Box of Bongwater [Box set, Original recording remastered]

Bongwater | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 20, 1998)
• Original Release Date: October 20, 1998
• Number of Discs: 4
• Format: Box set, Original recording remastered
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Shimmy Disc
• ASIN: B00000DBT9
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #382,952 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Bongwater's legacy might well be an academic matter, considering that they pretty much sewed up everything they tried. That is, Ann Magnuson and Kramer knew how to tie their boats together, from the tongue-firmly-in-cheek performance monologues and vocals of Magnuson to her heartfelt, if biting, musings and from Kramer's immersion in effects and overdubs to his clear fondness for everything from Roky Erickson to noise. This collection grabs it all, from their debut LP, Breaking No New Ground, to Double Bummer to Power of Pussy and their sign-off, Big Sell- Out. The music swerves widely, from the early and warped Moody Blues cover to guest appearances by trumpet great Don Cherry, saxist Gary Windo, and a bevy of others.

Throughout the box, dappling psychedelia reverberates like liquid, colored threads. The mix of guitars and melted-together post-rock textures is an enticing one, framing Magnuson's sometimes creeping voice so graciously and so hauntedly that you get lost in Bongwater's tunes. Yes, they are certainly irony-laden and all that, but they're also fantastic listening—some of the best stuff to come from the often moribund world between the increasingly mainstream alt rock of the late 1980s and early 1990s and the fringe-dwelling anti-rock of the same period. In fact, the box demonstrates how wonderfully Bongwater walked the line between rock and all its distant cousins on the far-flung downtown New York scenes of the day. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE LAST WORD IN PSYCHEDELIA, May 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Box of Bongwater (Audio CD)

This is essential music. This set has everything they have recorded, and as any fan knows, everything they have recorded is worth having. Kramer is a master arranger, producing tunes that seem to burrow into your mind and make it a better place somehow. There is nothing like this band. Most of this stuff is almost impossible to find anymore in any other form. BUY IT NOW.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars at last it has been assembled, March 21, 2000

By 

Altgeld Lunt (nowheres) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Box of Bongwater (Audio CD)

all the long lost pieces of music, and some nice packaging too, all here for the savvy consumer. this is what god was thinking about when he gave us the ability to hear. Ann and Kramer have somehow discovered the master's divine plan, and put it to music, so don't you think you should go out and buy the box set so you too can experience it?

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars his old look |, June 11, 2007

By 

S. Ranson "sadi ranson-polizzotti" (near the ocean) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Box of Bongwater (Audio CD)

Bongwater I discovered absolutely by accident when a friend who was a DJ at Amherst put "His Old Look" on a tape for me (before CDs really were popular at the time) and I immediately took to the sound and the humor of that song in particular.

I won't drone on because the most I can say is that if you like alternative and you have a good sense of humor then I think Bongwater is a great group, the same way I think and always have thought that the Butthole surfers were and are a fun and funny group (why some people found or find them "scary" or some such thing has always been beyond me, and I've heard this, so either I don't get it - entirely possible - or they don't get it. Either way, I'm happy with both groups and highly recommend a good listen.

To really make a good back-to-back listening experience, try Bongwater with The Butthole Surfers and Dean and the Weenies, another more obscure band (at least, I found them difficult to find - not an easy item to find) but worth it - the F**K You song by Dean and the Weenies is unto itself a modern masterpiece and for those of us who remember Union Carbide, or even if you don't, you'll find things there to laugh at.

As to Bongwater, "His Old Look" is one of the best songs I've ever heard for sheer comic relief... at least, I always found it funny.

Cheers,

Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti