Hey Eugene!

Rate It! Avg: 4.5 (129 ratings)
Hey Eugene! album cover
Album Information

Total Tracks: 12   Total Length: 45:14

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Please, more?

bwhat

Although it took a bit, I finally warmed up to this collection, after playing "Hang on Little Tomato" and "Sympathique" so many times I could recite the words to songs in languages I don't even understand. This album stretched my expectations a bit, with the continued sampling from the cultural palette, and some of the songs were, admittedly, a little hard to get into at first. Still any PM fan will certainly enjoy "Hey Eugene", and should download it.

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Eclectic, joyful music

Earache

Pink Martini is one of the most fun bands to listen I have come across in a long time. I downloaded this album first and soon thereafter went back and got everything I could find from then. There is such a range of styles on their albums, but all the songs are done with musical virtuosity and an infectious sense of fun.

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Serious musicians do fun

EMUSIC-01D49F5E

These people are classically trained, exceptional musicians in multiple styles. The music is nothing if not eclectic-- fun but not silly. Enjoy!

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Fun Party Album

Poppio

Lots of variety, great chanteuse voices, fabulous to listen to or for background. Download the whole album.

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Quirky Style, Shaken Not Stirred

SpunGeneration

How embarassing is it to admit that I bought this album mostly because I really liked the cover? It's true. After listening to Pink Martini for a few months the wacky mix of musical traditions ranging from Jazz, American Standards and French folk music It has become one of my most listened to albums. Give a listen to Dosvedanya Mio Bambino (track 11)to hear the brilliant mix of musical styles and traditions. I also enjoy Tea for Two (track 12), which reminds me of the American Standards of the 1940's. Recommended!

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LOVE IT!

dylanboy

I Love French Jazz! This album is a great mix of swingin classics and new material. While the song, "Sympathique,"that turned me onto this band, is not on this album, this is their best all together. If you get a chance, check out "Sympathique," it's a fun cabaret style tune.

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Astonishingly fine music!

7snider7

I'm amazed that I did not know of this band until recently. Because China Forbes and Thomas Lauderdale are both Harvard graduates cum laude, I would expect a smart and tasteful ensemble. Smart and tasteful are wonderful, mind you, but this is more: this is graceful, stylish, engaging music that sings. This group goes round the world, offering Brazilian, French, Cuban, Japanese, Greek, et al, as though natives of each. And since the make-up of the band is so international, that may be true. All three of their albums are superlative.

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Great music that has depth but still fun!

sublim8ing

Only Pink Martini can make me listen to music with words that I don't understand. I can't wait for more!

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Great Find

gread02

This is one of the coolest new sounds I've found on eMusic. Great quality and the vocals are amazing.

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They Say All Music Guide

It took Pink Martini a full decade — their debut, Sympathique, came out in 1997; the follow-up, Hang on Little Tomato, was released in 2004; and now Hey Eugene! arrives in 2007 — but they’ve finally perfected their particular good-time blend of cabaret pop, pre-”world music” international fare, golden-age Hollywood scores, and lounge-informed, classy jazz. It’s still tempting to be wary of a group that wears its eclecticism so ostentatiously on its sleeve, but in the end nothing about the Oregon-based Pink Martini feels pretentious or mannered. While there is more than a taste of the tongue-in-cheek to China Forbes’ vocals, Pink Martini, a dozen strong, never come off as precious or stylized, as did so many of the bands that came along during the ’90s lounge revival and then disappeared from the planet. While on one hand they fine-tune what it is they do, Pink Martini also expand their focus on their third album. The Latin elements of the first two albums are still present, no more so than on “Tempo Perdido,” a samba-rhumba written by Ataulfo Alves, originally sung by Carmen Miranda and abetted here by a high-school choir, but the group’s passport has many new stamps on it. “Bukra Wba’do,” originally sung by Egyptian star Abdel Halim Hafez, is PM’s first foray into the world of Arabic music, and the foamy “Taya Tan” is a sweet but somewhat foreboding Japanese pop confection. “Ojala” takes the group into French chanson; “Dosvedanya Mio Bombino,” obviously, leans Russian (great line: “I tried to storm the Kremlin of your heart”), but not so obviously also tilts toward various other Latinstrains from samba to son, which are touched upon elsewhere. Alternating between English (a touching, minimal “Tea for Two” with vocal jazz legend Jimmy Scott guesting; the opening, Forbes/Lauderdale-penned “Everywhere,” a lush ’40s-style torch song that could just as easily have been an old Judy Garland or Peggy Lee hit) and foreign-language vocals, Forbes is at ease in any situation. Bandleader/founder Thomas Lauderdale has become a masterful helmsman, guiding the core orchestra through its tricky, subtle paces. Ironically, the title track is the least interesting thing here, a slow-jam R&B bird-flip to a guy who took the singer’s number and never bothered to call. Such silliness isn’t becoming of the talent and originality on display all over Hey Eugene!, and they’d be wise to stick to the globe-hopping and genre-splicing in the future without resorting to downtown-styled faux coolness. – Jeff Tamarkin

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