sleepytime gorilla museum - grand opening and closing

||| One of my favorite bands of all time |||

.:: S.G.M. are Kihlstedt on electric violin, percussion guitar, autoharp, pump organ and voice; Nils Frykdahl on guitars, Tibetan bells, autoharp and voice; Moe! Staiano on percussion, metal, pressure-cap marimba, spring, spring-nail guitar, popping turtle, food containers and tympani; Dan Rathbun on bass, slide-piano log, pedal-action wiggler, thing, autoharp, and voice; and David Shamrock on drums and piano (he has since left the band).

Frank Grau, the band's new drummer, guests here on "The Stain." Quite an assortment of instruments, many non-traditional for progressive rock, and even those that are conventional aren't conventionally played or used to make conventional sounds. Yes, I guess you could say, SGM are unconventional -- erm, isn't that what progressive rock is supposed to be? Bucking convention?

The Sleepytime Gorilla Museum was, it appears, a real thing, though not really a museum. The liner notes detail the history, and this album's title refers to the fact that the museum's grand opening on June 22, 1916 was also their closing -- a fire, staged or otherwise, cut short what was billed to be a "Free Salamander Exhibit." Because the folks behind the museum have been shrowded in mystery, and because of my own cynical nature, I can't say whether the whole "backstory concept" isn't instead just pure invention, making this a concept album within a concept album... and would we really ever know?

At any rate, the album itself is real, I have it here. The band is real, I just saw them play live... no, won't go speculating there. Yes, it is sometimes ugly, but it is also sometimes beautiful. It is the kind of album that will engender strong reactions – either you like it or you hate it. Well, that's not entirely true, as the third reaction is a mix of like/hate depending on the particular track. Where do I fall? Well, actually, I'm in the like it camp.

download: sleepytime gorilla museum - grand opening and closing


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