intriguing cd review, courtesy of our friends over at aquariusrecords.org

TIGER LILLIES AND KRONOS QUARTET "The Gorey End" (EMI) cd 16.98
Yes, the "Gorey" in the title refers to the
late beloved genius Mr. Edward Gorey whose
artwork both graces and inspires this release.
And yes, this album has been nominated for a
Grammy. According to the liner notes, Edward
Gorey took such a liking to one of the Tiger
Lillies' songs that he was spurred to send them a
bunch of his unpublished stories. In turn, they
spun a number of them into song for this album,
and hooked up with the Kronos Quartet to make for
quite an impressive and suitably tweaked cast of
players. The results are thirteen songs
characteristically (for all involved) very high
on twisted theatrics and eccentricities. Vocalist
Martyn Jaques possesses a highly affected,
oft-operatic voice which he unleashes with a
commanding flair on the audience, squawking,
cackling and howling out his adaptations of the
stories which stay quite faithfully in spirit and
tone to that of Gorey (lyrics are included in the
booklet). All the while a piano is prodded and
tickled, an accordion huffs and wheezes, the
Kronos strings weigh heavily on the heartstrings,
and a toybox is plundered for more sonic
embellishments. Together they weave a delirious
cabaret atmosphere that's at once unsettling,
macabre, and surreal.

aquarius records is a neat cd store in the mission area on valencia street. right around the taquiera cancun. a nice lil stop for all us music nerds.