Gargamel from Norway

GARGAMEL — Watch For The Umbles

Well, this one was a nice surprise for me! Since I have loved Scandinavian output for long time. A hybrid between KC (mid-period) and Anekdoten (Mellow/dark parts, at least on their 3 initial albums). This Oslo-based Norwegian quintet play the usual instrumentation (guitar, Keys, bass and drums) but, also include the beautiful mellotron, they expand their sound with sax, flute and cello; which by the way add a more dark atmosphere thru the entire album (something that I missed on Anekdoten recent releases, but that is another story..). Long tracks, and as they described on their web site, some of them has been remixed for this release, adding cello (a great musical idea, IMHO). Extended Melancholic moods, with also psychedelic and jazzy interludes!!

My only complain, even though is a very good and interesting debut album!, is the fact that no new ideas are presented, and definitively will put them in the Mid-70'. Not easily digested with one spin, and will have to grow on you! Which is a good thing on my personal experience. A very promising band, that I personally will keep an eye on, for further releases and where they will be going musically. 3.5 to 4 Stars!!!

Posted Tuesday, April 11, 2006, 12:48 EST | Permanent link

GARGAMEL — Watch For The Umbles

This debut album by Norwegian band GARGAMEL could not fascinate me right from the beginning as did the one by their country fellows WOBBLER. Though absolutely appealing to me due to its dark atmosphere and VDGG-reminiscence initially I dismissed it as just another one of those second class clone products. Right away I’ve to say repeated listening to this work have proved me wrong. Certainly it’s quite obvious where these guys got their inspiration from but actually VDGG is just one of their influences albeit the strongest one, due to the similarity of the lead singer’s voice to Peter Hammill’s alone. And in fact Tom Uglebakken’s vocal capability is almost the only point of criticism to be found on this excellent debut. By no way he’s a bad singer but overall I’ve to say that to some extent he seams trying to emulate PH’s intonation a bit too hard and I dare say he must fail. But anyway there are only minor points apart from that in this piece of work to niggle about. This album presents an excellent blend of old school prog from various influences (next to VDGG i.e. GG, FLOYD and CRIMSON) with frowning Scandinavian folk music. But let’s come to the actual music presented in these five compositions none of them being a complete failure by the way.

First track “Tics” is one of the two shorter tracks on here, the only one without any vocals and as well the darkest and heaviest one. Dominated by a dark Hammond sound and Crimson-esque guitar it’s spreading an extremely somber atmosphere which is even reinvorced by a mumbling bass play. After some tempo shifts during its eight minutes running time some bubbling synths and short pads of e-piano are rounding up the sound characteristics to an overall quite appealing impression.

“Strayed Again” is the most odd one I’d say containing a section filled with some chamber music-like improvisations on cello,flute and keyboards. This middle part is certainly something of aquired taste and needs repeated sessions. The initial part starting in a more sluggish vein with cello, Mellotron and Hammond really conveys very well an atmosphere of angst and Uglebakken’s depressed and angry vocals are fitting quite well to the music here. Then after the pace has changed to a more up-tempo one there is this cello/flute improv which I found actually quite enjoyable and well done after a couple of listens. But after a short section of “normal” keys and guitar play we get exposed to another quite dissonant keyboard section lasting from 7:00 to about 9:30 which I honestly find rather redundant and even disturbing. Thereafter the more furious finish dominated by cello and saxophon is again brilliant. Without the mentioned sequence this track would deserve to be called the best one of the album. But still after substracting these 2 ½ minutes it has more than 10 min of excellent music to offer.

“Below The Water” is the shortest, maybe the most memorable but probably as well the weakest track here. Mainly dwelling in a quite slow pace and dominated by cello and Mellotron with lead vocals that sound here a bit too much rigid I’ve to say it does not exhibit too many inspiring moments.

“Into The Cold “is at least in my view the best and most divers compositions. With its several tempo and mood shifts and varied usage of instruments it reminds me in some way to second album by Italian band GERMINALE (where they had a VDGG-song as bonus BTW, so this association is not that far away ). After an intro with Mellotron we have some rather cheerful (!) flute, then it changes into a more upbeat pace and some multi-layered vocals are brining GG into mind. Thereafter a really amazing cello/flute interplay follows, then lead vocals are entering and a distinct cello is added up to keys and flute play. Later on a saxophone part is starting and after the pace is changing suddenly into a quite furious one reminiscences of VDGG are becoming even stronger here.

The final “Agitated Mind” is with almost 18 minutes the longest, most mellow and together with the previous one my favorite track on this album. This is also the place where reminiscences to 70’s psychedelic/space rock bands like FLOYD, ELOY or NEKTAR are becoming very obvious. It starts in a rather sluggish pace with e-piano and Hammond and Uglebakken’s depressed vocals filled with angst fit perfectly here I’ve to say. After an interplay of cello and flute it switches into a more up-speed pace with flute play (is that Focus playin’?) and some keyboard padding leads into a part where Uglebakken is sharing lead vocals with Morten Tornes. “My mind is filled with storms from the past as they try to push me over again.” That’s only a short citation of the fascinating lyrics in general on this album. The final part spreads a nice dreamy atmosphere with floydian type of keyboards.

Finally I’d like to say that GARGAMEL’s debut certainly did not become a masterpiece but a very interesting and after a couple of spins enjoyable album in the spirit of 70’s classical Prog. I’m quite sure that there are still bigger and more innovative things to come from these highly talented musicians and I’d recommend this album to any fan of 70’s Prog and especially to those who love more the darker side of it.

Posted Thursday, August 03, 2006, 16:00 EST | Permanent link

GARGAMEL — Watch For The Umbles

All i had to hear was the first instrumental track called "Tic" and i was in love.Cello,hammond organ,angular guitars,mellotron,almost 9 minutes of heaven! GARGAMEL sound like a mixture of VDGG,ANEKDOTEN and KING CRIMSON.The vocalist especially is where the VDGG sound comes from."Strayed Again" is another brooding undercurrent of sound.There are vocals,but this is mostly instrumental."Into the Cold"starts with mellotron and is not as heavy as the first three.Flute,cello and piano stand out.There is a SINKADUS feel to the flute in this one.The final track "Agitated Mind" is the longest and differs in that there is a PINK FLOYD,psychedelic feel to it.The vocals are more theatrical as well on this one.This album was a very pleasant surprise for me.Excellant!

Posted Wednesday, September 13, 2006, 22:26 EST | Permanent link

GARGAMEL — Watch For The Umbles

First full record from this Norwegian (Oslo-based) retro-prog quintet, but unlike most Scandinavian groups they do not based their music on Genesis, Yes and Crimson, but rather on a cross of Crimson and VdGG which seems to give them an edge as well as the constant use of the cello (something Anekdoten has lately completely phased out unfortunately). If Norway is known for White Wwillow and lately Wobbler, the country had also seen in the previous decade Ravana’s sole album, which had the same kind of dark melancholic and desperate ambiances. And although Gargamel comes close to Ravana, Gargamel fails to match the incredibly moody, doomy and gloomy atmospheres of their predecessors. Why this comparison? Well for one, the apocalyptic and lugubrious artworks of both albums, but also for musical reasons.

Although I can appreciate retro-prog much better than neo-prog, the one thing that we can say is that retro-prog is not trying to be original or even inventive and Gargamel’s debut album is neither. But compared with Sinkadus, Wobbler or others, they chose to aim towards a sort mix of Crimson with Hammill’s singing, which does give us a rest from the Genesis and Yes imitator. But this does not mean that Gargamel’s adventures are flawless either. If the opening Ties (Tics?) is somewhere between Anekdoten’s debut and Crimson (Starless’ middle section), the next track Strayed Again is more reminiscent of Discipline’s Staircase album (the best US retro prog IMHO) and VdGG’s Godbluff with an rather brilliant flute-cello duo and the Fender Rhodes improv following it.

So you get the message: not much new under the midnight sun or even under the midday moons. And their third track Below The Water is certainly not my fave and thankfully it is kept short. I am only half enthused by this debut album, because the music is simply too derivative and most tracks, although impressively played and executed, they all fail to convince me except when they are more improvising. There is only one song standing out, Into The Cold, again mostly because of the excellent musical interludes (those excellent flute-cellos-mellotrons “passe d’armes” and a sudden sax break unfortunately a tiny bit ruined by the Graaf-esque electronics effect on both the sax and organ) rather than the actual songwriting. The album closes on a rather sedated almost 18-min Agitated (sound asleep ;-) Mind, which is again interesting if you are not too discerning about derivative music. Another great flute excursion on this track but some clumsy songwritings are the main remarks on this one.

I may sound/read harsh on Gargamel’s debut album, but it is also evident that these guys are not debutants anymore (their EP demo is almost four years old, now) and therefore I was expecting a stronger personality that is simply lacking. But let’s face it, with retro-prog groups, you simply have to be severe to avoid copycats or plagiarists, and it is not yet certain Gargamel will avoid this pitfall. Definitely one of the better albums of this year along with TMV’s Amputecture.

Posted Thursday, November 23, 2006, 03:49 EST | Permanent link

GARGAMEL — Watch For The Umbles

Of all the comparisons I’ve heard for this band, Anekdoten is the one that rings the truest. Sharply formed keyboard arrangements throughout, mellotron and Hammond abound along with the wonderful sounds of the cello, flute, and stilted clavinet. Guitar as well and fairly compared to King Crimson of the mid- to late-seventies. But I disagree with many who say these guys are seventies throwbacks. The music here is a careful blend of experimental rock, maybe even a bit of well-disguised math, and some of the best intentions of pop-influenced progressive rock at the end of its heyday. Which were the latter seventies of course, but that music didn’t have the range of this stuff.

What were left of the progressive bands by that time were steeped in pompous and climactic arrangements, pop-tinged melodic passages, and usually trite lyrics. That isn’t the case here, although the vocals are the one part I could probably do just as well without. Not bad, even somberly complementing the music in most cases. Just not necessary.

There are a couple places where you can hear something like a Krautrock-like tone, particularly on “Below the Water” and at points during “Agitated Mind”. At other times the music is more melodic, and still others come off as bordering on folkish. And not just because of the flute – in the middle “Agitated Mind” there is a guitar plucking section with flute and vocals piped through some sort of area mike that comes off sounding like some obscure old folk bands like Elonkorjuu or Seventh Dawn, and yes – even the more well-known Peter Hamill.

Another positive note is that again like so much experimental rock; all the tracks here are quite long, ranging from around seven minutes to nearly eighteen. So there’s no abrupt cessation or even need for a climactic finish. And that’s actually one of the strong points of this album – the finishes. Except for “Below the Water” which simply fades away, the band finds innovative ways for all the tracks here to finish. “Into the Cold”, which also has the most aggressive tempo and therefore ranks as my favorite, culminates in a jazzy instrumental; “Agitated Mind” has a moody lulling sleepy ending; Strayed Again’s vocals wind to a close; and “Tics” does end abruptly but only because it sounds like the logical thing to do at that point.

The cello and mellotron are major plusses for me. Both these instruments are almost impossible to play badly as far as I’m concerned, and add immensely to what would otherwise come off as a bit hollow and unformed.

Don’t know much about these guys, but I suspect that if they can stay together this will be a band to watch in years to come. Looks like from their web site that there has already been quite a bit of turnover, but hopefully the band will stabilize around a solid core and crank out some really impressive releases in the future. This one is closer to four stars than to three, but I suspect the band is capable of much more given the time to develop. Well recommended.

peace

Posted Thursday, August 30, 2007, 21:12 EST | Permanent link

GARGAMEL — Watch For The Umbles

The first listen to this amazing record made bay the prog band Gargamel was enough to capture me. The air to Van Der Graaf Generator, mixed with the dark and tensious Anekdoten passages really capture me, but besides of all that, we are in front an amazing new band.

In my point of view, i think that the rock, in general, is suffering a strange "comeback" to the old ways. The pressence of bands like The Strokes, White Stripes and (remiting to this site) groups like Liquid Scarlet, Paatos, Wobbler and this Gargamel are the proof that young kids see in the past all the elements to build amazing and incredibly good recordings. "Watch for the Umbles", in particular, is extremely well balanced, the instrumental sections are very complex and very tied, and the sound of the cello and the flute like rock instruments give to this album a different approach, more organic, more honnest.

Songs are good all of them, but in my personal taste are 'Strayed Again' and 'Into the Cold'. This is an very good album and yes, maybe the sound is known for the majority, but certainly shows how new generations see in teh past the inspiration to recreate that days, when music was honest. Gargamel, and their debut, is the better example of this.

An outstanding Debut!!!

Posted Friday, April 28, 2006, 15:35 EST | Permanent link

GARGAMEL — Watch For The Umbles

Papa Smurf and the rest of the Smurfs should be plenty worried now. This Gargamel knows what it's doing and is not to be underestimated! Sorry, I couldn't resist. Anyway, here is yet another Norwegian band that plays progressive music reminiscent of the 1970's. But that's only the tip of the iceberg. If you like bands like VDGG, King Crimson, and Anekdoten; you will love Gargamel.

Gargamel's music is very dark, ominous, and foreboding. This isn't something you listen to when you want to feel and warm and cheery. In fact, there are a lot of similarities between the opening track Ties and the music of Matthew Parmenter / Discipline. It's a great instrumental track with lots of angular, disjointed organ and guitar riffs. Parts of the track really bring forth memories of Canto IV from Discipline's Unfolded Like Staircase album. Strayed Again is starts off with plenty of haunting and melancholy cello and a slow, evil sounding progression. The vocals are both depressed and tortured sounding with the occasional angry snarl. The band won't earn any special awards in the vocals category, but they do fit the music well enough not to detract from what they are trying to communicate. The music then extends into a rather jazzy sounding jam with some wonderful cello playing augmented with flute and some tasty bass work. This is followed by another jazzy jam featuring some excellent electric piano, bass, and great understated drum and deft cymbal work.

Throughout the rest of the songs you begin to hear that there are some very skilled musicians here with a definite talent for creating interesting, moody music. They make wonderful use of a lot of varied musical instruments to give each composition a distinct texture and sonic identity. The band uses as much cello as early Anekdoten, just without the intense King Crimson like bombastic accompaniment. Their sound still has those influences, but they are also mixed rather well with jazz and psychedelia. I really enjoy what I've heard on Watch for the Umbles and can't wait to hear what they come up with next.

Posted Monday, June 12, 2006, 09:23 EST | Permanent link

GARGAMEL — Watch For The Umbles

It was the year 2002, when a new band, called GARGAMEL moved on the stage of the progressive rock theater. 4 years later, the smart norwegian guys produced their first album, they gave it the name WATCH FOR THE UMBLES. It was an album full of ideas, full of great instrumental work (especially on the cello and the flutes), few chant and very long tracks.

You could clearly hear GARGAMEL's influences here: KING CRIMSON, ANGLAGARD and WOBBLER (allright, I don't really know if the last band was one of their influences but sometimes they sound very similar to that band, especially in the first song of the album, "Tics"). Sometimes I even heard some PINK FLOYD influences (especially in the last song "Agitated Mind").

All in all the album was very dreamy and sounded somehow exotic. The frequent use of the cello gave this album often a sad touch, the chant may not have been everybody's taste, I have to admit that I did not like it either as I heard it for the first time, but the oftener I listened to that CD the more I liked the chant. Now I think it fits perfectly to that strange style of this band.

However, this very less known band (I guess so) has created something new and if these guys go on as hitherto they can become very succesfull because they have a lot of potential.

Posted Saturday, September 30, 2006, 07:05 EST | Permanent link