"Kaiser's 'Asphalt Buddhas' (pfMENTUM) has a much more experimental, noise-embracing character. Noise, in this case, is not a dirty word, but the base ingredient in a style of abstract sound collage. Kaiser is the antic collagist, the stitcher and paster, who blends improvised patches of electronic sound, trumpet playing of various degrees of purity, the furtive guitar work of Aplanalp, mouth-made sounds and occasional snippets of sound filched from CB radio by artist Jeff Overlie (whose photography series provides the tracks and the CD with their titles)...This is music without a net and with only scant mapping. Alternately mumbling and howling, the CD requires -- and rewards -- an open mind."
--Josef Woodard, Los Angeles Times, 5 November 1999
"Like recalcitrant schoolboys set in a corner, [Philip] Glass and [John] Cage these days are shoehorned into the New Age/classical category. Critics sleep at night, and make deadline, knowing the rest can be blanketed as jazz...But Venturan JEFF KAISER is not going easily into that good night. He rages once more against the mainstream on his latest CD project, 'Asphalt Buddhas,'...How to describe it? Weird, wild, wonderful. Interesting, intriguing. Loud. Annoying. Unfathomable...'Asphalt Buddhas' doesn't just push envelopes. It crams into the package...a variety of audacious ideas, then signs, seals and delivers...Along with the white-line ruminations of zoned out truckers, listeners are subjected to an array of sounds: creaks, cracks, groans, screeching..."
--Elena Jarvis, Ventura County Star, 5 November 1999
"...new sounds and everyday chatter take on new meaning. For Jeff Kaiser and Woody Aplanalp their music resides where noises are unwanted and unwelcome, but with contemplation ultimately satisfying. Feedback, CB radio interceptions, scary vocals and electronic goo figure just as prominently as traditional instrumentation. The duo deconstructs the landscapes of Jon Hassel and Raymond Scott, removing the trail markers from the path. Listeners are required to check their notions of notation, rhythm and, well, music at the door. For Kaiser, a trumpeter who's resume includes work with Eugene Chadbourne, The Michael Vlatkovich Brass Trio, Brad Dutz, The Vinny Golia Large Ensemble, Dan Plonsey and the Human Behavior Orchestra, this is perhaps his version of the Stones' Classic Exile On Main Street."
--Mark Corroto, allaboutjazz.com, 9 January 2000 |