Host

Industrial noise garage thrash Pacific Northwest out funk jazz--that's what we've got here. The inimitable Skerik (of the Taint Septet and lots of other projects) together with Matt Chamberlain (drum set, Taos drums, table, idiot guitar [?], lap slide, loops, screaming, percussion) and Brad Houser (basses, bass clarinet, screaming) link up to purvey weirdo/accessible sounds of the first water.

This music strikes me as much more dynamic, vital, and interesting than, say, Secret Chiefs Three. For one thing, there's such a genuinely freakish sci-fi, horror movie soundtrack vibe (e.g., "Mount Blasta," "Crowley Dissertation," "Bill Gates") as to make these guys almost a class unto themselves. Plus, Matt Chamberlain has a brilliant world-funk approach to his drum kit and percussion voicings. Additionally, they've managed to snag this completely outrageous garage jazz/punk vibe, analogous to the best pulp science fiction, or perhaps William Gibson at his most expressive. Mona Lisa Overdrive, indeed.

Fans will be thrilled to learn that all their discs will soon be back in print, as they've gotten the rights back and will be reissuing them in the summer of 2004. Plus, their latest, Stampede, will be available Sept. of 2004 from Ropeadope.

I'm a fan. Big time.


Genuinely weird   June 23, 2004
 12 out of 12 found this review helpful

It's not that easy to make original music, music that proceeds from certain precedents, but essentially stakes out its own territory. Borrowing from garage, thrash, ambient, and jazz, Critters Buggin has managed to create a new music that is more than the sum of its parts.

One of the finer discs in my collection. Highly recommended.


Spaced-out grooving madness   January 12, 2003
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Stoned heavy-trippy stuff, for sure!Critters Buggin displays on that record an amazing blend of schizo-spaced out funky beats, mind-melting trance inducing tribal drums and vrooming, throbbing bass lines, creating a very complex web of jagged, angular rhythm patterns. The hypersonic voodoo conjured here contains also hallucinatory samples and found sounds, psycho, scary electronics devices and a skronking sax attack, something like 'Coltrane from hell', damn!! With "Host", Critters Buggin certainly hits the spot, with one of the most daring albuns of the last decade.


The men can JAMMMM!   January 10, 2003
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

What can I say? The other reviewers said it better than I ever could, except this: To know (to really know, by just listening and being open to...) CB is to love them.

Host is funky hyped-up space music that still manages to be as comfortable as a jungle here on earth. And if you like Host, just get the rest of the albums, even Amoeba, which'll get you eventually.

And if you ever get a chance to see them live, sell whatever you have to to see that show. These guys are so tight your mind will tilt on its axis!


word   August 25, 2002
 0 out of 1 found this review helpful

Simply put, these guys make some of the grooviest, vibe-laden tunes out there. Awesome, Awesome album. Sex Doily (#12) is one of the coolest sounding songs ever recorded anywhere. Period.