Splendor in the Grass - Pink Martini

The album cover

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This is the fourth album from the multilingual retro band from Portland, Oregon.

Here the 13-member group has an orchestral accompaniment. Funky bass, a sitar and even a barbershop quartet make appearances.

The horror of much “easy listening” is taking popular songs and blanding out any passion. But Pink Martini take easy listening favourites and give them a bit of life.

Their music reminds us how the orchestras of the 1950s and 1960s blended music from a range of sources – notably Latin.

“Oú est ma tête” is a cha cha in French, while the track “Splendor In The Grass” features the Dandy Warhols’ guitarist and the theme from a Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto.

The album actually reins in the variety of their previous Hey Eugene, but nevertheless it remains witty and inventive throughout.

Splendor in the Grass
Pink Martini
Wrasse Records