SOUND CHOICE
If Mitch Friedman hasn't done so already, he should
definitely send a tape in to Dr. Demento -- it's just
that kind of tape! Friedman's pop genius and warped
sense of humor makes this 'un really fun to listen to,
not to mention the highly creative minimalist instrumental
arrangements. There are some inspired comedic moments,
too. However, most stuff goes by quickly -- toonz are half
a minute to a minute and a half, most spoken word segues
are between five and fifteen seconds. Eclecticism abounds
though: pop-ish, bouncy selections, bit and pieces, and
strange spoken-word bits merge in and out of each other,
creating a surreal audio tapestry. Fully realized pieces
merge into musical fragments. A speeded up pop music
medley juxtaposes "Cheek to Cheek" by Irving Berlin
with The Kinks' "We Are The Village Green Preservation
Society", and finishes up with "The Banana Splits" theme.
This is a very enjoyable and really fun tape.

DR. DEMENTO
"Thanks for the tape of pOp cOrn. I enjoyed listening to it.
It's got originality, variety, imagination, and whimsy;
all the things I like. "

IRWIN CHUSID (author of "Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music)
"The stuff is highly imaginative, and for someone who is
admittedly 'proficient at zero instruments', you generate
an interesting array of sounds. I imagine your bedroom
(or wherever you record) is filled with stray cassettes
and loose ends, looking like the typical Domestic Composing
Laboratory.

Perhaps the most notable quality about the tape is the complete
disregard for the standard popular song form. This probably
stems from what you consider your modest lack of musicality.
So, rather than compete with the Andy P's and R. Stevie's of the
world, you go in a different direction. There's certainly less
traffic down that road, but there's also no maps, and you are to
be congratulated not only for not getting lost, but for breaking
new ground in the territory. This in the uncharted realms of
The Residents, Wildman Fischer, the Mr. Partridge of "The
Lure of Salvage" and J. T. Mortensen. I'd add Captain Beefheart
but I don't like Captain Beefheart and I don't care who knows it!"

OPTION
This guy's a riot. Imagine Wild Man Fischer without the
psychotic overtones. Friedman gets his hands on everything
including the kitchen sink and then cuts loose with over 50
odd little songs, comedy skits, and bits and pieces, all of
them around or under one minute in length. Fun and funny,
almost precious in an old-timey sort of way. Funny voices,
toy symphonies, manic goofiness. Could have been edited
down from a C90 to a shorter, tighter tape, but instead
just listen in small doses. Fresh and imaginative.

MISSING LINK
This tape is a combination of songs, radio theater-like fillers
and musical anecdotes. It includes wonderfully funny pieces,
reminiscent of childhood. This man is hilariously mad.

FACTSHEET FIVE
Crazy mixed up solo music that depends on such unlikely
instruments as a sack of potatoes, a shoebox, and a film
cannister, as well as keyboards, flutes, and xylophones.
Friedman produces a sort of warped kiddie music sound,
Sesame Street invaded by Martians with serious mental
problems. It's a rapidfire tape, with dozens of songs,
most lasting about a minute. This is novel and enjoyable.

TEDDY BEAR MUSIC (from Germany)
What this man does with so little material is hardly anything
I can describe. It is clever, it is full of humor, it is foxy.