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The bohemian "small orchestra" out of Portland, Oregon, returns, and as we've come to expect from Pink Martini, Hey Eugene! is a kaleidoscope of retro song styles. Assaying swing, samba, Latin pop, and Japanese noir, among other moods, the classically trained 14-piece remains something of a Douglas Sirk production for your ears. The most notable leap on the group's third album is that it marks their most extensive original songwriting, with mixed results. The title track, written by chanteuse China Forbes, is an exuberant horn-driven burst of soul-pop that's become a staple of their live show, but "Dosvedanya, Mio Bombino," co-written by Forbes's sister Maya, is almost a Pink Martini parody, mashing up Russian and Italian in a labored number that's a little too in love with its own cleverness. Similar over-thinking threatens the Arabic plaint "Bukra wba'do," but the Martini's strings are put to such good use in this wacky Cairo film song made famous by Abdel Halim Hafez that it's hard to fault it or the political overtones that seem to have been its inspiration. The album works best on tried-and-true Martini-isms -- read: Carmen Miranda, here represented by the moody samba "Tempo Perdido," and French cabaret ditties such as "Ojala." Likewise, when the band lure Little Jimmy Scott to duet with China Forbes on "Tea for Two," the textures are so lush and perfect that all that other tinny drivel competing for your eardrums seems to just melt away.
Condition:NEW. Punched upc
TRACK LISTINGS
Disc 1
1 Everywhere (3:10)
2 Tempo Perdido (3:42)
3 Mar Desconocido (3:12)
4 Taya Tan (2:42)
5 City of Night (4:19)
6 Ojala (3:02)
7 Bukra Wba'do (3:56)
8 Cante E Dance (4:28)
9 Hey Eugene (3:10)
10 Syracuse (3:50)
11 Dosvedanya Mio Bombino (4:41)
12 Tea for Two (5:02)
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