Embracing cultural diversities can be a very good thing. The goodness, if this embrace is evidenced in a some sort of artifact, usually lies in the synthesis of the dissonant, and sometimes harmonious, aspects of the clashing cultures, and also in the resolution of these clashes. Duh, right? John Cage, Harry Partch, Terry Riley... even Damon Albarn with "Mali Music"; they all understood this. They were worthy fuckin' adversaries, to hearken back to Walter Sobchak, the men in black pajamas. What we have here are a bunch of fig-eaters trying to find reverse on a Soviet tank. Flippant that quote may be, but I like the analogy. Black pajama men knew and loved their opponent, danced with them, while the Master Musicians of Bukake were overeager to rush to battle with their new toys that they didn't even bother to size up their foe. Oriental music was stymied to differing extents in the first cases (save Albarn), but it clearly steamrolled this Seattle ensemble.
The name may be a tip of the cards, that this may not be an entirely serious endeavor, but the music sounds like it wants to be understood to be IMPORTANT so, for better or worse, I treat it as such. But, instead of importance I find shallowness; a heartless, hollow aping of the foreign forms referenced here. The big, brassy cliché elements are found here in spades, and the musicians are talented, so I'll admit the first couple times through I was pretty keen on this disc. But, I couldn't find anything underneath the broad strokes surface. There are some highlights, such as the tumultuous crescendo of "Pillow of Green Light," and some near misses, like the tender and gentle guqin playing on the album closer "Circular and Made of the Earth" which is hammed up with drony/"mystical" vocals. Overall, this feels to me like an insincere, emotionally bereft recording that sounds kinda neat. Could be worse, but, damn, it could be a lot better.
1. Enter The Wang
2. Bukkake Sunrise
3. Yellow Bile / Desperate Ground
4. Lucky Duck
5. Pipestone Octopus With Horseheart
6. Access Of Evil
7. The White Death
8. Invisible Order
9. Horseheart Revolution
10. Pillow Of Green Light
11. My Dust Will Be What I Am
12. Hidden From The Hidden Ones
13. Custody's Last Battle / Secret Wars
14. Black Bile
15. Circular And Made Of The Earth
More about: Master Musicians of Bukkake
