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Thread: FEATURED CD : Sleepytime Gorilla Museum : Grand Opening And Closing

  1. #1
    Moderator Duncan Glenday's Avatar
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    FEATURED CD : Sleepytime Gorilla Museum : Grand Opening And Closing

    Per Sea Of Tranquility :


    Is it prog? Is it metal? Is it avant-garde? No, it’s Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. Honestly, this groundbreaking album is so diverse and unclassifiable that it really fits into none of these categories, yet is made up of elements that make each genre so intriguing. It’s been a while since I have heard a recording so savage and heavy one-minute, yet intricate and gentle the next, but this CD does, and quite well for that matter.

    The vocal styles of guitarist Nils Frykdahl and violin/keyboard player Carla Kihlstedt are so completely different that the contrasts are almost shocking. “Sleep is Wrong” contains some heavy and complex guitar riffing, as well as a gruff lead vocal from Nils that would make some of the young singers from nu-metal bands like Disturbed or Static-X proud. The band opts for a similar aggressive approach on “Ambugaton”, yet foregoes lyrics for a complex instrumental workout not unlike the current King Crimson recordings. A great example of the jarring contrast is “Ablutions”, a bizarre piece featuring the lead vocals of Carla plus all sorts of percussion and odd instruments. At once I am reminded of Thinking Plague, Henry Cow, or even Frank Zappa, in that the band combines general weirdness with superior musical prowess. The band resorts to a full-on metal assault for the driving “1997” featuring the muscular guitar licks and “go for the jugular” vocals of Nils Frykdahl. To say that this style has mainstream potential for the band is a severe understatement. Take “Powerless” for example. Starting off rather meekly featuring a myriad of instruments and a pounding bass line, the tune then breaks into a furiously heavy number featuring both Nils and Carla on vocals. Over the songs nine-minutes, it shifts from nimble instrumentation to all out hard rock assault, and carries an important lyrical message that we just might be powerless to change our fate. The same formula can also be heard on “The Stain” and “Sleepytime”, where the thinking mans metal of System of a Down or Faith No More meets the ethnic counterpoint madness of modern day King Crimson. The CD ends with almost eight minutes of exotic Autoharp and chimes on “Sunflower”, in complete contrast to the violent outburst that led things off.

    Besides the fact that this is one serious collection of unique music, the CD packaging is quite a fascinating read on the museum that the band name was taken from. It all makes for an enjoyable experience, and one that has potential to appeal to a wide audience.

    Reviewer: Pete Pardo
    Score: 4 / 5
    http://www.seaoftranquility.org/revi...content&id=132

    (I woulda given it 5 / 5)



    Regards,

    Duncan

  2. #2
    I'm here for the moosic NogbadTheBad's Avatar
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    Wonderful debut from a wonderful band. Hopefully we'll get a DVD to remember them by next year.
    Ian

    Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
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  3. #3
    Memorable band, one of the best concerts I have been to. I first heard a sample of sleep is wrong and thought it was not for me but I was drawn back to it again and again until I finally purchased the album. Such a unique, original sound and each release built on that sound.

  4. #4
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    This was the album that changed everything for me. I'd already been wandering down Bungle avenue and already liked a bunch of pretty heavy bands, even some death metal. But the first SGM album changed my music listening habits forever. This album seemed to bring together all the elements of the newer music I was getting into at the time. Looking back it's hard to be objective as SGM is my favorite band of all time. I'll never forget the first time I heard it, sitting poolside at the Arizia (?) hotel at BajaProg. I'll also never forget the long drive back to LA from San Francisco following their final performance. "This shining world is all that it seems..."

  5. #5
    It was one of the festivals I attended, probably one of the Progdays, when this was new and everyone (except for me) was totally obsessed with this album. I heard “Sleep Is Wrong” so many times that weekend, I was ready to subject myself to a short-range gun blast to the head to make the hurting stop. Needless to say, I’m not a fan. They’re that brand of punky/angsty/hipster avant-garde that just does not appeal to me at all. I’d put Mr. Bungle and Už Jsme Doma in the same category; not for me.

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    MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

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  6. #6
    Member Joe F.'s Avatar
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    A great album.

    I bought this the first time I saw them, shortly after the album was released. I was instantly drawn to them and became a huge fan. I was fortunate to see them live many times (over 12). Every show was different. I miss them dearly.

    AMBUGATON!
    Last edited by Joe F.; 12-31-2012 at 01:39 AM.

  7. #7
    Recently Resurrected zombywoof's Avatar
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    I've just discovered this band through "In Glorious Times". They are very special and I will have to hear more of their offerings.

  8. #8
    This is a very good album, but my least fave from the three studio outings of theirs. There are obvious moments of brilliance ("The Stain", "Sleep Is Wrong", "The Miniature", "Ambugaton"), but also longer passages where they seem to lose hold of a direction which was nevertheless intended. I really liked this on release and felt that it was just what the "prog-by-numbers"-commune needed (and for once they were forced to give a listen, if only for the fact that an "avant-prog" group suddenly received its tiny share of general attention with rock fans at large), but it was completely blown away by Of Natural History afterwards - and that one's a masterwork!

    BTW, I long for an age in which recensions on The Flower Beards will start off with the line "Is it prog? Or perhaps Richard Marx - with 'tron samples and 14 songs and intercuts glued together to form a (uh) 'suite'?".
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  9. #9
    Blew me away totally and the following one was even better the last one's high points were as good as they got but I found it an uneven album
    They don't "make" bands like these anymore

  10. #10
    Member Sputnik's Avatar
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    I really enjoyed their set at NEARFest and wound up purchasing this album as a result. Sadly, the album wasn't as interesting to me as much of the material they played in the NF set (did they play songs at that set which didn't make it to their albums?). I really liked Ambugaton, and scattered other parts. But for all their "avant eclecticism," I really found this album rather dull and samey overall, and I wasn't a fan of their heavier/metal-type sections. It actually got worse for me on Of Natural History, and I wound up selling them both and giving up with SGM.

    Obviously this band has its fans, and I respect what they were doing in that they really had an artistic vision that they pursued and were trying to do something different. But for me, the music itself didn't live up to the promise their image projected.

    Did that NF performance ever come out on CD? I might give that a listen if it did, because I really did enjoy that set.

    Bill

  11. #11
    Traversing The Dream 100423's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by NogbadTheBad View Post
    Wonderful debut from a wonderful band. Hopefully we'll get a DVD to remember them by next year.
    Agreed. One of my all time favorite bands.

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    They seem to get better with every listen. I think a lot of people who don't enjoy the heavier side of things will still get a lot of pleasure from some of their subtler tracks on In Glorious Times, rather than the full on Sleep Is Wrong (though that got me into them in the first place...)

    Whatever your tastes, the performance in this video is just so... compelling and beautiful... true theatre.



    (ok, that does end up as a rather heavy version. But the telepathy! Saw Cardiacs do an uncannily similar thing years ago, too).
    Last edited by marinaorgan; 12-31-2012 at 10:39 AM.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Udi Koomran View Post
    They don't "make" bands like these anymore
    Seminal statement! SGM weren't merely an "on/off project", but an actual collective group of dedicated musicians committed to certain very clear-cut artistic goals. They toured (albeit in short rounds of course, mostly due to finances), rehearsed regularly, and although all members were engaged in other (and partly completely different) projects, SGM was their outspoken band. Somehow I didn't fully realize this until I read an interview with Frykdahl and Kihlstedt sometime in close proximity to the debut release; SGM were the "lovechild" of its members (and arguably less of a "Frykdahl-creation" than Idiot Flesh had been).

    They should have been ten times bigger, though. At least. Their merger of art-metal, avant-progressive and twisted Americana was probably still too quirky for the common "indie-fringe" listener.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  14. #14
    Member Steve F.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Udi Koomran View Post
    They don't "make" bands like these anymore
    Because the 'market' for musical projects can no longer support a full-time musical project (i.e. 'band') like this (or anything else REALLY interesting in the rock field, honestly) anymore.
    Last edited by Steve F.; 12-31-2012 at 12:13 PM.
    Steve F.

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    “Remember, if it doesn't say "Cuneiform," it's not prog!” - THE Jed Levin

    Any time any one speaks to me about any musical project, the one absolute given is "it will not make big money". [tip of the hat to HK]

    "Death to false 'support the scene' prog!"

    please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.

  15. #15
    yeah its too bad the things that make progressive music what it is gets pushed aside and bands who take the chance get nothing or virtually nothing in return cept for ," it was a nice try but people aren't listening to that style of music right now". yeah this is a nice debuts but for me the slower quieter moody songs don't really excite me much.

  16. #16
    Recently Resurrected zombywoof's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    I really liked this on release and felt that it was just what the "prog-by-numbers"-commune needed (and for once they were forced to give a listen, if only for the fact that an "avant-prog" group suddenly received its tiny share of general attention with rock fans at large), but it was completely blown away by Of Natural History afterwards - and that one's a masterwork!
    To me, avant prog is the proggiest of the prog. That's the stuff that is really taking chances and raising the bar. Avant-prog is forward thinking and fresh. I don't for the life of me get why its so polarizing. Its precisely what us "progheads"should be looking for - 'new sounds'.

  17. #17
    Member Lebofsky's Avatar
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    I always have to brag I was at the first show (for humans) where they played this whole album, pretty much. Nya nya. Or was anybody else from these boards at that show, too?

    I was actually at their first few shows. Ambugaton used to have a whole other part to it. I then noticed they stopped playing a "short version" after a few gigs (long before they recorded it). I asked Dan what happened to that section and he said it didn't work and I should try to forget it. Well, I still remember it. It kinda went: chug chug chug CHUG, chug chug chug CHUG CHUG CHUG.

    - Matt

  18. #18
    Member oilersfan's Avatar
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    A tremendous album by one of the greatest live acts that I've ever seen. The studio work is terrific but live this material was consistently taken to another level.

  19. #19
    Member batbold's Avatar
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    Very interesting. Even with the cookie monster singing.
    "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."--Theodore Roosevelt

  20. #20
    Member Plasmatopia's Avatar
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    Fantastic band and album. It does get a bit samey, but some of the sounds contained here are just amazing...love the bass tone or whatever instrument that is. I can even enjoy this music, post about it, and somehow restrain myself from slamming other bands in the process. Imagine that!
    Last edited by Plasmatopia; 01-01-2013 at 10:31 AM.

  21. #21
    Yeah its a crime they did not release a proper dvd for all those fans who were not able to see them
    I was lucky enough @ RIO 2010
    These guys carried the torch in such an impressive fashion

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Udi Koomran View Post
    Yeah its a crime they did not release a proper dvd for all those fans who were not able to see them.
    Supposedly they have two of them still on the way: A live DVD, compiled from a variety of sources, and an independent movie - which latter is a collaboration with the Butoh performer Shinichi "Momo" Koga called The Last Human Being. Although I know the band, I'm not in any kind of close contact with them, and don't know when either will be finished or released.

    Also, there's always Free Salamander Exhibit - a post-Sleepytime band consisting of Nils, Dan, Michael, David Shamrock, and a new guitarist, who will start playing out "sometime this winter" according to Nils.

  23. #23
    Moderator Poisoned Youth's Avatar
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    I see what you did here, Duncan.
    WANTED: Sig-worthy quote.

  24. #24
    Traversing The Dream 100423's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Poisoned Youth View Post
    I see what you did here, Duncan.
    Hah! I didn't think about that!

  25. #25
    They are OK. In retrospect, their theatrical crimsonic avant/goth hasn't retained the appeal it might have had a decade ago. At least not to me.
    Check out my concert videos on my youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/broadaccent

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