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A Whirlwind Tour On Czech Pop

Ivan Sever | MA, United States | 04/16/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Thanks to years spent behind the Iron Curtain, Czech popular music still doesn't really have any established distribution in the West. (Classical and folk music are a different story.) Fortunately, inroads are being made by small independent upstart companies and this collection is a sampler of one such company. Based in Delaware, Skoda Records is the U.S. distributor of the band 'Uz jsme doma.' In addition to this band, 'Czeching In' also contains samples of ten other groups. Following the opening 'Light Explosion' by Sum Svistu, (it's an instrumental cross between Devo's 'Bread and Butter' and David Byrne at his tropical best), Tichá Dohoda (Silent Agreement) delivers 'Anchor and Cross.' It features Blanka Srumová's strong vocals. 'Waterfalls' by the Go Go's sound-alike Zuby Nehty is followed by Mnaga a Zdorp's 'Sometimes' This band is best known for its unusual name and depressing lyrics. The oriental sounding 'You Remain Alone' by Laura a jeji tygri isn't too upbeat either. The rather disturbing 'Wolves' by Tornádo Lue leads to an even more twisted 'One Day' by Dunaj.Unfortunately the next track, Sto zvírat's 'Puppet, 'breaks the mold; it is the weakest link of this album. But Uz jsme doma's instrumental 'Jassica' makes up for the low spot. The liner notes contain a story of a grey whale (Jassica) who falls in love with a sailor and gives birth to a baby giraffe also named Jassica. The whole saga is illustrated by Martin Velísek, the band's sixth member. The final two cuts bring us back to Earth (albeit slightly skewed Earth). First, Yoyo Band unleashes 'No, Not That' from their first album Karviná and then Buty closes with 'I'd Like To Be Called John.' And so, this collection takes us on a whirlwind tour, from the silly tropical beginning to the bottom of the ocean - and back up again. Skoda Records did an excellent job packaging this collection with pictures and complete lyrics in Czech and English. Czeching In presents an accurate representation of the contemporary music scene and I wish the young company all the success."

Great overview of recent Czech pop music

Ivan Sever | 08/11/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Ahoj! Jak se mate! Definitely a broad range of recent Czech pop music groups and styles. There is everything from energetic party tunes to moody pieces of ethereal beauty. Understanding Czech is not necessary to enjoy this compilation, as the music is entertaining in an obvious and clear way. If you are looking for something a little off the mainstream, then this just could be for you! Enjoy!"