by Greg Adams
Ferrante & Teicher recorded three treated piano albums for Westminster Records that feature Space Age cover art, and these albums are the duo's most collectable for lovers of lounge and cocktail music. Unlike their later string-drenched easy listening albums, Soundblast and its counterparts are very strange albums full of highly percussive piano parts that sound like tribal drumming, and electronically manipulated pianos that resemble harpsichords or xylophones. The outer space cover art notwithstanding, the tunes on Soundblast are Latin-American in theme, from "Mexican Hat Dance" and the organ standard "Tico-Tico" to originals like "Peg-Leg Meringue" and "Loose Ends Meringue." Although the pianists adhere to traditional melodies, the percussive effects and avant-garde flourishes -- especially on their very bizarre arrangement of "La Cucaracha" -- merit comparisons to Harry Partch's album The Bewitched. The mono and stereo versions of Soundproof and Soundblast have different track lists, so collectors will want to find either all four versions or at least a matched pair of mono or stereo LPs.