Extranthropaedia is a word coined by the artist to describe childhood in alien worlds. Drawing influence from styles ranging from world beat to country, jazz to rock, prog to punk, this is music that often ultimately resembles none of those. It's the music of potentialities narrowed into reality by the observation of the listener. You may hear the influences, and recognize the instrumentation, but in these works it is the vibration itself that rules. It may help to think of much of it as Other-World music which borrows heavily from scraps of This-World music. Or perhaps you could think of it as Alien Mood music...yet not Sci-Fi nor always very calming. Indeed the moods expressed range from tranquil to playful, pastoral to industrial, passionate, aggressive and even annoying...often in the same piece. And they always seem to reflect the whimsy of that alien childhood which inspired them all. These works were created over a period of 3 years by the artist known as Tangmo--primarily a singer/songwriter and all-round creative type. They reflect his interest in the nature of childhood and represent his disposition towards the more extreme possiblities of independant music making. The CD starts with the upbeat and playful AMNAT AT TWELVE--a rythmical progressive romp--and ends with THAI STYX which serves as much as an Extranthropaedic lullabye as it does a sonic re-creation of a successful experiment with it's name-sake. In between, we are treated to the New-Wavish APHORISMO with it's creative advice, and the companion pieces PEANUTS and ANOTHER BAG which are deconstructions of a very hot, funky groove manipulated for the ADD afflicted amongst us...commercial only in the sense that they are the length of commercials...only God knows what product they would be selling. FLY THAI (with Bruce Lesisko) is one of the quirkiest pieces I've heard with industrial post-rock backing up a Thai lyric that roughly translates (at least partially) to "Hello...I love you...won't you tell me your name?" Big fun. THAI ONE ON is another loosely Thai-themed tidbit that's just a last giggle before the lullabye Not that it's all fun and games. Childhood and adolesence have their somber moments as well. PEACE #23 (read by Chicago theater actor Sean Sinitski) is a spoken word/poetry piece with much of the musical backing taken from manipulations of Sean's voice. It speaks of an alter-definition of peace in this post 9/11 world of conflict. ROAD WEARY is a delay-drenched riot of percussion and mangled guitar that is 'groovy' in every sense of the word and groove-busting at the same time. It's somber tone references the down-side of road-warrioring. I think this is the signature piece, in many ways, of this period of creativity. Speaking of mood music, the two longest tracks on the album--ETERNITY SQUARED and LEK'S EYES--are really impossible to peg. Both are sonic explorations of mood shifts and are as likely to be pouty as joyous. Musically, they play hard with progression and extreme percussion while stopping to rest in passages sparse or lush. EXTRANTHROPAEDIA V1.0, even though it is ostensibly the "title" track, is maybe the least representative of the CD as a whole. I think it makes up for that by being the track closest to expressing the over-arching theme of childhood in an alien world. I've never been 'there', but I think a lot of us can understand the concept of an alien childhood...that sense of being different...and when you stop and think about it, every childhood is experienced in a world alien to him or herself. Growing up is a process of becoming familiar. LATER IN THE DREAMTIME is maybe the most easily pidgeon-holable cut on the CD...a rather simple rock run through with hints of Tull and, of course, a didgereedoo bassline. Of course. Lastly, BEETS FOR MR. BUCKLEY is an all-out hyperactive romper-room trashing. You will no more likely be able to keep up with this than you can keep up with your 5-year-old. Bratty, annoying, exhausting, energetic, and loveable. And just a bit potty-mouthed too. Where is that soap? EXTRANTHROPAEDIA is an interesting name for a CD. And it's certainly an evocative theme for a creative person. As long as you don't come to it with a Hallmark notion of what childhood (alien or terrestrial) is like, you should be able to catch the wind and, as Amnat did at twelve, experience a full measure of wonder.