Mixed by Erin Taylor, Chris Lannon, Matthew Ellard, and Brian Brown

     It sounds like Russell Chudnofsky put a lot of effort into Skypaint. The music is a dense well-produced landscape of machined tambourines pedaling underneath chunky organ chords and melodies that float over them like stratus clouds. And the words are all about a struggling artist who becomes a robot pet walker in the city, and his girlfriend Laila who sells her soul to a wireless network.

     What?

     Did we mention that Skypaint is a self-described pop opera? Chudnofsky and singers Sarah Borges and Tom Sturm (who sing the parts for Laila and Dr. Riley J. Jones, respectively) cohesively tell a story that is as out there as any other work in the genre pioneered by Pete Townshend. (There really isn’t that much difference between a pop opera and a rock opera is there?) And like most rock operas or concept albums, there are a couple of major problems. The first flaw is that the concept itself can sometimes come across as pretentious. In one scene Dr. Riley J. Jones is hosting an orgy with “downloadable drugs and virtual sex”. But let us remember that Tommy was about a deaf, dumb and blind kid who was really good at pinball, so we can forgive Chudnofsky a little.

     His biggest problem is that he uses lyrics so literal that he pounds the listener over the head with them. By paying too much attention to the advancement of plot he sometimes forgets the art of subtlety. In “Painter of Sky III” Chudnofsky’s protagonist sings “My name is Sky, Sky Paint, and I am speaking to you from inside a computer.” With lyrics like that, it’s difficult not to think Chudnofsky is joking with us. And at times his deadpan delivery is even similar to jokester John S. Hall from King Missile. But it seems like Skypaint is a lot of effort to be just for a laugh.

     Regardless if the work is serious or not, there is a lot of compelling material here. There are themes that come straight out of Genesis (the Bible, not the band) and aspects that remind the listener of the Matrix.

     Also, the songs are hummably catchy, and the playing is first rate. Steve Scully’s drumming sounds informed by Achtung Baby (which this writer thinks is a good thing) and Phil Aiken plays some great Mellotron parts. Extra kudos should go to Chudnofsky, who plays all guitars, bass, Wurlitzer keyboard, banjo, kazoo and does all the loop programming. Chudnofsky overextends himself a little bit by singing the parts of two other characters in addition to Sky Paint, and on record it’s difficult to know who is who, so he overcompensates by either introducing us to each character or having each character introduce himself. This breaks up the flow a little bit, and leaves almost nothing to interpretation. But this is Chudnofsky’s vision, so he can do with it what he wants. A work this ambitious to create requires some ambition to listen to, but in the end the hard work pays off for both parties.

Contact: www.skypaintmusic.com or russellchud@hotmail.com