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THE TURN OF THE WORM

Limpid Green

Crossover Prog


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Limpid Green The Turn of the Worm album cover
3.00 | 2 ratings | 1 reviews | 0% 5 stars

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Studio Album, released in 2019

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. There Were Giants in Those Days (8:23)
a) The Nephilim, Pt. 1
b) Sometimes Clowns
c) The Nephilim, Pt. 2
d) Weight and Measures
2. Cast a Long Shadow (2:15)
3. The Ballad of Blurt and Glurnie (4:22)
4. The Creeps (10:59)
5. You Can't Get There from Here (2:34)
6. Any Ol' Macaroni (4:56)
7. Space Jalopy (3:53)
8. Under the Bovine Moon (18:12)
a) The Farmall Tractor Beam
b) Bob's Your Uncle
c) She Wasn't Very Tall but She Was Long
d) Immovable Object, Irresistible Force
e) It's a Bovine Moon
f) Orbit 1
g) A Minor Wobble
h) A Merry Ride on the Gloomy-Go-Round
i) Orbit 2
j) Peace Porridge

Total Time 55:34

Line-up / Musicians

- Greg Mathieson / guitar, keyboards, bass, voices, arranger
- Bernard Olson / drums, percussion, keyboards

With:
- Anika Schepers / children voice (8)
- Marissa Schepers / children voice (8)

Releases information

Artwork: Greg Mathieson

Digital album

Thanks to historian9 for the addition
and to projeKct for the last updates
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LIMPID GREEN The Turn of the Worm ratings distribution


3.00
(2 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(0%)
0%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(0%)
0%
Good, but non-essential (100%)
100%
Collectors/fans only (0%)
0%
Poor. Only for completionists (0%)
0%

LIMPID GREEN The Turn of the Worm reviews


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Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by TCat
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
3 stars Limpid Green, a name that comes from one of my favorite Pink Floyd songs "Astronomy Domine", is a Crossover Prog band that comes from Minneapolis in the US and was founded in 1976, disbanded three years later, and then reformed in 2011. The founders of the band, Greg Mathieson and Bernard Olsen, founded the band to play improvised music for a few years, then they both went off and formed another band called "Bat Lenny" and pretty much left Limpid Green on the backburner for quite a while. When LG was reformed, the two original founders began releasing albums under the name.

In October of 2019, the band released their 6th full-length album "The Turn of the Worm". The project still features the original duo with Mathieson on guitar, keyboards, bass, and voices; and Olson on drums, percussion and keyboards. On this album there are only two guests that help out with children's vocals on the last track, but everything else is performed by the original duo. This album has a total of 8 tracks and a run-time of over 55 minutes. It also has one of the coolest album covers of the year. All of Limpid Green's albums are available on the Bandcamp web site as FLAC downloads. The project was originally formed to play improvised music, but after the reformation of the band, the music is more structured. However, all of the music comes from improvised sessions and then the structure is built around those, also utilizing various recordings from different sources.

The album starts off with "There Were Giants in Those Days" (8:23). This track is divided up into 4 parts, the first being called "The Nephilim, pt. 1". Nephilim are the sons of God and the daughters of men mentioned in the book of Genesis, which were the giants mentioned in the Bible. The track starts off with some clashing guitar lines, quite a complex sound, much like the Discipline era of King Crimson, the music smooths out a bit with the addition of mellotron, then the odd vocals start describing the creatures mentioned in this section. Synth lines are added in giving it a different texture than that of the Crimson. There are some low and heavy vocals involved too. There is actually quite a lot going on here, though it doesn't sound chaotic, though it is all quite unique and interesting. The 2nd section is "Sometimes Clowns", which continues with the music's oddness and off-kilter sound and vocals. More percussion is used, and some synth giving it a playful, yet eerie feeling. The short section moves the music to "The Nephilim Pt. 2", which returns to the topic of the giants. The music remains a bit sarcastic and is still quite odd, playful, but on the insane side of playfulness. The vocals are low and purposefully dissonant. The last section is called "Weights and Measures" and it ties up the track.

Next is an odd instrumental "Cast a Long Shadow" (2:15). That strange combination of happy/spooky music continues combining the synths sound of fairs, circuses and torture chambers with the guitars continuing an almost industrial sound. "The Ballad of Blurt and Glurnie" (4:22) seems almost inspired by the lyrics of Primus, but the instrumental parts are not at all the same. Here, they continue with their odd beats, goofy sounds, and unsettling atmospheres. The topic of it all seems to be stories about warped circuses, their performers, and deranged clowns, and the music pretty much matches that. This track features more guitar work with the synths backing things up more. "Kooky" is a good term for this music, though it is very original.

"The Creeps" (10:59) utilizes vocal effects to portray the weirdness of subject matter. The music is a bit minimal using a light, yet warped synth line and keyboard chords and light percussion. After a few verses, there is a collage of old radio ads, then the music begins again. The music turns more progressive when, halfway through, the music becomes more frantic. The rhythm continues to shift at different times, but I find the overall sound too light and not quite sure of itself, and this light texture just doesn't support the concept of the album very well. It all seems a bit pasted together, not really flowing smoothly between all the twists and turns that are there, and it just seems too kooky for its own good. I really want to like this odd music, but it just seems too unsure of itself, and it comes across too amateurish and not very well developed. "You Can't Get There From Here" (2:34) of course continues the oddness, but there just isn't any conviction or solidness to the music, its very difficult to take it even humorously, let alone seriously. It just sounds a bit lame.

"Any Ol' Macaroni" (4:56) is another instrumental, and the sound here has a bit more substance to it. The sound is a bit pastoral, but with the usual weirdness going on. The music on this is supposed to be inspired by the music of Ennio Morricone, and you can hear a little bit of that in the guitar, but the synth doesn't really make it believable. "Space Jalopy" (3:53) tries for a satirical take on space rock, I guess. Again, it's funny, but a bit aimless.

The last track is "Under the Bovine Moon" (18:12), the "progressive masterpiece" of the album. Again, this is a track with multiple sections, starting with "The Farmall Tractor Beam" which features children and other odd effects repeating the words "Plow, Hoe, Germinate, Grow". This moves to "Bob's Your Uncle", and the fun continues with odd processed vocals, and aimless music with no real power or direction. This is followed by "She Wasn't Very Tall but She Was Long". The music calms a bit and odd harmonies sing in their usual odd styles. The lyrics are supposed to be funny, but they seem convoluted. Next is an instrumental section called "Immovable Object; Irresistible Force". Nothing new here in the grand scheme of the album, just more meandering oddness. There is a decent atmospheric section that goes on for a while, and then it gets suddenly more intense, which is something that has been missing from this album, so this is a very welcome surprise, and definitely the strongest part of the album. Some short sections follow, namely "It's a Bovine Moon" and "Orbit 1" followed by another instrumental section called "A Minor Wobble'. The music meanders around some more, there are bad attempts at humor, and then more sudden outbursts on the instrumental section. Then we go for "A Merry Ride on the Gloomy-Go-Round" featuring warped children's voices, another instrumental section called "Orbit 2" then ending on "Peace Porridge".

Overall, I would say this music has a lot of style, but seems to lack in substance. There just isn't any power to the music, it just seems to meander aimlessly at times, just being weird for the sake of weird, and not really hitting any marks. It all just seems like a weak attempt at being quirky, funny, scary and all, but it just never really gets convincing, the jokes fall flat, and there just isn't anything that gets you involved in the music. I love the ideas, but not the delivery. It just all seems too weak and meandering, too much of a patchwork quilt than a cohesive album. But I will give it 3 stars for originality at least. But I do love the album cover.

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