Zevon, and a host of other artists of the past three decades. Much of this impression is created by David Bull's vocalizations, often wrapped in heavy reverb effects.
Musically, the sound is hard to pin down. The keys and some of the rhythms suggest perhaps Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, or similar blues oriented British groups. For me, the sound is even more reminiscent of Tangerine Dream and other American surfing music ensembles of thirty years ago. It has the same sort of mellow, almost New Age feel about it that filled the background of so many surfing movies back then.
That Tangerine Dream sound is especially evident in songs such as "Rapid Eye Movement," "End of Summer," "When I Knock," "Voodoo Man," and "Believing in Love" (which also includes a very Pink Floyd section), although the same feeling pervades all the songs.
It is rare today to find a release that includes both instrumental and vocal/instrumental music. In this case the mix of the two works quite well. This is easy-listening music that is not so much dependent on lyrics as it is a comfortable backdrop for... well, for whatever one might be doing.
Given the Bull's assertion that their library of tracks -- or custom tracks as needed -- are available for television and film scores, this music seems well suited for just such a purpose. It is background music, but is a music of many moods and so well suited to the evanescent emotional climate of today's movies.
At the same time, with its late-sixties/early-seventies ambience, it is well worth purchasing to serve up under dimmed lights along with incense and a bottle of Chianti.
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