Among the innumerable amount of genres that have surfaced in today's decade, there are very few which capture the pure novelty an appreciation for originality in musiccomposition. Avant garde/Experimental progressive band, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum goes above and beyond in offering intricately structured pieces which see little to no prediction. The group, consisting of eight members, formed back in 1999 in Oakland, California. Welcoming the industrial age that in Sleepytime is able to incorporate a lot of obscure elements and produce a sound that is simply unlike any other band out there. They have a distinguished style that captured listeners and leaves them with feelings of repentance or blissful confusion. Sleepytime was mainly formed through two members of a former band titled Idiot Flesh. These two musicians, Nils Frykdahl and Dan Rathbun decided to collaborate with former Charming Hostess member, Carla Kihlstedt. It was here that the band began to finally mold.
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum is acclaimed for their elaborative and complicated performances on stage. Often times the musicians will depict illustrious, off kilter routines that are intended to represent a mathematically ingenious story. Their name comes from a futuristic dadist group of artists called "Sleepytime Gorilla Press" who allegedly claimed that they held the keys to a future museum. Interestingly enough, this particular band actually uses home made instruments to accompany them while on stage. Among these includes a Sledgehammer Dulcimer, created by bassist Dan Rathbun. This seemingly morbid name is actually just a nickname for a slide piano using piano strings and stretching to a length of approxiamately seven feet long. Rathbun uses two wooden sticks, one in order to apply pressure to frets and the other to strum or hit the strings. Other home made, idiosyncratic instruments include kitchen utensils, trash can lids, and various other metal objects.
The performance put forth by Sleepytime is undeniably a surrealistic experience. The audience often times questions the routines of the members when they begin to break down into choppy, off rhythmic pattern formations complete with the visual aid of puppets and scientific elements. There is never a dull moment put on by Sleepytime. Normalcy and regularity seem to be abnormal to their minds. Nils can be heard scowling in offbeat measures while the instruments provide an uncomfortably soothing emotion. Even Carla, a tremendous violinist and vocalist, can sometimes begin lashing out at the song, almost triumphantly summoning the dead in a celebratory fashion as heard in (Angle of Repose).
Often times, Sleepytime enjoys disengaging from the audience, giving them a sense they are not human, but something of another species. Their first Album Grand Opening and Closing included songs like "Sleep is Wrong" and "Ablutions" which brought forth a completely different feel for vehemence and illusory. Their second album, Of Natural History included newest member of the group, drummer Michael Mellender. Of Natural History proved to be a milestone in music as Sleepytime released mercilessly frightening tracks like "A Hymn to the Morning Star" and "Babydoctor." Their latest album, released in 2007 is entitled In Glorious Times which features probably the most well known song if any of Sleepytime's "Helpless Corpses Enactment." The intriguiging thing about this particular track is that its lyrics actually derive from famous contemporary Irish novelist James Joyce in one of his most well recognized prose of Finnegan's Wake.
In essence, Sleepytime is difficult to categorize. They create a distinctively challenging and demanding sound while allowing the audience to surrender themselves to the possiblity that they may not in fact be human. This avant garde band is not well recognized, but to underground venues they reign King. Please, by all means, if you are looking for something new, be sure to check them out.
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