Gargamel from Norway |
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avestin
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: September 18 2005 Status: Offline Points: 12625 |
Topic: Gargamel from Norway Posted: October 21 2007 at 20:47 |
GARGAMEL (not from the Smurfs...) is a band from Norway who has a 70's sound (retro-prog), and influences from VdGG (even in the vocal department).
Listen to them here:
They have given me permission to use their bio here in their PA page.
Gargamel was formed in the spring of 2001 by Tom Uglebakken, Bjorn Viggo Andersen and Morten Tornes. Jon Edmund Hansen and Geir Tornes joined in the summer and they held their first concert in November of 2001. They proceeded to record two songs which they released as an cd-r EP in the autumn of 2002. In the atumn of 2002 the band recruited Leif Erlend Hjelmen on cello, and went on to record three more songs, which together formed the Watch for the umbles album.
The music has clear roots to the experimental and progressive rock from the period of 68-75, and has a sound that reflects this. The band takes you into the sombre, powerful prog-landscape, with melancholic moods and psychedelic atmospheres. Often taking unexpected turns, adding surrealistic and peculiar touches. Drenched in heavy hammond organs, gloomy mellotrons and jazzy el-piano; combined with classical instruments like cello, flute and saxophone. The debut album entitled Watch for the umbles was released on swedish Transubstans records in february of 2006 and recived great reviews in the international prog press. Gargamel has since 2002 gone thru some changes of members. Jon Edund quit in the autmn of 2002 before the extraordinary H&M gig. Bjorn Viggo left in the winter of 2003 to move abroad. Geir left in the summer of 2003 to work abroad. Leif Erlend left in the summer of 2004 to work abroad. Geir returned late 2004, and Arne Ton joined the band on keyboards at the same time. Then Geir left the band again in the spring of 2006 and was replaced by Stig Joran Rygg. Gargamel has played at both OsloProg festival 2002 and 2005. Here are a couple of quotes from reviews: "We noticed elements from Van Der Graaf Generator, combined with krautrock; of the Amon Düül II type, together with loads of keyboards (rhodes, organ and analog synths) that added a sophisticated jazz touch." (Concert review in Tarkus magazine) "My associations goes in the direction of Van Der Graaf Generator, early Eloy and some other german bands from the 70s." (Water EP review in Tarkus magazine) Current lineup: Tom Uglebakken: Guitar, vocals, flute and saxophone. Morten Tornes: Drums, vocals, glockenspiel, theremin and synth. Arne Ton: Keyboards. Stig Joran Rygg: Bass guitar and bass pedals. Former members: Geir Tornes: Bass and bass pedals. Bjorn Viggo Andersen: Keyboards. Jon Edmund Hansen: Guitar and bass. Leif Erlend Hjelmen: Cello. Hilde Braathen: Keyboards. ==This biography is taken from the Gargamel's website http://www.gargamel.no and used with permission from the band== Reviews of Watch For The Umbles :
Collaborators ReviewsGARGAMEL — Watch For The UmblesReview by Prognut (Jose Gabriel)PROG REVIEWER 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!! Posted Tuesday, April 11, 2006, 12:48 EST | Permanent link GARGAMEL — Watch For The UmblesReview by hdfisch (Dieter Fischer)PROG REVIEWER 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 UmblesReview by sinkadotentree (john davie)PROG REVIEWER 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 UmblesReview by Sean Trane (Hugues Chantraine)SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog-Folk Specialist 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. Posted Thursday, November 23, 2006, 03:49 EST | Permanent link GARGAMEL — Watch For The UmblesReview by ClemofNazareth (Bob Moore)SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog Folk Researcher 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. Posted Thursday, August 30, 2007, 21:12 EST | Permanent link Guests ReviewsGARGAMEL — Watch For The UmblesReview by alioshak (Felipe Kraljevich)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.
Posted Friday, April 28, 2006, 15:35 EST | Permanent link GARGAMEL — Watch For The UmblesReview by dltF90Papa 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 UmblesReview by Badabec (Niklas Tieke) 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. Posted Saturday, September 30, 2006, 07:05 EST | Permanent link |
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chamberry
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: October 24 2005 Location: Puerto Rico Status: Offline Points: 9008 |
Posted: October 21 2007 at 23:57 |
Yet another approval.
Highly recommended for fans of Van Der Graaf Generator, but with a slight Scandinavian Prog touch. |
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micky
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: October 02 2005 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 46827 |
Posted: October 22 2007 at 00:06 |
and another suggestion from Assaf that I followed up on ..and loved. Great album
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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memowakeman
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: May 19 2005 Location: Mexico City Status: Offline Points: 13031 |
Posted: December 13 2007 at 12:44 |
Very true!
The 4-star reviews show that this album is a very worth listening, great recommendation!
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avestin
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: September 18 2005 Status: Offline Points: 12625 |
Posted: March 24 2008 at 19:41 |
Here's a toast to bumping threads....
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