While Orthotonics were known as a full-size group around Virginia in the '80s, the most satisfying recording was created by a smaller version of the ensemble featuring three core members. The trumpeter Paul Watson, who also doubled on guitars, is no longer present, and although he is missed because of the interplay he used to provide with saxophone foil Danny Finney, the loss of his eager vocal involvement works to the advantage of Rebby Sharp, whose singing style is sometimes chilling and always at the very least dramatically appropriate to the songs. The program jumps around between songwriters, all of the material creative and some of the writers even going as far as providing snobbish critics with ammunition, a service that any artist should be able to proudly take credit for. Take the opening stanzas of Finney's Cantagish: "No narrative to follow/Weariness behind shallow word woe." Sharp's songs form an effective balance, with their immediacy and a sense of humor responsible for lines such as, "Some of us caught wind/Some of them break wind," from her song Some of Us. Well-established progressive rocker, guitarist, and composer Fred Frith was fond of this group and mixed the earlier Wake up You Must Remember. Here he seizes control as producer, even wandering down to Richmond to take part in the recording process. It is a labor of love in which his obvious studio and documentation skills are like a goldmine for the group. Drummer J. Pippin Barnett should be particularly proud of his playing on these tracks. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi

1		Why Whatever For?
2		Sentiment
3		Cantagish
4		Luminous Bipeds
5		Some of Us
6		Yo Ho
7		Black and White TV
8		Square of Incoherence
9		Whack-A-Mole
10		Yam Cats

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