| Sounds Like | PRESS & Awards:
Monday, June 16, 2008
AV CLUB: THE ONION
Ukulele Loki's Gadabout Orchestra
For someone as explosively prolific as Aaron "Ukulele Loki" Johnson, it's surprising it's taken so long to release a proper full-length CD. What's even more surprising is how retro the CD isn't. Johnson's Orchestra--as well as its attendant stage troupe, Folderol Follies--has long been known as Colorado's most passionate purveyor of vaudevillian antics and aesthetics. But Ukulele Loki's Gadabout Orchestra reaches backward, forward, and into deep pockets of timeless pop weirdness. After an opening instrumental that quotes Carl Stalling's madcap Looney Tunes work, Johnson leads tubas, whistles, trombones, glockenspiel, melodica, and--if the disc's liner notes are to be believed--balloon animals on a motley march through lush and bright-eyed melancholy. Threads of Tin Pan Alley whimsy and Kurt Weil-esque menace run through the album, and Johnson himself is firmly rooted--from his twirled mustache on down--in the minstrel tradition. But songs like "Efficiency" aren't afraid to marry Johnson's titular ukulele with digital beats and lyrics about the dubious futurism of "shampoo and conditioner in one bottle." Not all the experiments succeed, and the album as a whole would have benefited greatly from dirtier, more textured production. But by sneaking gleeful anachronism and a hint of the avant-garde into his ostensibly retro craft, Ukulele Loki mostly lives up to his arch-trickster namesake. -- Jason Heller Grade: B+
CD Review, April 2008
"Ukulele Loki and the Gadabout Orchestra have been roving about for half a decade, spreading the bizarre and celebrating the obscene and insane with their unique blend of 1920s-music hall meets 1980s-shoegazer, all with a dash of indie recklessness and a tweak of rustic folk. The new self-titled album has the maniacal craftsmanship of Queen's "Killer Queen"and the off-the-wall lyrical punchiness of The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Listening to it is like sneaking into the state fair after hours and taking a free ride on the carousel all by yourself. Fun, exciting, but with a distinct need to connect. The album's highlight is the tune "Prague: 1998," a catchy, yet honest song (in the vain of Bob Dylan's "She Belongs To Me,") about the mystery of attraction. 'She loves with a vengeance like serving a sentence and settling a score…' And there he is, the sad clown, lusting for companionship. The live show is a reflection of this type of gloom-turned-toward-the-sun. Sad and sexy, nostalgic and nouveau. Loki's performance art might be actually more reminiscent of "The Little Tramp" than "The Greatest Show On Earth."
—by Christina Eisert, for BUZZ
Comment on the "Denver thing"
The Denver/Boulder scene has made the most of the Americana rootsy genres in the past 15 years, giving rise to bands like 16 Horsepower, Ukulele Loki and the Gadabout Orchestra, DeVotchKa (who says Slavophiles can’t have Americana roots?) and Slim Cessna’s Auto Club.
—Dave Kirby
"Loki and The Gadabout Orchestra have invented a frantically nostalgic style, a unique sound that harkens back to the Depression era while simultaneously recognizing the Reaganomics-inspired '80s and the current alt/indie scene."
-- Dale Bridges, for BOULDER WEEKLY
"Tubas, glockenspiels, puppets, belly dancers, aerial dancers, ventriloquists, prestidigitators, and a healthy dose of vaudeville and burlesque--these are the things that make Ukulele Loki jitterbug. The host of Radio 1190's stalwart country and roots show, Route 78 West, Loki is returning his Folderol Follies variety act to the simpatico stage of the Oriental Theatre, where all manner of jazz-age shenanigans will be performed. Loki's own Gadabout Orchestra will provide the music, and the ensemble will no doubt add to the sideshow air and retrofitted elan."
-- Jason Heller, for THE ONION
Ukulele Loki knows variety acts. A burlesque emcee, musician, circus sideshow performer and co-founder/former member of the defunct Crispy Family Carnival, he just might be the most qualified person in the state to put together a vaudeville show.
And Ukulele Loki's Vaudeville Variety Show and Folderol Follies is a variety heavyweight: As emcee, Loki will introduce burlesque performers (including the lovely Orchid Mei), the Oracle dance troupe, the University of Colorado swing-dance team, belly dancers, puppets crafted by Corey Gilstrap (of Pee-Wee's Playhouse and MTV's Liquid Television fame), comedy, mind-reading and music including a band composed of tuba, clarinet, marimbas, cello, percussion and, of course, the ukulele. "I finally have a really solid band together," enthuses Loki about his Gadabout Orchestra. "We'll be doing hot-jazz and new wave covers covers plus my own happy/sad love songs."
The real question is: What's not in this show? "We're not going to have a flea circus," he reveals. "I have a friend who's building one. It just takes a long time to train all those little fleas.
"Over the years, I've managed to befriend lots of talented people in this community," he adds, "and getting them all together under one roof is really exciting for me."
-- Amber Taufen, for WESTWORD
1997 Westword Winner
Denver's Best Sideshow Performer
"Colorado is proud to have Ukulele Loki, aka Aaron Johnson. A true vaudeville performer, Loki served as music director/ composer/on-stage musician for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival's 2006 production of As You Like It, led the "indie acoustic chamber pop" sounds of the Gadabout Orchestra and acted as ringleader for his vaudeville burlesque circus, the Folderol Follies. His work as the former "Talented Talker" for the Crispy Family Carnival grew out of his work performing as a radio emcee--currently on Route 78 West, which airs Sundays from 10 a.m. to noon on KVCU-Radio 1190 in Boulder. He has been a foil for sideshow performers, bands and burlesque legends such as Dita Von Teese. Loki's love of all things sideshow ensures that vaudeville will never die in Denver."
Ukulele Loki is the co-recipient of the 2004 Circus Historical Society's "Candlelight Award."
HOMEPAGE
Homepage: http://www.ukuleleloki.com
LOKI ON THE RADIO:
Since 2000, Ukulele Loki and Uncle Jeff have hosted Route 78 West on Radio 1190. Find Podcasts, playlists, and show notes here: http://www.route78west.com
In 1998, Loki was one of a handful of DJs at The University of Colorado who together founded Radio 1190: one of the nation's most respected and progressive college radio stations. From 1999-2000 he was the weekday morning show host. He has produced shows featuring virtually every genre of non-mainstream music imaginable. Today Loki co-hosts Route 78 West with Uncle Jeff every Sunday morning and passes the torch to new DJs as the station's training director. http://www.radio1190.org |
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