Customer Reviews

Guest

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this album, and since first hearing it, have become a fan of this group. Its sort of like acid jazz, but with more electronic help and modern sound. Has a real beatnick sort of feel. Their albums do contain some odd birdwalks, but the really good parts are deeply entrancing and beautiful, and the parts that rock a little harder are difficult not to dig. Skerik is a master of the electric sax, and the talent these guys have makes the album shine. Cool, man, cooool.

It's a thrill to hear someone fusing electronica with improvisation created in real time! When techno-clubbers get tired of watching two guys on stage twiddle knobs on machines as a live concert, and when jazz fans start looking for something new, they're all going to land here. And the textures, the textures-- the feel is someting that can only be created by those who care deeply about both kinds of music.

This album, although never actually widely distributed, has changed many rock, jazz and new-school afficionado's music-listening careers for ever. Critters is a super band, a group of musicians who lead many other bands as well, making the music they want to make without industry pressures. Quite the defining album this is.
-Dallabaster

Critters Buggin are one of the best, and relatively unknown, sounds to come out of the early 90s Seattle Grunge scene. This is their first of four albums and it is hard to say which one is the best as all of them hold their own (although Amoeba can be a bit difficult given its completely ambient styling). As other reviewers have written, they combine as many styles of music as one can imagine and turn them into a new sound.
This band also deserves respect in that they never went commercial with their music. They had hundreds of offers for their music to be in commercials and movies and they turned down every single one, preferring to stay true to the music they created. If you like them check out Nash Kato, Ponga, and Shawn Smith. Also, you can find the saxaphone player, Skerik, on the Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade cds.

This is Critters first full length album they released. I was a senior in high school listening to punk rock and grunge in 1994. I wish I had been listening to these guys. Cool album. Screw all that other "emo" they sling at you on the radio and MTV---these guys are the real deal and they were way way ahead of thier time. A great album all around.

This is an amazing mixture of sounds. Freaky effected sax blasts and samples laid over deep fluid drums and bass. Very chaotic but w/ great flow. Shawn Smith's vocals are a very sweet bonus.

My roomates in college had some of Critters stuff. I got a copy of guest a couple years later and have almost worn it out playing it. Unique, etherial sound.. give it a shot!

Sort of a car wreck of styles, with hard bop, hippie jamming, rock and tape looping all getting into a major accident. But like many accidents, it's hard to look away. Very challenging stuff, and quite interesting, although I find that I definitely need to be "in a mood" to listen to it - not recommended for cocktail parties or relaxing at home. My favorite track is "5/4 ftd" (which sounds like a slightly large floral arrangement) but if you like the samples, you'll probably like the entire disc.

Take equal parts jazz improv and drum circle and you have Critters Buggin. Yet it's not hateful at all! Bouncy, fun, and occasionally spacy, "Guest" wears well on the stereo.

Wonderful, jam-filled funfest of a record. One complaint is the blatant cop of Prince's (Michael B's) "Arrogance" groove on the first track and David Sylvian's (Steve Jansen's) "Taking the Veil" on the fifth. Credit your sources, guys.