Penguin Cafe Orchestra albums

1976

Music from the Penguin Cafe -  92%

One of the better albums that refuses to fit into a category of a genre or convention. It's chamber music, performed before there was a name for its genre, every single song taps into a different kind of emotional performance- the 11 minute "The Sound Of Someone You Love Who's Going Away And It Doesn't Matter" never stops being entertaining as the instruments compete for your attention; "PC Single" is one of the catchiest pieces of orchestral pop in any decade; the constantly shifting “Hugebaby” and closer "Chartered Flight" is smooth and perfectly puts us in a somber mood. The different genres travailed on the multi-part "Zopf" open all sorts of doors: “Milk” is playful and dangerous, “In a Sydney Motel” is a vocal driven ballad, “Giles Faranby’s Dream” uses harpsichord and banjos to lively effect. This debut album is a sound of a orchestral combo very assured and complete and the album is one of the best of its kind. What exactly is that kind, and how do you define music that mixes classical, folk, rock and many others into its stew well- just call it great music and enjoy.

 Best Songs: in A Sydney Hotel, PC Single, Milk, Chartered Flight

2023

Rain Before Seven - 81%

Penguin Café is the off shoot of Penguin Café Orchestra of the 1970s, Simon Jeffes being the guiding force behind their grand orchestral music. Some have classified it as ‘New Age’ but most people agree its hardly ‘rocking’ in any way. I could not disagree more- the son Arthur Jeffes is carrying on the tradition of making music that is soothing to the soul, using a whole chamber of great instrumental sounds and he sure does make it look easy. The is hardly a vocal to be found on the album, but plenty of rock music is like that. Opener “Welcome to London” simultaneously sounds human and alien, the Caribbean percussion mixing with violins and piano lines in mysterious ways (continued on “Temp shelter”, maximized on “No One Really Leaves”). “In Re Budd” nearly jumps off the record and frolics around the room, each instrument competing for most lively. Best of all, “Second Variety” is one of the best instrumental tracks of the year, showing controlled passionate playing that echoes the best of Peter Gabriel.

The new Penguin Café translates the Jeffes family music to a new generation, as new instruments are invented there are new ways to play them, and new symphonies can be born. That is the essence of rock music itself.

 Best Songs: Second Variety, Welcome to London, Temp Shelter, No One Really Leaves