I must admit that I was very skeptical when I heard for the first time that May had published her album. Why? There were several reasons: First, we had the occasion some weeks ago to hear the teaser of another Greek album with theremin music which was unutterable bad and rather annoying. Second, my musical education didn't give me a receptive ear for rather synthetic music. Third, when I saw the track list I thought: "Oh sh*t, programme music".
[i]"Programme music" means that several pieces are composed around a common subject and shall tell a story to the listener such as the five movements of Berlioz' "Symphonie fantastique" which are intended to describe the emotions of an intoxicated person and are labeled "Dreams and Passions", "A Ball", "Scene in the fields", "March to the Scaffold" and "Dreams of a Witch's Sabbath". While the "Symphonie fantastique" is the work of a genius, we have often seen that programme music has been used by composers which had not enough ideas and ruminate the same subject multiple times in a boring manner.[/i]
Finally my curiosity bore the palm against my skepticism and I ordered the album. It took only two days from Greece to France, was well packed and arrived in perfect condition. The CD doesn't come in a standard plastic box but in a sophisticated folded cover with nice drawings and cut-out ornaments which made me think rather of a children's gift.
When I read the accompanying text I understood the choice of the cover design: The music tells a story about the childhood of a small girl with a kind of anxiety neurosis which distrusts each appearance because of the potential danger behind it. One day she decided to go out to find something warm, soft, shiny in the dark and kind which would not hurt her. - I'll not yet tell the sad happy end or the happy sad end of the story - read and enjoy it yourself!
Her music does not only perfectly fit the story. There are eight pieces, each one very different from the others, each with individual structures and innovative musical ideas or shall I rather say "musical surprises"? There is a firework off well dosed but not exaggerated effects such as for example unconventional chords or the vertical reconstruction of a horizontally decomposed musical element. Only brilliance. No room for boredom. There is an epic tension in every piece and over the whole "Suite", created by the stress field between love and fear.
May did not only write all tracks but performed all these instruments herself: Moog Etherwave Theremin, Korg Electribe ER-1, Micro-Korg, Kaossilator, Squier Strat and even a wind-up bear. There are extra vocals from Eleni Zerva on track 4 and Irakus Iosifidis playing double bass on track 8.
This CD is a beneficial contrast to the current mainstream. My inner musicologist is enthusiastic but unable to judge the entertainment factor for the average listener. So I close this with the wishful thinking: "May this album find favor in your ears"
May Roosevelt: Panda, A Story about Love and Fear (http://www.lotus.gr/record_info.php?ID=20605)
