Customer Reviews

Host

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of my all-time favorites

Industrial noise garage thrash Pacific Northwest out funk jazz--that's what we've got here. The inimitable Skerik (of the Taint Septet and lots of other projects) together with Matt Chamberlain (drum set, Taos drums, table, idiot guitar [?], lap slide, loops, screaming, percussion) and Brad Houser (basses, bass clarinet, screaming) link up to purvey weirdo/accessible sounds of the first water.

This music strikes me as much more dynamic, vital, and interesting than, say, Secret Chiefs Three. For one thing, there's such a genuinely freakish sci-fi, horror movie soundtrack vibe (e.g., "Mount Blasta," "Crowley Dissertation," "Bill Gates") as to make these guys almost a class unto themselves. Plus, Matt Chamberlain has a brilliant world-funk approach to his drum kit and percussion voicings. Additionally, they've managed to snag this completely outrageous garage jazz/punk vibe, analogous to the best pulp science fiction, or perhaps William Gibson at his most expressive. Mona Lisa Overdrive, indeed.

Fans will be thrilled to learn that all their discs will soon be back in print, as they've gotten the rights back and will be reissuing them in the summer of 2004. Plus, their latest, Stampede, will be available Sept. of 2004 from Ropeadope.

I'm a fan. Big time.

One of my all-time favorites

Industrial noise garage thrash Pacific Northwest out funk jazz--that's what we've got here. The inimitable Skerik (of the Taint Septet and lots of other projects) together with Matt Chamberlain (drum set, Taos drums, table, idiot guitar [?], lap slide, loops, screaming, percussion) and Brad Houser (basses, bass clarinet, screaming) link up to purvey weirdo/accessible sounds of the first water.

This music strikes me as much more dynamic, vital, and interesting than, say, Secret Chiefs Three. For one thing, there's such a genuinely freakish sci-fi, horror movie soundtrack vibe (e.g., "Mount Blasta," "Crowley Dissertation," "Bill Gates") as to make these guys almost a class unto themselves. Plus, Matt Chamberlain has a brilliant world-funk approach to his drum kit and percussion voicings. Additionally, they've managed to snag this completely outrageous garage jazz/punk vibe, analogous to the best pulp science fiction, or perhaps William Gibson at his most expressive. Mona Lisa Overdrive, indeed.

Fans will be thrilled to learn that all their discs will soon be back in print, as they've gotten the rights back and will be reissuing them in the summer of 2004. Plus, their latest, Stampede, will be available Sept. of 2004 from Ropeadope.

I'm a fan. Big time.

It's not that easy to make original music, music that proceeds from certain precedents, but essentially stakes out its own territory. Borrowing from garage, thrash, ambient, and jazz, Critters Buggin has managed to create a new music that is more than the sum of its parts.

One of the finer discs in my collection. Highly recommended.

A much more focused record than "Guest". This is my favorite of the two. The same fluid yet wriggly drumming and bass foundation with excellent weird samples and Skerik's mad effected whale of a saxaphone skronk!

Stoned heavy-trippy stuff, for sure!Critters Buggin displays on that record an amazing blend of schizo-spaced out funky beats, mind-melting trance inducing tribal drums and vrooming, throbbing bass lines, creating a very complex web of jagged, angular rhythm patterns. The hypersonic voodoo conjured here contains also hallucinatory samples and found sounds, psycho, scary electronics devices and a skronking sax attack, something like 'Coltrane from hell', damn!! With "Host", Critters Buggin certainly hits the spot, with one of the most daring albuns of the last decade.

What can I say? The other reviewers said it better than I ever could, except this: To know (to really know, by just listening and being open to...) CB is to love them.

Host is funky hyped-up space music that still manages to be as comfortable as a jungle here on earth. And if you like Host, just get the rest of the albums, even Amoeba, which'll get you eventually.

And if you ever get a chance to see them live, sell whatever you have to to see that show. These guys are so tight your mind will tilt on its axis!

Hi there, if you happen to be reading this review, chances are you are familiar with Skerik, Brad Houser, or Matt Chamberlain or are just curious and were recommended this cd from a previous editorial. This combo of musicians from the Pacific Northwest have created their own formula. Make music when we want to and how we want to. They have total artistic freedom and are able to fill up the spectrum with a gambit of sounds and textures.

Skerik wails on the sax while Matt and Brad's rhythm can wander off at any moment and then stop on a dime and come back in as tight as a drum (no pun intended). I highly recommend this disc to any person who considers him/herself a tolerant listener who can handle strange breaks in the grooves, little to no lyrics and weird audio samples over the top. For those of you who know Matt Chamberlain from Tori Amos or Brad Houser from Edie Brickell, be prepared for a HUGE difference. Literally nothing like the former for either musician.

If you like this, check out Ponga, other Buggin cd's of course and early MMW (say Friday afternoon in the Universe). Good luck and I hope you enjoy, God knows I do.

The first album was not a fluke, they came up with new stuff that is just as good as their first album, if not better. I have listened to this album so many times, I would be a hypocrite to give anything but 5 stars. Their music is so layered and rich and nuts funky, I never grow tired of it. Song #12 has this part where Skerik runs his sax through a repeater, and makes the coolest noise since Pink Floyds 'Any Colour You Like', and then breaks into this Morphine-esque chorus part. Bloody awesome.

U want to hear some grooves? Check this out! Chamberlain's goin' mad on the drums while the others are groovin. GROOVIN. GROOVIN. GROOVIN. GROOVIN. Say that word, now go get HOST so you can say you were groovin' to Critters' last night. The groovin' sounds of HOST come from every direction. When you listen to HOST, your brain goes into another world. Critters Buggin is by far the most creative band ever, and HOST shows it. I rate this CD as an A+. I want to marry it. I want to buy it a diamond ring, and take it on our honeymoon!

Simply put, these guys make some of the grooviest, vibe-laden tunes out there. Awesome, Awesome album. Sex Doily (#12) is one of the coolest sounding songs ever recorded anywhere. Period.