Muthawit-men & women (la Revenge de Uncle Baldy) review by John M. Ellison IV

I’ve just gotten a copy of the redux of “men & women (la Revenge de Uncle Baldy.) This version of the album has had a few songs removed. That’s kind of disappointing because some of my favorite songs got cut off. The album “men & women (la Revenge de Uncle Baldy)” sounds like a concept album about the crumbling of a relationship between a man and a woman at first but after repeated listening to grasp nuances; it’s more about how men and women interact with each other in general. From what I’ve noticed, this album really plays more like a film than an record. Every composition is like a scene rather than a song. If you had to label it genre-wise…well like most music under the UrbAlt umbrella it’s kind of difficult to do that.

I mean, overall “men & women (la Revenge de Uncle Baldy)” fuses many musical elements that are rooted in genres such as shoegazing, post-punk, soul, avant-garde but has blended it together into what is so unique to the MuthaWit Orchestra.

Here are some of my favorite “scenes” from this great movie.

Wasted (Fill My House with Salt)

This is a bluesy, jazzy rocker with fuzzed out bass that would inspire one to try to start a mosh pit…at a jazz club.

“Waiting For My…”

Another rocked out gem with Boston Fielder being the driving musical force behind this composition along with the imperative work of Meryl “Miss J” Jefferson on violin and Sam Myer on trombone.
men & women

This is a composition that plays with sound, like an orchestral jazz fusion piece written for a ballet.

In closing, if you’re not really familiar with UrbAlt, then consider this album the UrbAlt manifesto; a visual and audio hypnotic, unique experience that blurs the line between dream and reality. Look for the physical release of Muthawit’s men & women (la Revenge de Uncle Baldy) on June 3rd 2011.