Critters Buggin
Encyclopedia
Critters Buggin is a Seattle, Washington
-based instrumental
group which performs in a jazz, rock and African-influenced, eclectic style. The band is composed of Matt Chamberlain
(drums, percussion, piano, programming, synths, loops, samples and digital editing), Skerik
(saxophones, keyboards, loops, samples, effects and guitar), Brad Houser
(bass, baritone saxophone, bass clarinet and electronics) and Mike Dillon
(vibraphone and percussion).
, tribal music."
While also reviewed in terms such as unique and adventurous, a recent 2008 review in The Seattle Times
described them with such diverse terms as unorthodox, unhinged, tribal, unpredictable, mesmerizing, loud, abrasive, dissonant and ultimately satisfying.
and Skerik
who were later joined by Brad Houser
, thus forming a trio in early 1993. John Bush joined soon afterward, and the group gave their first live performance using the "Critters Buggin" name in May 1993 at the Seattle club The Colourbox. Chamberlain, Houser and Bush were all from the then-disbanded Edie Brickell & New Bohemians
. Skerik came from another Seattle group, Sadhappy. Their live success was followed by the release of their first album which was produced by Stone Gossard
of Pearl Jam
on his then new label Loosegroove. The original Critters Buggin trio continued with several guest musicians, including Mike Dillon
. Chamberlain and Dillon had both played in the locally popular Dallas, Texas band Ten Hands
in the 1980s. All except Skerik were part of the Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas scene through the early 1990s. By 1998 Dillon had joined Critters Buggin as a fourth member, thus forming the current line-up as of a July 2008 tour.
In 2007 Critters Buggin released the DVD, Get the Clackervalve and the Old Clobberd Biscuits Out and Smack the Grand Ham Clapper's Mother. It is a live set filmed and recorded during the Warsaw Summer Jazz Days 1999 performed in The Palace of Culture and Science of Warsaw
, Poland
.
In the 2007 the trio toured as The Dead Kenny G's and were reviewed as uniquely "combining jazz, rock, punk, funk and world music."
In October 2009 they released a debut CD Bewildered Herd. The trio toured with Primus
in 2010 and released the CD Operation Long Leash in 2011.
Guest, Host, Monkeypot Merganzer and Bumpa were reissued by Kufala Recordings in 2004.
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
-based instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
group which performs in a jazz, rock and African-influenced, eclectic style. The band is composed of Matt Chamberlain
Matt Chamberlain
Matthew Chamberlain is an American drummer, producer and sound engineer. He is currently based in Los Angeles, California.-Early life:...
(drums, percussion, piano, programming, synths, loops, samples and digital editing), Skerik
Skerik
Skerik is an American saxophonist from Seattle, Washington. Performing on the tenor and baritone saxophone, often with electronics and loops, Skerik is a pioneer in a playing style that has been dubbed saxophonics. He is a founding member of Critters Buggin, Garage a Trois and Skerik's Syncopated...
(saxophones, keyboards, loops, samples, effects and guitar), Brad Houser
Brad Houser
John Bradley Houser is an American bass guitar, baritone saxophone and bass clarinet player, originally from Dallas, Texas. He was a co-founding member of the New Bohemians, later to become known as Edie Brickell & New Bohemians...
(bass, baritone saxophone, bass clarinet and electronics) and Mike Dillon
Mike Dillon (musician)
Mike Dillon is a percussionist, vibraphonist, bandleader, vocalist and songwriter born in San Antonio, Texas. He is a member of Critters Buggin, Les Claypool's Fancy Band and Garage A Trois...
(vibraphone and percussion).
Music
Critters Buggin defies categorization because of their diverse musical styles. Reviews tend to describe their music as a combination of jazz, rock, funk and electronica. When asked to describe their music in 1994 Chamberlain stated that it is "jazzy, funky, rocky.... it has African rhythms, too." Houser stated it is "African, industrialIndustrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
, tribal music."
While also reviewed in terms such as unique and adventurous, a recent 2008 review in The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
described them with such diverse terms as unorthodox, unhinged, tribal, unpredictable, mesmerizing, loud, abrasive, dissonant and ultimately satisfying.
History
The group began with Matt ChamberlainMatt Chamberlain
Matthew Chamberlain is an American drummer, producer and sound engineer. He is currently based in Los Angeles, California.-Early life:...
and Skerik
Skerik
Skerik is an American saxophonist from Seattle, Washington. Performing on the tenor and baritone saxophone, often with electronics and loops, Skerik is a pioneer in a playing style that has been dubbed saxophonics. He is a founding member of Critters Buggin, Garage a Trois and Skerik's Syncopated...
who were later joined by Brad Houser
Brad Houser
John Bradley Houser is an American bass guitar, baritone saxophone and bass clarinet player, originally from Dallas, Texas. He was a co-founding member of the New Bohemians, later to become known as Edie Brickell & New Bohemians...
, thus forming a trio in early 1993. John Bush joined soon afterward, and the group gave their first live performance using the "Critters Buggin" name in May 1993 at the Seattle club The Colourbox. Chamberlain, Houser and Bush were all from the then-disbanded Edie Brickell & New Bohemians
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians is an alternative rock jam band that originated in Texas in the mid-1980s. The band is best known for their 1988 hit "What I Am" from the album Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars. Their music contains elements of rock, folk, blues, and jazz...
. Skerik came from another Seattle group, Sadhappy. Their live success was followed by the release of their first album which was produced by Stone Gossard
Stone Gossard
Stone Carpenter Gossard is an American musician who serves as the rhythm and lead guitarist for the American rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Jeff Ament, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of Pearl Jam...
of Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
on his then new label Loosegroove. The original Critters Buggin trio continued with several guest musicians, including Mike Dillon
Mike Dillon (musician)
Mike Dillon is a percussionist, vibraphonist, bandleader, vocalist and songwriter born in San Antonio, Texas. He is a member of Critters Buggin, Les Claypool's Fancy Band and Garage A Trois...
. Chamberlain and Dillon had both played in the locally popular Dallas, Texas band Ten Hands
Ten Hands (band)
Ten Hands was a rock band based in Dallas, Texas and was active between 1986-1995. The band consisted of:*Paul Slavens ,*Steve Brand ,*Gary Muller ,...
in the 1980s. All except Skerik were part of the Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas scene through the early 1990s. By 1998 Dillon had joined Critters Buggin as a fourth member, thus forming the current line-up as of a July 2008 tour.
In 2007 Critters Buggin released the DVD, Get the Clackervalve and the Old Clobberd Biscuits Out and Smack the Grand Ham Clapper's Mother. It is a live set filmed and recorded during the Warsaw Summer Jazz Days 1999 performed in The Palace of Culture and Science of Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.
Critters Buggin Trio (2006)
In 2006 Skerik, Dillon and Houser toured as Critters Buggin Trio.In the 2007 the trio toured as The Dead Kenny G's and were reviewed as uniquely "combining jazz, rock, punk, funk and world music."
In October 2009 they released a debut CD Bewildered Herd. The trio toured with Primus
Primus (band)
Primus is an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, currently composed of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry "Ler" LaLonde and drummer Jay Lane. Primus originally formed in 1984 with Claypool and guitarist Todd Huth, later joined by Lane, though the latter two departed...
in 2010 and released the CD Operation Long Leash in 2011.
Studio and live albums
- 1994 - GuestGuest (album)Guest is the first studio album by Critters Buggin of Seattle, Washington and was released in 1994 on Stone Gossard's then new label Loosegroove...
(Loosegroove) - 1996 - HostHost (Critters Buggin album)Host is the second studio album by Critters Buggin of Seattle, Washington and was released in 1996. It was recorded December 18–20 at Bad Animals and December 21–23 live at OK Hotel 1995...
(Loosegroove) - 1997 - Monkeypot MerganzerMonkeypot MerganzerMonkeypot Merganzer is the third studio album by Critters Buggin of Seattle, Washington and was released in 1997. Originally released independently, Monkeypot Merganzer was reissued by Kufala Recordings in 2004.-Track listing:# "Space Rant" - 4:30...
(independent) - 1998 - BumpaBumpa (album)Bumpa is a studio album and live album by Critters Buggin of Seattle, Washington released in 1998. Originally released by Loosegroove, Bumpa was reissued by Kufala Recordings in 2004.-Track listing:# "Fluoride" 5:15# "Brozo the Clown" 5:37...
(Loosegroove) - 1998 - AmoebaAmoeba (album)Amoeba is a studio album by Critters Buggin of Seattle, Washington recorded and released in 1999.-Track listing:# "Space Muffla" - 9:14# "Sonic Broom" - 5:51# "Slow and Bulbous" - 5:26# "Taint" - 2:18# "Imperial Turkey Blister" - 4:53...
(Loosegroove) - 2004 - StampedeStampede (Critters Buggin album)Stampede is a studio album by Critters Buggin of Seattle, Washington recorded and released in 2004. Although categorized as jazz, funk and rock reviews of Stampede mostly noted it as unique and boundary defying. Reviews also described it as similar to the electronic period of Miles Davis...
(Ropeadope RecordsRopeadope RecordsRopeadope Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, hip hop, electronic and downtempo music. The label was founded by Andy Hurwitz in New York City and later moved to Philadelphia, where it is now located....
) - 2009 - Live in 95 at the OK Hotel - Seattle 1995 (independent)
Guest, Host, Monkeypot Merganzer and Bumpa were reissued by Kufala Recordings in 2004.
EPs and compilations
- 1996 - Endless Records complication one - various artists (Endless Records) "Sweat Box"
- 2000 - Taxi (independent - EP vinyl)
DVD
- 2007 - Get the Clackervalve and the Old Clobberd Biscuits Out and Smack the Grand Ham Clapper's Mother
External links
- Official Website
- Critters Buggin's Myspace page
- [ Allmusic: Critters Buggin]