I'm going to toss all the serious, chin-holding, deep thought nonsense I'd been working on for this review and get to the point: "Ukulele Loki's Gadabout Orchestra" is a wonderfully fun listen.
These songs are infused with an upbeat effusiveness that is a direct analog of the sprite-like Ukulele Loki. Loki mixes old-school vaudeville, tin-pan alley structure and the occasionaly dash of klezmer/circus music with an intensity of energy that rivals Spike Jones & His City Slickers. Loki's careful, yet scatter-shot, approach recalls the talents of Looney Tunes' composer Carl Stalling.
(It isn't all endlessly bouncy, "Lullaby" has a deep, beautiful melancholy to it.)
What really makes this CD special is that Loki infuses these songs with a welcoming warmth, not just a manic energy.
I just fell in love with the album, especially "Prague 1998".
