French TV - The Violence of Amateurs (1999)

French TV — The Violence of Amateurs (released in 1999 on their independent label, Pretentious Dinosaur Records) is the sixth studio album by the American band French TV from Louisville, Kentucky. Critics and fans alike have traditionally considered this release one of the band's creative peaks and a benchmark for American avant-garde rock of the late '90s.

Led by their longtime leader, bassist, and principal composer, Mike Sary, French TV created a surprisingly eclectic, technically complex, and simultaneously ironic canvas on this album. Their music draws on the traditions of such great British bands of the Canterbury scene as Soft Machine and National Health, blending them with the wild humor of Frank Zappa, the intensity of The Mahavishnu Orchestra, and European avant-garde.

The album consists of six large-scale instrumental pieces (excluding the occasional vocal interludes) that resemble a patchwork quilt. The musicians effortlessly weave together elegant cocktail jazz, heavy hard rock riffs, and elements of reggae, country, and academic avant-garde. All of this is performed on the edge of defiance, with sharp, unpredictable shifts in time signature and mood.

The album features a large cast of guest musicians, adding unique flavor to the tracks. For example, the opening track, "The Kokonino Stomp," features banjo from underground legend Eugene Chadbourne, as well as a nose flute part. The epic, multi-layered compositions "Mail Order Quarks" and "Tiger Tea" take center stage. The album closes with the massive 21-minute track "Joosan Lost / The Fate", which is a free interpretation of and tribute to Swedish avant-garde madmen Zamla Mammas Manna.