ART PAUL SCHLOSSER – The Tribute

(2006   Self-Release)

Sometimes it takes a little different perspective to fully appreciate an artist’s genius. Art Paul Schlosser: The Tribute is a pretty amazing collection of interpretations of Schlosser’s songs. Schlosser, as many of you know, has been a fixture in Madison music for a long time now. He’s a constant presence as a street musician on State Street but also makes rare club appearances, especially for benefits and fundraisers. This recording is something like his ka-zillionth release.

Schlosser makes a few appearances himself on his own tribute CD, which seems only fitting. It wasn’t until I heard “I’ll Meet You on Mars” with guitarist/harmonica player Robert W. Monthey joining Schlosser that I realized Schlosser is Madison’s own version of Syd Barrett; he writes songs that twist reality with clever wordplay and end up making a lot more sense than reality itself does. Later Schlosser and his wife Robin Good do a take on “It’s a Beautiful Day.” Schlosser’s rap with the Great Lukeski on “I’m More Demented Than You/Pink Pants” is uproariously funny, recorded before a live audience. The Beeves bring indie-rock ethos to “She’s the Only Dandelion in My Whole World” with Schlosser voicing over and then joining in for the refrain.

Digibot and the Consequences throw in some peachy ultra-lo-fi tracks with “I Just Made it Up” and “Punk Rock in the White House,” respectively. Dr. Chris Kammer flirts with vaudeville on his likeable, toe-tapping version of “I Like My Mother.” Joe Bainbridge turns in two tracks with “Pink Pants” and “Maybe You Think I’m Weird,” the latter being one of Schlosser’s most revealing songs. Biff Blumfumgagnge adds one of the more interesting interpretations, an electronic rendition of “The One Chord Song” with an abundance of Eastern-flavored violin. Arlo Leach channels Arlo Guthrie on the winsome “My Mother is Reading a Book,” and Seth Hoffman underscores the Syd Barrett association with “Is That Linda.” Other tracks approach Dr. Demento status but when interspersed with the more standard song arrangements, they contribute an important and humorous contrast.

The end result is 27 tracks of highly entertaining Art Paul classics, many making even-tempo arrangements out of Schlosser’s often jagged-but-honest delivery. Art Paul Schlosser: The Tribute is a must-have for any collector of Madison local music.

ART PAUL SCHLOSSER – Do You Want to Walk on Water?

(2004   Self-Release)

Long a familiar sight on State Street, Art Paul Schlosser, with his acoustic guitar, kazoo in its coat- hanger holder, and guitar case open in front of him, is best known for his Dr. Demento-style humor on songs like “Purple Bananas” and “Let’s Loiter.”  So, why a gospel record?  Why not?  It seems to be a subject he’s pretty passionate about and the gospel songs seem to flow out of him just as easily as any of the hundreds of songs from his fourteen other CDs.  A better question may be: Why so serious?  Songs like the partially formed “Ride His Joyful Ride” and the dull “The Playground of the King” don’t have the exuberance intimated by their titles.   Which is a shame, because as anyone who’s heard “My Cat Was Taking a Bath” knows, Schlosser is fun.       

To review this CD for musical validity would be to completely miss the point.  It’s never any more complicated than rudimentary guitar melodies with the random kazoo afterthoughts and the occasional percussion.  Better to look at it as a study in the important lessons of the Bible, the focus of so many Sunday school classes, in minute-and-a-half easily understood chunks.  While it is certainly childlike (occasionally charmingly so) in its methodology, this is not really music for children.  Even though it’s under two minutes long, it’s hard to imagine a child sitting still for the plodding “My Sheep Follow Me.” The title track may be the most developed song here, especially following the painful piano-recital plunking of the secular “Eat Nutritiously.”  And I don’t want to be the one to call the copyright police on him, but whether he knows it or not, he didn’t write “Jesus Loves Me, This I Know.”

Not all the tracks are songs; some are simply stories, poems or seemingly random thoughts. “The Airplane Story” applies elements from the parable of the sower who scatters his seed over all types of ground.  Except in Schlosser’s story, troublingly, instead of seed we have passengers falling from a plane that seems about to crash.  The moral: these people were all late for work while those who believed in God and stayed on the plane went to nice vacation places.  The spoken-word track “A Few Words About Jesus” is exactly that. The songs found on Do You Want to Walk on Water? are available on iTunes, though at $.99 a song, it would make better financial sense to just send him a check for $14 for this disc rather than downloading its forty (!) songs.  Not that you really need them all; after a couple dozen you kind of get the idea.  

Schlosser is always most charming in small doses, and at 77 minutes, the too-sincere and overly serious Jesus theme starts to wear a bit thin.  As it is, Do You Want to Walk on Water? should be treated like an encounter with him on State St: listen until you get bored, then walk away.