Monkey House - Headquarters (2012)

Canadian import

A full press release for this album is available here, but here's a snippet from the Alma Records website:

Monkey House, the slick, funky brainchild of Emmy-winning songwriter/producer Don Breithaupt, is an oasis of pop smarts and jazz harmony in a by-the-numbers world. Headquarters, the band's first new album since 2005, includes guests like Steely Dan veterans Michael Leonhart and Drew Zingg, and Canadian guitar heroes Kim Mitchell and Rik Emmett. Named for a 1970 Kurt Vonnegut book, Monkey House began in 1992 as a vehicle for songs Breithaupt considered "maybe too quirky to cover." Years of accolades (including ten CSJA nods) and multi-genre airplay (AC, jazz, pop, AAA, smooth jazz) followed.

Today I learned CSJA stands for Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards. The awards, originated by station WAVE, were handed out annually for 7 consecutive years, spanning from 2005 to 2011. But I digress.

I've already written quite a bit about Monkey House:

• Big Money: "fantastic, highly melodic pop music played by real musicians"
• Left: "a master class in smoothness"
• Remember The Audio: "a conglomeration of great melodies, complex harmonies, fantastic arrangements, and perfectly chosen guest artists."
• Crashbox: " a beautiful series of adult contemporary melodic pop songs that are immediately recognizable as Monkey House, complete with bandleader Don Breithaupt's characteristic cadences, instrumentation, and production. And those close vocal harmonies throughout? Goosebumps."

You get the picture. I dig this sort of slick, smooth, sophisticated stuff. Go check out these witty, well-crafted tunes at your preferred streaming site. Or, better yet, support the artists and buy a copy. Let's get physical!

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: 14 tracks, 64 minutes. Nothing to skip, but the middle section is where things get really good. My choice picks are Where's Mantis Evar?, I Could Do Without The Moonlight, Too Much Too Much, December Girls, Right About Now, and The Man You Love To Hate.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I must have first listened to this album while sitting on the front porch of our house in 2012 because I always flashback to that place when I spin this thing. Below is a picture of said porch. We sold that property in 2017. I don't miss tending to an acre of flora, but I sure do miss rocking (and rockin') on that porch.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Crashbox (2025)
Remember The Audio (2022)
Friday (2019)
Left (2016)
Big Money: Singles, Remasters, Rarities, 1992-2005 (2005)

Also:
Just Passing Through: The Breithaupt Brothers Songbook, Vol. II (2014)