REGAL WORM

Jarrod Gosling (also known by the alias of Varrod Goblink) is back with another album under the Regal Worm moniker. Last year's The Hideous Goblink was a wonderful piece of buzzy, progressive psychedelia with a clear sonic throughline.

On Worm!, Regal Worm's fifth full-length release, the sound palette is a bit more diverse, but this pays dividends. While the songs don't flow together seamlessly like on the last Worm release, there's still a unique energy to Gosling's music. The overall feel of Worm! Is lighter and more playful than its predecessor; there's no 19-minute opus called "The Satan" on this one.

Worm! kicks off with the high-octane space-age psychedelia of "Regal Wishbone". The rhythm is driving and insistent, and the lightly-processed vocals (along with the rich variety of vintage synths) lend this song an extraterrestrial air. The music is jittery and jazzy with a breathless pace.

"Don't Freak Out the Creatures" is even more jazz-forward, landing somewhere between early Soft Machine and early Pink Floyd. It's an energetic song with lots of quirky keyboard tones, and its pace and intensity gradually increase across its runtime. In contrast, "Dirty Super" opens on a somewhat mellower note. The synth pulse backing this piece is quite propulsive, but the orchestration is pared down, allowing the music more room to breathe. In the song's second half, there are some neat little wonky tricks with the meter and rhythm that add character.

The longest song on the album is "The Steppe Nomad Space Program". It opens with balalaika on a jaunty, folky note, though Gosling's distinctive vocals don't let you forget this is a Regal Worm song. As with this album's opening song, this track gives the impression of traveling through space as the usual array of astral keyboards make their entrance. This song displays its own nomadic tendencies as it moves around from one musical idea to another. It integrates folk and jazz amidst the usual psych-prog milieu, but it always feels cohesive and sensical. The closing couple minutes feature some especially fun instrumental interplay.

"Bong Song" follows with a bouncy, bubbly backbone and some strongly lounge-y jazz tones in the melody. Despite barely cracking two-and-a-half minutes, it overstays its welcome by a hair. There's a similar bounciness to "Chlorophyllia", though this one's a bit more anxious. Near the song's midpoint, there's a nervous instrumental passage with some electronic touches I quite enjoy, but this song also feels like it meanders more than it needs to.

"Green Beetle, Plate 31" continues with the electronic flavors and sequenced synthesizers. This early krautrock vibe reminds me a lot of the band Perilymph, an act I've covered twice before. The textures throughout are nice, and Gosling also has some lovely vocal arrangements near the end of the song. Following an odd, electronic outro, "Is There Anything Blacker Than a Black Cat?" maintains a similar atmosphere. Subtle hints of wobbly, wahed guitar are nice, and the minor key moments add good contrast.

Worm! ends on "Hop", the album's shortest song. The synth choices and odd meter remind me strongly of King Gizzard's Butterfly 3000. The overall oddness is fun, catchy, and the title matches the music wonderfully. But despite all that, this doesn't really feel like a fitting conclusion to this album.

Overall, I liked Worm! I may have had a few gripes, particularly in its second half, but Gosling is a strong enough songwriter that it still manages to stay entertaining. Songs occasionally feel aimless, and one track can bleed into another. This also feels the least like a unified album of Regal Worm's output. But despite this, it's enjoyable, jazzy psych which is pretty fun to chill out to.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2022/09/13/album-review-regal-worm-worm/

Regal Worm is a solo project by Jarrod Gosling, one half of the duos I Monster (trip-hop) and Cobalt Chapel (psychedelic rock). Regal Worm blends Gosling's usual psychedelic leanings with more progressive and ambitious song structures. His last release under this moniker, 2018's Pig Views, was my favorite album that year, so I naturally had high hopes for this release.

The album cover for The Hideous Goblink lives up to its name. It is an ugly piece of art and not nearly as enchanting as the art on his past releases. However, this is an instance where that old axiom about book covers and judging them holds true.  Regal Worm's fourth full-length release is a fantastic collection of songs which sound like one unified whole. The six compositions here all work in harmony with each other to deliver something fantastic.

The first three songs on the album flow smoothly together into one 11-minute suite. "Action by HAVOC" starts with dramatic keyboards that quickly give way to a downward-tumbling bassline. There's an immense amount of immediate kinetic energy, and all the retro synths lend a certain '60s sci-fi quality to it. There are ample jazz touches on this opening track as well, primarily in the vocal melody and guitar parts.

"The Inner Vacuum" follows so seamlessly, it's easy to miss the transition. Funky, wah-wahed guitar and bongo drums maintain the retro atmosphere, and it's helped along by eerie synth passages. Closing out this opening suite is "Bonzai Master", which opens in a more restrained fashion but still revisits themes from the preceding songs. The rich array of keyboard tones in the song's second half is the clear highlight of this cut.

The following piece is the nine-minute "Pollinators". The intro features gentle guitar and plinking glockenspiel (I think; it's some sort of idiophone), and it blends together to make a unique atmosphere. The bass is weirdly compressed and buzzy, but in a song with this title, that may be a deliberate evocation of bees. This buzzing is also reflected in synth tones as the song delves deeper into its runtime. There are a staggering number of clever themes, riffs, and passages in this song, even when considering its rather long duration.

"Underground Comix" is the shortest song here, barely cracking two minutes. It's an urgent little track that does a great job of building tension ahead of the massive closing suite.

The Hideous Goblink ends with the massive, 19-minute "The Satan". Weird, wobbly Mellotron flute suddenly gives way to an anxious, galloping bassline topped with twisting, distant guitar lines. This opening section of the song maintains a disorienting effect through the first verse as new keyboard tones, fuzzed-out guitar, and the usual array of synthesizers share the spotlight.

Moving past the opening verse of this opus, the overall mood oscillates between laid-back and on-edge, aided by some top-notch arranging. Every song on this album shares a similar sound palette, and this sense of sonic unity pays dividends over the course of such a sprawling suite.

In quieter moments, Indian scales sneak into the mix to add a dash of exotic spice, and the relentless, jittery energy of the rhythm section prevents this song from getting bogged down by its own nass. Themes constantly crop up briefly, only to be dropped and revisited later with some new element. The conclusion of "The Satan" is a fittingly bombastic, dramatic moment. Ultra-fuzzy bass dominates the track, and the multi-layered vocals sound like a grand Satanic choir.

This latest release from Regal Worm does not disappoint. I think I still somewhat prefer Pig Views, but this album is not lacking for good ideas. The instrumental elements are expertly played and constantly-shifting. And the tonal continuity from song to song helps make this release fantastically cohesive.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2021/11/08/album-review-regal-worm-the-hideous-goblink/

Regal Worm ? Worm! This a special album, not an album for the easy prog listeners, it's more complex than that, there are less connections to the likes of Genesis, Yes and Crimsonesque bands that value the past more than the present. This one-man outfit composed mostly solely of Jarrod Gosling, prominent artist from the electronic scene, delivers some very strange and likely to become a must hear album this 2022 (at least for the prog scene). The use of multilayered vocals manages to produce not only texture and harmony to the music, but to dislocate the melodies and shift them to the instrumentation. In an age where there is little space left for surprises in the genre, this is a refreshing listen, because of its adventurous deeds, it takes prog over its limits, consolidating what can be called a barrier made to be broken. True to any multi-instrumentalist (aka Mike Oldfield) this record focuses on the composition rather than the virtuosity, and by inviting session musicians providing the entire wind section, it allows the music to go one level up. There are several links to the Canterbury Scene that transpire specially in Bong Song, which reminds a lot to Gong in the 70s. While some other tracks feel actually more connected to the sound palette of his work with I Monster, nevertheless still much more challenging and complex. Definitely a highly recommended album.

Shocking.

Fresh music with great attention to excellent catchy memorable vocals while maintaining an awe inspiring form. The songs flow wonderfully into one another (they aren't one song, they just flow well), there are great instrumental sections (Rose Parkington, Freaded Lurg), the instruments work together to weave a majestic soundscape free of pretentious noodling, the lyrics are delightfully fun and the album cover is fetching

Overall this is one of the best albums I have ever heard, incredibly good, this has quickly become a personal favourite. I simply can't fault it, only positives which words would fail. Highly recommend for fans of any genre. 10/10, incredible mix of beautiful short songs (crystalline), short quirky tracks (butterfly), epic suites (dreaded lurg) and an intriguing signature style (track 1 - 4 and 8).

Edit actually just shy of 5/5 for me, idk I think it's the excessive repetition of lyrics. After a lot of listens it gives the music an odd texture that strikes off a bit a mark.

A late-comer to my awareness--and from an artist with whom I was heretofore unaware. And what a creative and eminently skilled artist this is! To think that this sophisticated symphonic concept album is practically a solo project is mind-boggling!

1. "Rose, Rubus, Smilax, Vulkan" (7:17) opens like a GENESIS song converted to the music of a kids cartoon. (I find myself thinking of the soundtrack to Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas.) Even the title phrase used for the chorus' chorus feels like made-up terms from a contrived make-believe world of a Dr. Seuss or Roald Dahl world. The music is hard-driving, fast-paced, and tightly performed but ultimately it never seems to shake that REBECCA SUGAR/Steven Universe feel. (8.5/10)

2. "Revealed As A True Future Tyrant" (5:29) shows a musical sophistication requiring multiple listens to take in and adapt to. There are three main phrases repeated over the course of the multi-part song--one to accompany each of the song's three themes: "My teacher understands" from the opening and closing segments, the choir's shouted four words (which sound exactly like a Teutonic variation of the title phrase from the opening song) from the second, full-band movement, and the delicate words used in the third section to describe the child in question, "star pupil" "Even on a rainy day." Nice saxophone solo in the middle section. The music and song are actually quite engaging if oddly constructed and even more strangely worded. (9.25/10)

3. "Pre-Colombian Worry Song" (5:24) this one opens up with by far the most engaging, toe-tapping groove on the album--and only proceeds to increase its winsome ways when the singing joins in. What is most unusual about this song--taken in the context of the whole album--is the fairly straightforward and singular style used on this song from start to finish. Yes, there are some quirky syncopated rhythms and bridges in various places, but overall the song feels like one song without any major symphonic twists and turns. Plus, it's so engaging and adorable that it just makes you want to get up and dance a happy dance! (9.5/10)

4. "Rose Parkington, They Would Not Let You Leave" (7:06) notes a BEACH BOYS/BUGGLES-like return to cartoon theme music like that used in the album's opening song. Even the spy-thriller lyrics and effects add to the cartoonish feel. It's good--makes you want to see the animated video this must surely accompany--and makes one realize how well some of those techno-pop songs of the early MTV era could have used GORILLAS-like animation. (8.25/10)

5. "Jag Vet" (1:36) MIDIed electric piano accompanies a female vocalist singing a soft, slow, delicate vocal about Karen. Greek chorus tells her to "don't go in there" several times. (4.5/5)

6. "The Dreaded Lurg" (14:53) this is the jewel of the album. (30/30) - "i. Catch Your Death" opens the suite slowly, cautiously, but then breaks into a fast-pace with a rhythm a feel quite similar to song #3, "Pre-Columbian Worry Song," even employing some melodic themes that feel similar to those used on previous songs (the Rebecca Sugar-like ear-worms). There are several themes used within this one--the cartoonish racing theme, a campy Burt Bacharach-like theme, and a heavier macabre carnivalesque theme (which closes the movement at the end of the seventh minute). - "ii. He Hath Rear'd His Sceptre O'er The World" is opened with a quiet, stealthy-spy-like theme over which a small Greek chorus chants about a fighting in the forest. At 9:13 a minor-keyed KARDA ESTRA-like passage presents itself before disappearing in lieu of the sounds of a campfire in a windstorm. - "iii. To Hunt An Ancient Vampire." The next passage opens with a lurch at 10:06 as cartoon-synths and horns burst into a herky-jerky "treacherous chase scene" like theme. At the beginning of the eleven minute mark the music smooths out, takes a detour (to hide, wait and/or watch) before taking off again to rejoin the chase. Several musical twists and turns involving cartoon synths and acoustic guitars make you feel as if there are plenty of stop and starts I find the sudden and surprise addition of a VDGG-like sax and Hugh Banton organ quite comical! There are plenty of wait and look periods alternating with interjections of alarmed "Oh my God, the light is fading" as chanted by a chorus of seeming passersby. An oboe cadenza precedes another Greek chorus shouting out the warning, "Oh my God, the light is fading" as the cartoon music continues and draws upon even more cartoon/video game sounds and motifs. Chorus chants of "Luh, luh" precede a loud crash of a gong which signals the end of the racing music with a little less than a minute to go. The rest of the song is filled with the sounds of Mellotron voices, a crackling fire, and strong winds blowing. This then bleeds directly into the next song. Despite the cartoon-like feel of much of this song, it does an absolutely brilliant job of conveying the feeling of a complete story--as a true "epic" should. Plus, I find the song so entertaining that I've listened to it over 20 times now and have never tired nor cut short each listen. There is so much ingenuity and innovation to the construction and flow of this song that it deserves full credit as a new arrival to the Vahalla of Prog Epics.

7. "Crystallisation" (3:18) opens with electric piano and high octave singing before the vocalist drops into normal mid-range for the second part of the first verse. Many incidentals are dispersed throughout including Mellotron choir. Quite a remarkable vocal performance filled with several very deeply hooking melodies/lines including "We were locked up in the tower ... today." Just shows the power that simplicity and purity can convey. (4.5/5)

8. "Huge Machine, You Are So Heavy" (6:37) opens with two slowly alternating chords from what sounds like a harmonium or squeeze box over which a male vocalist sings delicately. Mid-second minute piano and choir voices bring a second gear but it's not until 2:10 that we truly feel the direction Jarrod is wanting to take this. By 2:45 a full- on prog extravaganza has been unleashed with chunky bass, fuzzy guitars, windy early-King Crimson synths and sax. It's all instrumental and repetitious quite in the way that Mike Oldfield used in the heavier part of the "Tubular Bells" composition. In the sixth minute a kind of BUGGLES pattern and sound palette is been established over which Geoff & Trevor-like vocal choir sings repeating the same two phrases until the ending fadeout. Great song! (9/10)

9. "Butterfly" (0:51) a (faux) recording of a radio broadcast from the 1920s about a papillon.

Five stars; a masterpiece of quirky symphonic progressive rock music--perhaps a nod to the future of progressive rock: the integration of musical styles from the realms of cartoon and video animation with symphonic forms--all while employing masterful compositional and instrumental skills.

Jarrod Gosling returns with his latest album, bringing in a few select guests to help out here and there, but as with the other Regal Worm albums he fully relishes the opportunity to showcase his skills on multiple instruments. Although he brings in pop mentalities and themes, these are heavily indoctrinated with Psyche before all being wrapped up in a solid dose of Canterbury to create something that is very English, very dated, and certainly very delicious. Here is someone who is using Mellotron, Hammond L112 and Fender Rhodes among multiple other keyboards so the notes he is performing are coming through a depth of history. But, although he is very much a keyboard player at heart, he provides multiple types of guitars as well as employing four singers and some sax and flute players. There is very much a sense of dated reality, why use samples when a real musician can do the job so much better?

There is no way that this sounds like an album that has been released in 2018, but feels much more like a lost album from fifty years ago. Even the complex album artwork seems to be from a time gone by when that was an important part of the whole package, but as it has been released as a double pink vinyl album then for this one it actually is. There are times when early Floyd and early Genesis trade blows with Caravan, before Van Der Graaf Generator step in to act as referee, and Camel take the high ground. Some of the vocals also remind me of the really naff cinema adverts we used to get back in the day, and it all adds to the sheer delight of this album which is essential to all progheads.

UK band REGAL WORM is, first and foremost, the creative vehicle of composer and musician Jared Gosling, otherwise known as a member of the bands Skywatchers, I Monster and Henry Fool. "Use and Ornament" is the first album to be issued under the Regal Worm moniker; it was self released towards the end of 2013.

"Use and Ornament" is a highly impressive debut album from an experienced composer and musician, exploring new territories with a new project. One that main man Gosling appears to focus on quite a bit, as a second album has been recorded and released at the time of writing. But if you haven't come across this band so far they are quite clearly one that merits an inspection. One of the most impressive debut albums I have heard in the last few years, and one that manages to combine the old with the new and to include challenging features in compelling and easygoing compositions with an ease that is down right impressive. Highly recommended, obviously.

Music project from Sheffield, UK, started in the spring of 2011 by Jarrod Gosling, mostly known to prog fans from Henry Fool, but being in the music league for years as a member of Synth/Electro act I Monster and Alt Rockers Skywatchers.With a tireless team Gosling worked for about a year on the recordings of Regal Worm's debut ''Use and ornament'', recorded at the Pig View Studio in Sheffield and released in digital and CD format by Quatermass Records.

First thing to strike is Golsling's endless instrumental flexibility, handling guitars, modern and analog synths, piano, bass, percussion, wind instruments, effects and samplers and the list goes on.Mick Somerset-Ward handles saxes, harp, whistles, flutes and clarinet and the team is completed with another sax player, Louis Atkinson, Peter Rophone and Kevin Pearce on voices, Lucy Fawcett on trumpet, Nick Gosling on electric guitar, Graham McElearney on harp and Jack Helliwell on violin.With some of them Jarrod had already collaborated in previous works.

With a list of more than 20 instruments and considering its progressive edges, you know exactly what you buy in ''Use and ornament''.Complex, rich and dense music with plenty of variations and stylistical changes, which come as a combination of VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR, Canterbury Prog ala CARAVAN and vibes of British Jazz Rock in the vein of IF.Fascinating music with keyboards and electric moments switching soon to jazzy passages with dominant sax and clarinet parts, backed up by an awesome rhythm section.With ''Use and ornament'' you get all the impressive values of British Prog performed in a modern way, the poppy lines of the early bands, offered through sophisticated arrangements (electric piano, vibraphone, sweet vocals and psychedelic melodies), the dark side of the movement with the dashes of Mellotron and the discreet use of organ in intricate interludes and the jazzier side of 70's UK music scene with the display of wind and horn instruments.While the short tracks are impressive, delivering soft parts combined with complex instrumentals, there are two masterful pieces included in the album, the 13-min. ''Confession from a deep and warm hibernaculum'' and the double dose of ''6:17 PM the aunt turns into an ant''.A monstrous manifest of VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR meeting CARAVAN on stage and exchange musical ideas.Intelligent Art Pop mixed with Jazz and frenetic Prog Rock, highlighted by instrumental changes, time signatures, odd rhythms and electroacoustic segments.Beautiful use of analog keyboards next to contemporary elements such as the sound effects and synths, vocals are limited yet amazing, and the changes in atmosphere will leave you speechless.

''Use and ornament'' tops most releases of the year 2013 and comes as a genuine and charming mix of the British Prog history.Can't think of anyone not liking this release, it's strangely smooth and incredibly complex at the same time.No less than highly recommended.

Hailing from the avant-rock realm of Quatermass Records, Regal Worm delivers a fantastic debut that shows strong potential for this band as far as how deep they can dive into weird music while still keeping it fun. Use and Ornament is an album that screams out humor with complex composition. Despite the fact that the album is mostly instrumental, there are the occasional vocal parts, and they are certainly well done, as can be seen on the track "Apple Witch," an upbeat piece that reminds me of Inner Ear Brigade with its catchy blend of jazziness, retro vibes, and modernity, as well as in the case of the surprisingly elegant female vocals that appear out of nowhere in "Confession From a Deep and Warm Hibernaculum." What really characterizes Regal Worm though is the instrumental, such as the exemplary track "Cherish That Rubber Rodent" which is quirky but very catchy and singleable at times or "The Aunt Turned into an Ant," with its rollercoaster ride that starts off somewhere in the vein of Yugen meets Anglagard to controlled ambient noise, horror soundtrack-esque segments, and even some psychedelic rock jamming. From blaring saxes to swelling Mellotrons and tasty basslines, Use and Ornament is certainly a debut that leaves me eager to hear how Regal Worm will progress in the coming years.

Great fun this record, no shortage of creativity and extremely well played throughout. There are some lows on the album, the floyd-like 'Apple Witch' and 'Morning Sentinel' aren't quite as strong or inventive as some of the other songs here and, as far as openers go, Zinc Ferment isn't exactly exciting or engaging and I'm not sure if it properly introduces the madness that is to come. 'Cherish that Rubber Rodent' is exciting and out there (even for this record) and the jazzy / spacey Mardi Gras has really grown on me in repeated listens.

The real highpoints on this album however are the mammoth songs 'Confessions from a Deep and Warm Hibernacum' and '6:17 PM the Aunt Turns Into an Ant' which really take the listener on a ride. The former, although opening with a melody that filled me with 80's synth drenched dread, expanded the idea through the next several moments into more ideas and themes than I can even hope to give insight to before introducing the strongest moment on the album where the female vocals come in. Wow. In the near half-hour masterpiece, the Aunt turns into an Ant, we see a development of themes ideas that take the listener on quite the ride and, although it doesn't feel erratic, you don't feel like you're listening to the same song through it.

If I had to name some issues with the album, which I'm reluctant to do given its high quality. I have to point out that the album does, at times, feel jumpy and erratic and at times it's hard to gain a real sense of what the band is, even after repeated listens. The other issue I have is that the album seems to be based off of EXTREMELY strong ideas, interluded with synth-drenched filler as connectors between these ideas. As a result I get a mixed feeling from this cd, I want to applaud it for its inventiveness, its daring nature, its genuinely crisp feel and sound. This doesn't feel formulaic, this is prog in its purest sense. By the end of it, when you've been listening to the album for over an hour, you don't feel weary or tired, the album stays at a high quality and you don't feel as though there are any filler songs (the worst you have are experiments that don't quite work for you).

On the whole though, the album is erratic and its inventiveness may in fact be the albums downfall. While you do have some absolutely brilliant moments it seems strung together haphazardly which is a real letdown. With more time in the oven perhaps, and more of an emphasis on making the songs work as songs and not just ideas within I could see this album getting an easy 4 or even a 5 star rating, but as it stands it just falls flat (which is a shame because this is a really strong record with some absolutely amazing moments.)

3/5 stars