Sometimes this reviewing game can be a pleasure and sometimes it can give you a grudge against Canada. Sometimes it can be just plain confusing and that pretty much sums Professor Pandemonium’s Cabinet of Wonder.
To the credit of it creator – one Douglas La Ferle – there is a clear sense of adventure in these musical conundrums. Hear one song and you’ve heard them all could not be used to describe this album. In fact quite the opposite with something of an overdose situation developing as musical styles mutate before your ears. Nonetheless, a lot of this works out just fine with the summery folk pop of “Original Heart” and the Jason Webley-esque “The Monkeys Rule” standing out from the pack and I also enjoyed the humour to be found in the clever folk pastiche “Sir Paul and Rebel John”.
Admittedly, Mr La Ferle’s reach does exceed his grasp and there would have been a benefit in cutting a few songs like the awkward “Bimbo Bambi”. Maybe the budget could then have been stretched to the use of a few real instruments and some more human input but, all in all, this is a respectable album if inconsistent in both its aims and its execution.
Available from CD Baby.