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REVIEWS 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards
Winners Announced At the Just Plain Folks Music Awards Show on November 4th 2006, Perry won in two catagories, Best Experimental Song (What Difference Does It Make) and Best Experimental Album (Combines 2). Check out the JPF site for details and photographs. http://www.jpfolks.com/home.html
From Keyboard, by Robert Doerschuk Perry Botkin, Combines: Five Electronic Essays (Perry Botkin Productions, 12999 Blairwood Dr., Studio City, CA 91604). Sounds
of everyday life mutate into compelling motivic material on Combines.
On "Women Who Won't Give You the Time of Day," tumbling
dimes, off-the-hook signals, unanswered rings, recorded commands
to  My
personal fave of was Perry Botkin's "Combines 2",
released on his Botkin Music label. Yes, this is the same gentleman
who wrote "Nadia's Theme". Using an everyday reference
point for modern technology, the answering machine, he combines
complex musicality,
technology, and a fine sense of pathos and humor, to present a unique
and very accessible fun-house mirror view of ourselves. Highly recommended!Joel
Kru , PLAYLIST: PUSHING THE ENVELOPE -
WHUS/Storrs, CT on the Citizen Band
From Aural Innovations #16 (June 2001) The
promo sheet that came with this CD indicates that Perry Botkin has
a long history and experience with film and television, having composed (quoted from the CD liner notes.)Botkin
composes and plays in a highly dramatic, theatrical style that runs
through a gamut of paces and emotions. Quirky, intense, whimsical,
frenzied... I wasn't allowed a moment to catch my breath, my attention
clamped in Botkin's grip. Botkin is a stunning
keyboard player who communicates through varied sounds and aural
textures, running through continually evolving themes that seem
to draw on influences that recall everything from Mozart to Rogers
& Hammerstein. In fact, as a big fan of the old MGM film musicals,
the compositions often sound like a modern classical take on such
music, in which I picture a chorus of dancers interpreting the high
drama that is being communicated. The pace can become quite crazed,
creating an edge-of-your-seat intensity that is as hair raising
as it is gripping.Among
my favorite tracks is "Confused Youth", which opens with
crazed avant-piano concerto/carnival music and a child speaking
a medley of kids songs/poems, particularly the old "Jesus loves
me this I know....". There's lots happening here as Botkin
constructs multiple layers of synth patterns and piano, making for
a combination that brings various influences to mind... his intense
trademark dramatics, a symphony, Residents wackiness, and RIO styled
progressive rock. On "Eurydice Arising", Botkin's
high drama is well in evidence, and I love the keyboard that sounds
like a child's Toys 'R Us piano. The piece starts off on the whimsical
side, but soon evolves into an intense symphonic sound with heavy
percussion. There are several moments that skillfully pulsate and
wave back and forth between left and right channel such that under
the headphones my eyes were rattling. Great effect.Highly
recommended to fans of their local symphony who dig electronic music
and the avant-garde, as well as prog rockers who enjoy theatrically
composed music. Despite the experimental nature of the pieces, this
is by no means abstract, the drama and theme construction making
for an emotional experience and one hell of a ride.For
more information and sound files you can visit Perry Botkin's web
site at: http://www.perrybotkin.com. Contact via snail mail c/o Perry Botkin; 12999 Blairwood Dr; Studio City, CA 91604. Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz
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