THE ORDINAIRES

(Dossier)

Here’s a fun New York band (actually a nonet: two guitarists, two violinists, one cellist/flutist, one tenor saxist/accordionist, one alto saxist, one bassist, and one drummer) who are dedicated to playing instrumental music which doesn’t hold still long enough to be pinned down. Just when you think you’ve got these guys and gals pegged, they try something different, e.g., “Passion Flower” sounds like modern chamber music with a strong backbeat (this band ain’t afraid of contradictory combinations) with horror movie soundtrack overtones (or undertones), while “Industry” has a plangent No New York edge to it...“Hope” is funky, “Ramayana” is trad Indian stuff, “Gridlock” has a crypto-latin feel, etc. None of this really conveys what the album is like since its most compelling feature is its arrangements—the way the strings, horns and rhythm stake out their separate spaces and then intermingle, not always in a friendly way. Maybe it’d be better if you just bought the album. R.C.W.

MEAT PUPPETS Out My Way (SST)