The rock and roll outsiders Danny Elfman and Mark Mothersbaugh have found unlikely late-career success as composers for television and film. After rising to fame with the rock band Oingo Boingo, Elfman became an elite film composer. Mothersbaugh, the primary artistic force of Devo, is a similarly accomplished composer for popular television and film productions.
Kansas City’s Mike Dillon demonstrates that he’s capable of creating equally auspicious incidental music on his new album Mike & Beignet Go to the Zoo. Having successfully fused punk and jazz for decades, Dillon has created a string of subtler recordings in recent years.
The latest effort consists of eleven lively vignettes with titles like “Lola the Orangutan” and “Skippy the Giraffe.” The cinematic scope of Dillon’s percussive exotica is extremely evocative. The powers that be in entertainment hubs like Hollywood would be well served by employing the Kansas City version of Elfman and Mothersbaugh.