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Austin Live Music >
Austin Bands >B >Brave Combo
Dallas Observer - Scene Heard Volume 3: Even More and Unreleased Tracks
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Rounder Subcompact Disc+ Volume 3
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Holidays
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Brave Combo Album Review:
Fun, chronological journey through our favorite days of the year at 2005-11-22
Playing Time - 53:55 -- When Brave Combo first formed in 1979 in Denton, Texas, they were called a New Wave polka band. However, a quarter century later, theyve proven they are much more. Your hear influences of country, jazz, rock `n roll, surf, blues, Celtic, Tex-Mex, Latin, Klezmer, big band, and salsa in their music. And theres a good measure of the novelty element too. So that explains Brave Combos moniker and cryptic genre, but its really not that baffling. Behind the scenes, I suspect that the band is very serious about their tunes. It shows in their arrangements and musicianship. For us, music is a rather personal thing, and we usually listen to it for enjoyment and stimulation. Holidays! succeeds because theres something for everyone. Brave Combos prime directive is to break down peoples perceptions about whats cool to like in music.... to shake up peoples ideas about what they label hip, or right or wrong. They also say that acceptance of polka and other dance rhythms can help bring about world peace. If people start dancing together, theyll also learn to respect each others cultures too. So put your inhibitions and restraints aside...Get up and cut a rug. Holidays! gives us a fun, chronological journey through our favorite days of the year. They begin with Auld Lang Syne and New Years Polka, then take us through 19 cuts to Mambo in a Brand New Year. But what happened to Martin Luther King Day in January? Thats one of my favorite winter days off from work. Hey guys, its not too late to pen a song called MLK Porter, a tribute to the homebrewed beer that was started in a friends garage that day. And where is the tribute to Veterans Day? How P.C. is it to jump right from Halloween (Vampire Twist) to Thanksgiving Day. While definitely eccentric, they have built a legion of fans who like the outlandish with a grooving, danceable beat. Dr. Demento would appreciate them too. The package includes Larry Kings liner notes about making the CD. As producer of the TM Comedy Central Network, he was on the lookout for good original songs that met their criteria for morning radio shows. Brave Combo is Jeffrey Barnes, Alan Emert, Carl Finch, Bubba Hernandez, and Danny OBrien. Guests on Holidays! include Rob Avsharian, Joe Cripps, Milo Deering, and a whole host of background singers. With over a dozen albums out on the Rounder label, Holidays! is a playful phantasm of foolish and often frenetic festivity. (Joe Ross, Roseburg, OR)
Brave Combo Album Review:
Holiday music, not just for Christmas anymore! at 2005-11-22
When I saw this on a random search for Christmas tunes on Amazon recently, I thought it was another Christmas album by Brave Combo (I saw Santa on the cover and looked no further, plus they had already done the excellent Its Christmas, Man! in 1992). But I ordered it anyway, because well, Ill buy ANYTHING the Brave Combo put out - theyre that good. And I was very pleasantly surprised. It is a holidays album, emphasis on the s, with songs from all year `round, like the swingin Groundhog, Groundhog, the goofy Vampire Twist, and the boppin New Years Polka. Nineteen tracks in all, most of them brilliant - some touching, most funny, and all with the high level of musicianship Ive come to expect from these guys. My only thought is, how will I use this? I cant just put it on around Christmas like other holiday CDs, but instead Ill be pulling it off the shelf throughout the year, one song at a play, for anyone I can get to sit down (or dance around) and listen. I guarantee the kids will be loving Im A Bunny Rabbit at the very least. Pick this up; you wont regret it! And if youre not already a fan, check out all their other releases, incredible fun for your money, always guaranteed to put a smile on your face. (And Im not even a polka fan, I prefer hard rock!) As major band member Carl Finch says in the Editorial Review, Have fun. Stop worrying so much.
Brave Combo Album Editorial:
Welcome to the world of holidays squeezed through the mesh of the Brave Combo sifter. We turned everything into a lumpy powder and mixed it well I hope. So no matter what youre celebrating Brave Combo music is almost always appropriate. Raise your glass and salute the groundhog playing spin the dreidel with his valentine the Easter bunny. Have fun. Stop worrying so much. Carl Finch Brave Combo
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