Notes
Gideon's newest CD is a live soundtrack for the classic 1919 German Expressionist silent film. Incorporating classical, jazz, folk, and world music, this CD features an amazing range of styles and moods, with electric cello, percussion and accordion. You can rent tohe movie and play the soundtrack along with it, or just listen to the music. It stands on it's own and is delightfully unique and original. ----------- Review of Gideon Freudmann's 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' Gideon Freudmann's latest sonic offering is something of a departure from his previous albums. The same virtuoso playing and mindbending digital enhancements, which Gideon has put his special mark upon, are here. But instead of a collection of tunes grouped together as a mix, Caligari has a cinematic flow and duration, being the live recording of Gideon's accompaniment to the great silent German Expressionist film of the same name. Enhancing his already full solo sound are Michael DiMartino on percussion, Dave Hower on drums, and Chris Haynes on accordian, who provide a post-production musical flourish that blends effortlessly with Gideon's previously captured performance- just the right addition of arabesque drumming and the old-world sigh of the squeezebox. Caligari is a tale of madness, and the trademark Cellobop psychedelia serves it well, as the Cello is taken thru delicate passages of suspense that crescendo into lunging cascades of action and cabaret-like musical segues. The traditional structures of the short musical number, which even in Gideon's prior albums exploring pure instrumentals employed, are hinted at here, but the free-flowing nature of the music as film soundtrack blends and washes these foundations down and around in a flood of unfolding atmosphere that is dark, expressionist, sinisterly humorous, and evokes noir-ish thought pictures, reflecting the film's starkly unusual design. Like a dream, or to be more precise, like a movie, Caligari does not pause to inform us that a new song has begun. Their are 10 tracks on the album, but they are assembled in such a way that there are no breaks in the performance. This allows for listening that is not confined to three minute, twenty second stories... Caligari is just shy of a full hour of exotic journeying through a detailed landscape of mystery, mood and musical craftsmanship. Watch it along with a copy of the film- or better yet, make yourself comfortable, close your eyes, and allow this album to create a wholly unique movie in your mind. David Longey, 2/06.
