Comments for Uncle Bonsai, Myn Ynd Wymyn

This recording is now available on Compact Disc from Yellow Tail Records. For information, check out the web site (http://members.aol.com/ytrecords) or email us here at ytrecords@aol.com.

Unable to finace another full studio album (a problem singer/songwriter Andrew Ratshin has now circumvented by starting his own label) Bonsai recorded this striking "live-in-the studio" set, which would prove to be their swan song as a group. Myn Ynd Wymyn lives up to its station as the final word on Uncle Bonsai --this is as rich, varied and accomplished an album as can be found in the genre. In addition to exploring their usual subjects with even more depth and subtlety than in their two previous albums, here they veer into the outright surrealism ("Julie Andrews," and "They`re At It Again") and assay two unexpected covers (an amphetamine-crazed "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" and a wry acapella rendering of Mozart`s "Eine Kleine Nacht Muzik"). There are _twenty_ originals on this album, raning from offbeat humor ("Voice of God," "Folk Song," "Family Resaurant") to sociological treatises on the glories and banalities of middle America ("K-Mart," "Disney World," "Then God Made Malls," "Me & Mrs. Middle America") to thoughtful explorations af personal realtionships ("Men and Women," "Midas Touch," "Enterprising Young Man," "Bedroom Eyes"). There is more top-notch material here than most artists produce in a decade, and a tremendous amount of real insight. Ratshin has a knack for hitting the nail on the head while making you laugh or cry, without being overly obvious or saccharinne. This is a collection you must not miss by a group you`ve already missed (UB broke up in 1989). Also available by Uncle Bonsai & Electric Bonsai Band (Andrew Ratshin solo):A Lonely Grain Of Corn (UB)Boys Want Sex In The Morning (UB)The (In)Essential Uncle Bonsai (UB)I Am Joe`s Eyes (EBB)But I`m Happy Now (EBB

Yes, Myn Ynd Wymyn (great title) is a widely varied album. Like any other UB album, there are some great humorous songs. "I Like Girls," with Andrew Ratshin singing about being hit on at a bar by a gay man (in a nonoffensive, nonjudgmental manner), is particularly strong, as is "Doug at his Mom's," about a 20-something going home at Thanksgiving to a family who sees him as perpetually 12 years old. "Midas Touch" is a fantastic love song from the perspective of the best friend who wishes the relationship was not platonic. "Bedroom Eyes" is Ashley Kristen singing how she will not be fooled again by the good looking, but worthless boyfriend. Incredible 3-part harmonies are the norm here, as in any UB album, and at one point they even pay homage to another 3-part harmony group known for odd songs--the Roches, with a song titled "The World is a Big Chihuahua" (it does not appear on the track list, as it is only about 45 seconds long, but it appears, if I remember correctly, between tracks 20 and 21). There are a couple missteps, as is bound to be the case on a 22-track album, but in all it is an excellent album. And if you like "Doug at his Mom's," pick up the UB album "Doug." They took the subject of this song and expanded it into a 13-track tribute to his life, womb ("Doug's Birthday Song") to tomb ("Doug at the Gates of Hell"), and everywhere in between.