the Mermen and Grovjobb
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Music Lounge
Forum Description: General progressive music discussions
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6456
Printed Date: April 25 2024 at 08:37
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: the Mermen and Grovjobb
Posted By: DallasBryan
Subject: the Mermen and Grovjobb
Date Posted: May 21 2005 at 13:38
|
anyone familar with The Mermen's Amazing California Health and Happiness Roadshow or Grovjobb's Vatternas fest? These seem to be the ONLY TRULY progressive rock albums that I have heard around the turn of the 21st century. Has anyone heard them or have suggestions on other bands that are doing intelligent music similar to this? 
|
Replies:
Posted By: Manunkind
Date Posted: May 21 2005 at 13:43
Seeing that this is likely to be one of those threads of yours DB, to which only one or two people will respond, I would only like to welcome you to the world where the almost infinitely wide communication channels are all nearly blocked by crap . ------------- "In war there is no time to teach or learn Zen. Carry a strong stick. Bash your attackers." - Zen Master Ikkyu Sojun |
Posted By: wallace
Date Posted: May 21 2005 at 14:25
|
Grovjobb be greet. At least twanty 70's Scandi fusion bands ha' th' same groove goin'. Oy! Yew thare! Man's noo a camel. Fill Wallace ainither whisky! (Ach, sorray aybit tha'. Ah forgots ah were online!.) |
Posted By: wallace
Date Posted: May 21 2005 at 20:11
|
Dalla, wots dis Mermen then? Juist bin listenin' tae MADE IN SWEDEN. Georg Wadenius reely cranks it onna electric guitar an' Tommy Borgudd be a veritabool monster onna drums.(Ainy one ken wha orther bands he were in?) Questioon fer our Swede friends: Made in Sweden had juist th' fower lps. Now Wallace 'ears of a lp titl'd "Regenbaslandet". Is dis Swede fer ain o' th' fower lps - mebbe for "Snakes in a hole"?? Or mebbe dis be sum previoosly unreleaser'd live consart? 'ep Wallace oot here! |
Posted By: DallasBryan
Date Posted: May 22 2005 at 04:41
|
Made in Sweden is not a prog band, they are not in the ProgArchives!  Ive only got made in england and heard one other so Im not sure about their full catalog. they werent all that interesting to me. The Mermen is a top California surf guitar band that went prog and produced this album that is outstanding and not typical in todays scene. Its quite worth the listen! I stumbled on it going through the surf scene.  Its much more progressive than say, the Aqua Velvets, Laika & the Astronauts, Los Straitjackets or Man or Astroman. Guitar.com - "The Amazing California Health and Happiness Show" "Jim Thomas has carved out a unique perch in the guitar world, fronting the most high-profile 'surf rock' band since the Ventures"... - Buzz Morison Surfing Magazine - Dec 2000 - "The Amazing California Health and Happiness Show" "I may be sticking my neck out here, but this is the best 'surf' record I've ever heard"... - Tim D. Phil Dirt - KFJC Radio - "The Amazing California Health and Happiness Show" Well well well! Set any fears you might have about the new Mermen lineup aside. This release is pure Jim Thomas brilliance, melodic, dramatic, and more adventurous in some ways. - Phil Dirt San Francisco Sunday Chronicle - "The Amazing California Health and Happiness Show" "For the past 10 years, San Francisco's Mermen have been pursuing the band's singular path of merging psychedelia and surf music"... - Joel Selvin muzikman.com - "The Amazing California Health and Happiness Show" "This CD is more than anyone could ever expect from this well known instrumental group. The Mermen's musical tide comes rolling off the shores of California to drown you in their special brand of instrumental mayham."... San Francisco Examiner - "The Amazing California Health and Happiness Show" "Five years in the making, The Mermen have risen from the depths like Neptune with their latest take on 'surf music', and its a psychedelic doozy."... - Jane Genahl Memphis Flyer - "The Amazing California Health and Happiness Show" "There's not a single clunker on this CD, not one bad moment, but I must make special note of two tracks - the lovely and ethereal 'To Be Naked And French Is Always Hard' and the LSD-drenched 'Burn', which is anthemic psychedelia at its best"... - Stephen Grimstead jambands.com - "The Amazing California Health and Happiness Show" "All the songs on the album are grounded in the same sort of peaceful, flowing melodies, but the elements that make up the songs are swapped back and forth to produce 14 unique tracks on the CD. Unto The Resplendent is a good pick for the first track. It presents a several cascading layers of sound that vary in the degree of their intensity."... - Chip Schramm amazon.com - "The Amazing California Health and Happiness Show" "It's been decades since Jimi Hendrix advised the world that they'd "never hear surf music again." But the Mermen (who take their name from a Hendrix song) not only prove the venerable guitar god wrong, but make a compelling musical argument here that if Hendrix were alive today he might well be sitting in with them on these moody, musically expansive tracks."... - Jerry McCulley sonicnet.com - "The Amazing California Health and Happiness Show" "Road Show is by far the most accomplished and engaging Mermen offering yet, a crowded net of styles and articulate instrumental situations presided over by founding songwriter/guitarist Jim Thomas"... - Dan Bennett Santa Cruz Sentinel - "The Amazing California Health and Happiness Show" "Calling this San Francisco band 'surf rock' is pitifully inadequate and unjust to thier ambitions."... - Wallace Baine audiorevolution.com - "The Amazing California Health and Happiness Show" " The musicians in The Mermen are very talented, and it’s refreshing to hear performers of this caliber who paint musical pictures without feeling the need to indulge in endless solos."... - Bryan Dailey Austin Chronicle "Jim Thomas is a musical savant. He might not be good at a lot of things, but the sounds he hears in his head, and his ability to capture them on tape, are genius." ... - Raoul Hernandez sfgate.com "The gods of the sea haven't made a wave big enough to wipe out Jim Thomas's axe."... - Derk Richardson pollodelmar.com - "The Amazing California Health and Happiness Show" "Wow, Jim Thomas drops the really big one."... Cosmik Debris - "The Amazing California Health and Happiness Show" "If you've never happened upon the Mermen before, they're a instrumental surf outfit specializing in keeping the genre from becoming bogged down by its own standards."... - Jason Thornberry |
Posted By: goose
Date Posted: July 10 2005 at 18:39
|
A bit late, because I only just got round to listening I really liked the song "Polkahast" by Grovjobb, but right now I'm listening to another one: "Under Solen Lyser Solen" and it's not doing much for me. |
Posted By: The Rock
Date Posted: July 10 2005 at 21:09
| I purchased their cd from record heaven years ago.Nice blend of rock and scandinavian folk(?).Great flute playing.Did they record anything else since then? |
Posted By: paulindigo
Date Posted: July 12 2005 at 10:10
|
I've only listened to one Grovjobb track, I'd be very glad to hear more. BTW, I think that at least Anekdoten also made excellent albums in that period... |