Artist : Regal Worm
Title : Use and Ornament
Genre : Psychedelic Rock
Year : 2013
Date : 02/2015
Bitrate : VBR kbps
Tracks : 09
Label : Quatermass
Source : CDDA
Encoder : Lame 3.99.5
Length : 60:49 min
Size : 110,0 MB
Tracklist:
----------
01.zinc ferment 01:32
02.cherish that rubber rodent 04:00
03.the mardi gras turned ugly in seconds 04:31
04.apple witch 04:05
05.morning sentinel 02:31
06.confession from a deep and warm 13:18
hibernaculum
07.mud 01:24
08.6_17 pm - the aunt turns into an ant 26:11
09.klara till slutet 03:17
-------
60:49 min
Regal Worm is the brainchild of Jarrod
Gosling from the UK with a long and
varied musical career starting with hard
rock/metal as a teen, to indie and dance
music at college, and moving on to weird
electronic 60s sounding pop music in the
90s. In the first decade of this century
he started remixing artists such as The
Divine Comedy, Pulp, and Goldfrapp, and
his music was used in TV shows, films,
and advertisements. About ten years ago
he started purchasing vintage
instruments and eventually decided to
try his hand at progressive music, and
the one-man band Regal Worm was born.
What Jarrod has done is thoroughly study
and dissect 70s progressive music and
reassemble it into something new.
Consequently I find it difficult to
describe the results and draw
comparisons to other artists as
touchstones. Use and Ornament contains
ten tracks, two of which are extended
pieces: ôConfession from a Deep and Warm
Hibernaculumö at 13:11 and ô6:17 PM The
Aunt Turns into an Antö at 26:11. The
other eight tracks on in the one to four
minute range. The resulting music sounds
very organic, not as if it has been
multi-tracked and over-dubbed, with a
distinct prog-jazz flavor. In many cases
the vocals are unintelligible, which is
actually a minor complaint and does not
detract from the music. I cannot get
really excited with the short tunes. It
is not until ôConfession from a Deep and
Warm Hibernaculumö that I stood up and
took notice of the disc. This track
consists of five separate and distinct
movements that could have been separate
tracks. There are many shifts in rhythm,
emotions, and style. Plus this the first
track that showcases the Mellotron.
There is even one section that reminded
me of Pink FloydÆs seminal ôSeveral
Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered
Together in a Cave and Grooving With a
Pict.ö This track alone is worth the
price of the disc. Likewise the other
long track ô6:17 PM The Aunt Turns into
an Antö has 10 movements. This track is
interspersed with narrations, Mellotron,
sound effects, crazed sax, and frantic
drumming. This is an interesting and
excellent track, but not as good
ôHibernaculum.ö The disc closes with the
Zappa-influenced instrumental ôKlara
Till Slutet (Main Title Theme).ö Overall
quite an interesting take on modern
progressive music.
by Jon Davis, 2014-03-10:
If you've been longing for an extended
piece of music that brings to mind both
Genesis ("Supper's Ready") and Hatfield
and the North ("Mumps"), you're in luck
with Regal Worm's "6:17PM: The Aunt
Turns into an Ant" with its ten
sections, each amusingly titled and
telling a story full of bizarre imagery
and quirky music. Jarrod Gosling's
eccentric take on progressive rock has a
lot of the light, pseudo-jazzy touch the
Hatfields excelled at (as well as their
penchant for absurd titles), though you
probably wouldn't want to say Use and
Ornament is a Canterbury album. There
are many moments that sound more
psychedelic than prog, as with "Apple
Witch" and "Morning Sentinel," but then
you get "Confession from a Deep and Warm
Hibernaculum," the album's other lengthy
suite, which has some out-and-out prog
of the best kind. Complex but not
pretentious, unpredictable but not
random. Gosling plays the vast majority
of the instruments himself, with an
emphasis on drums and vintage keyboards,
plus bass, guitar, and a wide variety of
other noisemakers; guests provide
woodwinds, brass, strings, voices, and
so on from time to time. How he managed
to get such a natural, organic sound
with so many overdubs is a marvel in
itself. There are also sections of
experimentalism, as in the middle
section of "Hibernaculum," where it
seems as if we're on a spaceship leaving
the Solar System, listening to old radio
broadcasts from Earth that have been
garbled in transmission. Or maybe a
better metaphor would be a sleeper in
suspended animation with bits of
memories and dreams drifting around in
his subconscious mind. Use and Ornament
is the kind of puzzle that will keep
revealing new twists and details with
each listen, a work of twisted genius
that strikes a perfect balance between
catchy tunes and experimental weirdness.
And has lots of Mellotron.
https://regalworm.bandcamp.com/