Naked Elf

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Naked Elf - YI

Artist:	Naked Elf
Title:	YI
Label:	Smiley Jones Records SJ006
Length(s):	61 minutes
Year(s) of release:	2002
Month of review:	[01/2003]

Line up

Rob MacGrogan
Kelly Shane
Andy Tegethoff

Tracks

1)	Books Of Bokonon	7.20
2)	Stew	3.06
3)	Electric Bread	4.40
4)	In The Domain Of The Dread Dormannu	7.33
5)	The Transmigration Of Mr. Natural	2.22
6)	Malphus Inaugurated	3.46
7)	CircuSSS-the Performing Bestiary	2.38
8)	Enter The Grand Vizier	3.35
9)	Socks, Clocks	4.39
10)	The Dark Cone Of Orodruin	13.54
11)	Orion: New Genesis	7.24

Summary

Yi is Chinese for "one", and Naked Elf's debut album, filled with mostly improvised music.

The music

The music on Yi has various styles, groovy and funky at the one moment, peaceful and tranquil at the other, somewhat electronic even on Stew. The album starts out pretty jammy, with two nice tracks, but as it progresses there's more tranquility than groove. The jammy spheres remain, but they seem at times like a watered down Ozric Tentacles, and can't always keep the attention. CircuSSS-the performing bestiary sounds like they added it to check whether reviewers listened through the whole album. Tongue through cheek (yes, through), this is.

Conclusion

This is a pretty decent album, with some nice improvisations. However, at times the improvisations on this album sound like they might have been more fun to do, than they are to listen to. And in case you're wondering about the title: I haven't heard anything that sounds Chinese, not unless you want to count the Tibetan bells on The Transmigration Of Mr. Natural so. By the way, the sound is kind of flat. Sounds like this one was recorded in something different from a top notch studio. If you're into improvisational music, this would be one to consider, however, if you're looking for an introduction, this would not be a likely one.