Tuned: Ex-model David Garrett proves violins don't really rock

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"ROCK SYMPHONIES," David Garrett (Decca)

Fine-arts groups across the country have tried heroically to rope in younger audiences for classical music, often with limited success.

There have been modest successes, however, and German-born David Garrett is angling to be one. His new "Rock Symphonies" seems to be the ultimate gimmick: Garrett is a 28-year-old former model who just happens to play a mean violin, and, accompanied by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra on the new release, he furiously saws his way through some of rock's most recognizable songs.

At first it seems just crazy enough to work. Garrett initially tackles Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" -- a bold and potentially blasphemous move. Yet the original version of the song has an eerie air suitable for a symphonic arrangement, and Garrett's passionate play makes for a serviceably shrieking stand-in for Kurt Cobain's ferocious voice.

Yet on the subsequent track, a cover of Guns N' Roses' "November Rain," the unmistakable stench of cheese wafts through the air, and "Rock Symphonies" officially encamps in camp. Third track "The 5th" takes it even lower, aping one-hit-wonder Walter Murphy's 1976 hit "A Fifth of Beethoven," which was itself a novelty song.

It's mostly tragedy and comedy the rest of the way, though Garrett's tense, albeit sharp, friction on Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" (also featuring Orianthi on guitar) isn't half bad, and at least the "Vivaldi" part of "Vivaldi vs. Vertigo" (as in U2's "Vertigo") is modestly triumphant.

Like "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Wing's "Live and Let Die" would seem naturally adaptable to Garrett's treatment, but it merely sounds clumsy as a late tag-on here. And by the time Garrett assaults Led Zeppelin on closer "Kashmir," even the most ironic smiles will be replaced by yawns.

Maybe the Europeans will fall for it.

Rating (five possible): 2

"INTRIGUER," Crowded House (Fantasy)

Crowded House's new "Intriguer" is so smothered in subtlety, it's sure to get a subdued response.

The "Don't Dream It's Over" band peaked in the United States in 1987, but continued on for about a decade longer, with support from elsewhere in the world, before disbanding. After the death of drummer Paul Hester in 2006, New Zealander frontman Neil Finn and Aussie bassist Nick Seymour resurrected Crowded House, bringing aboard a pair of Americans -- drummer Matt Sherrod and keyboardist/guitarist Mark Hart. "Intriguer" is the follow-up to the reformed band's 2007 release, "Time on Earth."

"Intriguer" lives up to its name, at least to a degree. Finn is an articulate songwriter, and for the most part the arrangements are invitingly lush and genteel. Emerging from the gauzy strains of music, the vocalist plays bitter (singing "You take profit from the vice of another man" on "Amsterdam"), resigned ("Even though I know you're wrong, I can never win" on "Inside Out") and bucolic ("You arrive like a dragonfly, floating above the grass" on "Isolation").

Nuances are sprinkled throughout the mix: Lisa Germano plays violin on two tracks; Finn's wife, Sharon, adds narcotic appeal with a turn at vocals on "Isolation"; fuzzed-out guitars put "Even If" into a drone zone. Also, closer "Elephants" signs off the release on a moving note, with gospel-ish backing vocals, piano and steel supporting Finn as he sings, "You don't have to say a word, I know what you're thinking."

Yet the frontman doesn't change much with the shifts in sound, which creates some clunkiness in a few overproduced bridges and puts him at odds with the rawer stretches of instrumentation. Plus his delivery sometimes makes it hard to infer emotional context.

"Intriguer" offers several enticements to listen, but its soft-sell approach and understated hooks don't give much motivation to repeat.

Rating: 3

"THE FINAL FUNKTIER," Recess Monkey (Monkey Mama)

Spoofing "Star Trek," Recess Monkey proclaims its mission to "bravely go where no monkey has gone before" as an objective on "Liftoff!," the act's opening track on "The Final Funktier."

Indeed, the inventive trio of Seattle schoolteachers shades in a funkier atmosphere for its sixth release, distancing itself even farther ahead of the children's-music pack.

The group that has echoed acts ranging from the Beatles to Weezer to Devo doesn't take the typical route for the genre: Children's music tends to be little more than aggravating jingles, but Recess Monkey songwriter (and singer) Drew Holloway composes complete, complicated songs suitable for adults, but with kid-oriented themes.

"The Final Funktier" -- generally aimed at kids from 3 to 7 years old -- deals out electro-rubbed rock ("Sunglasses"), trumpet-laced jungle music ("Constellation Conga") and a dreamy, synth-steeped homage to ELO ("The Galax Sea"). "Beat-Box-a-Robot" is a beatbox-based music lesson on how to build a beat, distorted voices sing the praises of "Moon Boots" and a whoosh of energy fuels "My Brother Is a Satellite" and lines such as, "When he's in my orbit, I really can't ignore it."

Some topics may be mundane to children's music (booster seats, science projects, messy rooms), but others are offbeat -- like "Ukulalien's" ukulele-playing alien, who is an even odder character than the knock-knock-joke-telling octopus from the band's 2009 release, "Field Trip."

However, "The Final Funktier" is children's music in lyric only as Recess Monkey again delivers a release adults will find more than palatable.

Rating: 3-1/2

(E-mail Chuck Campbell of The Knoxville News Sentinel in Tennessee at Campbell(at)knews.com.)

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