John Gavanti - no wave operetta
 

Anyone heard this? Just won it on ebay for £1.99



1998 reissue on Atavistic.

“We're nearing the end of the 20th century. It's time for Atavistic to reissue the world's only No Wave operetta. Circa 1980, Sumner Crane (one of the four visionaries comprising possibly the greatest band of the era, Mars), created a blindsiding, previously unheard and truly inspired art form: no wave music in the form of the operetta. He then wisely enlisted the creative services of several other NYC-based musical genius/kindred spirit-types, including Mark Cunningham & Constance Burg (his compatriots in Mars), Ikue Mori & Arto Lindsay (both of DNA), and Arto's brother Duncan (later of the esteemed Don King). The results, a romping, dada-driven take on Mozart's Don Giovanni would be released that summer on Mark Cunningham's short-lived Hyrax label. John Gavanti demonstrates to full advantage the unbelievable array of noisemaking talent gathered for this auspicious occasion, delivering a splattering melange of guitars, horns, percussion, all fronted by Sumner's (or 'Gavanti's,' should you prefer) otherworldly warble.”

no, i've always been put off it by the association with opera.

That's what sort of intrigued me about it

let me know if it's good, the very idea of it though seems like art student tom-foolery gone one step too far.

It's very odd. In a sort of endearing way. Lots of horns, not much guitar make it sound more like a free jazz operetta as opposed to no wave. The vocal delivery is ridiculous. The lyrics read like pretty much standard operetta fare. Not that I'm familiar with operetta lyrics, I just mean the songs follow a fairly conventional lyrical narrative. The instrumentation is totally dissonant. One of the strangest recordings I ever heard and one to hold tight to.