Exposé Online banner

Exposé Online

Not just outside the box, but denying the existence of boxes.
Covering music from the fringes since 1993.

Reviews

The Instigations — Miscreantics
(Bandcamp no#, 2026, DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2026-10-31

Miscreantics Cover art

Perhaps at one time long ago, there was a band called The Instigations, or at least a plan for one; some earlier albums feature other players as guests on various tracks, but at this point The Instigations is the sole propietorship of Los Angeles multi-instrumentalist Owen Green. A miscreant is said to be a person without any moral scruples, or a reprobate, thus therein lies the root of the album title, though one listen to this collection of odd instrumental ditties doesn’t add up to anything like that, instead being quite strange in a very fun sort of way. As previously noted, Green plays all the instruments, which include oud, bass, guitars, organ, keys, accordion, all sorts of percussion, and much more, and the tongue-in-cheek song titles like “While Me Cigar Gently Reeks,” “It’s Not the Heat, It’s the Humility,” and “Critical Disgrace Theory” seem to be placed only for their humorous value, the underlying music is quite excellent throughout, even if a bit strange at times. The album’s purpose seems to be to find placement for these tunes in film or television, and it’s easy to hear how a tune like “One More for Posterior” would work wonders in a cartoon setting, or “Wake Up and Go to Sleep” might serve well in the context of a western film with its dark mood, vibraphone, and twangy guitars. Most of the twelve pieces here clock in at five minutes or more, so these are fully constructed compositions, not simply short vignettes. Some of the pieces seem to be amalgams of many different genres, for example “Three Cents Plain” contains a mash-up of polka, klezmer, and other world influences, while “Two Weeks Time” is an edgy, metallic percussion-driven piece with some some symphonic elements just below the surface — it’s a really interesting piece, and some parts of could work well in some kind of futuristic suspense drama. The near-ten-minute closer “The Awning of the Cage of Asparagus” goes through a number of changes along its timeline, featuring complex polyrhythms, changes in mood and texture, quickly morphing from one idea to the next. It’s a really wild ride that should be of interest to fans of Zappa or the progressive rock idiom in general. There’s plenty of mystery and intrigue throughout Miscreantics, and it’s being so different from anything else out there makes it a wonderworld of musical fascination.

Filed under: New releases, 2026 releases

Related artist(s): The Instigations

More info
http://instigations.bandcamp.com/album/miscreantics

 

What's new

These are the most recent changes made to artists, releases, and articles.