Friendly Rich And The Lollipop People — Dinosaur Power

Friendly Rich has a master's degree in music from the University Of Toronto, in which he specialized in "parade pedagogy" and has worked as a composer for The Tom Green Show. Most of the members of The Lollipop People also classically trained musicians. That makes Dinosaur Power an awesome combination of musical sophistication and wackiness. Friendly Rich And The Lollipop People present the listener with their crazy interpretations of klezmer ("Fatwa"), opera ("The Miserable End Of Captain Alonso"), French folk music ("La Boheme") and country ("The Ballad Of Ken Carter"). There's even an eight-minute narration piece (somewhat akin to Tom Waits' "What's He Building?" except far less creepy) in which Friendly Rich tells the story of his Italian "grandfather" who goes insane and begins grafting objects and people to trees. While it's clearly the work of a peculiar, diseased mind, Dinosaur Power's craziness will hold your attention from start to finish.