Jherek Bischoff - Composed (Vinyl LP, CD)

Leaf have scooped up a nice li'l record here from Jherek Bischoff - a Seattle based composer and arranger who has collaborated and performed in groups as diverse as Parenthetical Girls, Xiu Xiu,The Degenerate Art Ensemble, The Dead Science, Amanda Palmer and The Wordless Music Orchestra.
'Composed' is a fully orchestrated bombastic pop record that's starts out extremely favourably with 'Eyes' - a collaboration with the mighty David Byrne. You can put Byrne's voice on anything and it's gonna sound amazing but you'll be pleased to know that Bischoff holds his own here providing a sumptuous, almost John Cale-esque arrangement for Byrne to do his thing.
Next up it's Greg Saunier of Deerhoof dropping some classic scattered drum beats over the complex and jerky 'The Secret Of The Machines'. This dude is getting all my faves in for this epic outing. You can hear Nels Cline's beautiful guitar playing on 'Blossom' and the vocal talents of the likes of Mirah Zeitlyn ('The Nest') and Dawn McCarthy ('Insomnia, Death and the Sea') all dressed in Bischoff's beautifully crafted arrangements.
I'd struggle under most circumstances to enjoy a complete record of orchestrated music but the host of star players and the depth and diversity of the material presented here makes for quality listening. Very ambitious stuff.