Shamblemaths "Shamblemaths 2"

Country: Norway
Genre(s): Retro Prog
Label: Apollon Records Prog
Format: CD, digital, vinyl
Release date: October 22, 2021
Tracklist

1. Måneskygge (1:05) 

2. Knucklecog (9:56) 

3. D.S.C.H. (Op. 110 String Quartet no. 8 in C minor, mvts. 1 and 2) Imaginary Friend (6:24) 

4. Lat Kvar Jordisk Skapning Teia Pts. 1-4. (6:37) 

5. Lat Kvar Jordisk Skapning Teia Pt. 5 (5:38) 

6. Lat Kvar Jordisk Skapning Teia Pts. 6-8 (3:43) 

7. Lat Kvar Jordisk Skapning Teia Pt 9 Mørker vik på all Hans veg (2:18) 

8. Been And Gone (2:13) 

9. This River (9:04) 

Total Time 46:58

Line-up

Simen Å. Ellingsen: soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, electric and acoustic guitars, soprano recorder, tin whistle, vocals, chant, whispers, sax samples, occasional keyboards

Ingvald A. Vassbø: drums, xylophone

  With

Eskild Myrvoll (Kanaan): bass guitar

Paolo Botta (Ske, Yugen, Not a Good Sign): keyboards (4,5,6)

Eirik Ø. Dischler: keyboards (2,3,9)

Marianne Lønstad: vocals (2,9)

Anna Gaustad Nistad: vocals (4,6)

Pia M. Samset: vocals (3,5)

Leon Li: bassoon (4,6)

Eivor Å. Ellingsen (age 6): vocals (7)

Michael Francis Duch: double bass (7,8)

Morten A. Nome: double bass (1)

Ask Vatn Strøm: guitar cameo (6)

15 seconds of track 6 performed by Kanaan

Description/Reviews:

A blatant and unabashed throwback to the golden days of 70s prog, Shamblemaths will enthuse the connoisseur of complexity, and drive most others to outrage or silent sobs. Part humorous, part serious, all wonky, self-important and rampantly anglophile! Their second album is darker, heavier, knottier, yet more fragile and vulnerable. Some might call it a change of direction, but then Shamblemaths never had a direction to begin with. The album is like a picture with many shades, but all from a common, dark palette. There is anger and despair, quiet melancholy and faint embers of hope. In sound and instrumentation they remain in some will call the retro-prog landscape. Here are heavy numbers, reinterpretations of a 20th century string quartet and an ancient hymn, and contemporary classical moments. Yet all the components are chosen and constructed to form a coherent album which is more than a collection of tunes.

Media/Samples
Bandcamp (from release date)

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