Zambodia
Encyclopedia
Zambodia is the only studio album
by the American experimental music
ensemble
Motherhead Bug
, released on October 15, 1993 through Pow Wow Records. The record is dedicated to Masami Shinoda
, a Japanese alto-saxophonist and composer who died the year prior to its release.
and its coinciding tour, David Ouimet
left Cop Shoot Cop
to pursue his own musical ambitions. He formed Motherhead Bug
along with Railroad Jerk
bassist Tony Lee sometime during 1989. As the band developed and more musicians joined they began to release vinyl
EPs. Their first official release Raised By Insects...Bugview was issued in 1991, featuring production by J. G. Thirlwell
and an early version of the song "My Sweet Milstar". The next year the band released Age of Drawfs on PCP Entertainment, which contained "Bleating Heart Incident".
, big band
, marching band
, nursery rhymes, gypsy jazz
, music hall
, and even New York noise rock
music into their work. Zambodia has been described as as having a worldly and anarchistic sound, comparable to the French music group Les Négresses Vertes
. David Ouimet has attributed his background in classical as well as his work in the New York underground as being influential to his music. Martin Bisi, who produced the album, has discussed the bands importance as the first rock ensemble to fully incorporate eastern european influences into their music, preceding bands such as Gogol Bordello
.
Music writer Piero Scaruffi
praised the album, calling the band "the Penguin Cafe Orchestra
for the new generation". He gave it an 8 out of 10 and placed it at #9 on his "Best Rock Albums of 1993" list. One Trouser Press
critic described the album as follows: "The instrumentation and Ouimet's theatrical vocals lend a decadent grandeur to Weill
-esque numbers like 'Demon Erection' and 'My Sweet Milstar
.' It may be burlesque
, but it's still pretty scary stuff."
Additional musicians and production
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by the American experimental music
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
ensemble
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
Motherhead Bug
Motherhead Bug
Motherhead Bug was a rock music group founded in 1989 in New York City by singer and trombone player David Ouimet and bass guitarist Tony Lee.-Band history:...
, released on October 15, 1993 through Pow Wow Records. The record is dedicated to Masami Shinoda
Masami Shinoda
Masami Shinoda was well-known Japanese alto-saxophonist and composer. He began his career in the 1980s and was a member of both Seikatsu Kojo Iinkai Orchestra, and the Japanese band Compostela. His final performance, given in Tokyo in 1992 as a guest saxophonist for the band Cassiber, was...
, a Japanese alto-saxophonist and composer who died the year prior to its release.
Background
After the release of Consumer RevoltConsumer Revolt
Consumer Revolt is the full-length debut of the Experimental band Cop Shoot Cop.- Track listing :# "Low.Com.Denom." - 2:21# "She's Like A Shot" - 3:46# "Waiting for the Punchline" - 3:46# "Disconnected 666" - 2:18# "Smash Retro!" - 1:42...
and its coinciding tour, David Ouimet
David Ouimet
David Ouimet is an American musician and artist. He was a band member of Cop Shoot Cop, Motherhead Bug, Firewater, and Sulfur but has since moved on to interests other than music....
left Cop Shoot Cop
Cop Shoot Cop
Cop Shoot Cop was a rock music group founded in New York City in 1987. They disbanded in 1996. The band were frequently classified as industrial rock, but were often quite different from many bands so dubbed, with a distinctive instrumental lineup that encompassed twin bass guitars, found metal...
to pursue his own musical ambitions. He formed Motherhead Bug
Motherhead Bug
Motherhead Bug was a rock music group founded in 1989 in New York City by singer and trombone player David Ouimet and bass guitarist Tony Lee.-Band history:...
along with Railroad Jerk
Railroad Jerk
Railroad Jerk was a New York-based indie-rock band of the 1990s, specializing in a hard-driven punk blues sound. Their lineup changed frequently, but the stalwart members were Minnesota native Marcellus Hall and North Carolina-born and Trenton, N.J.-bred Tony Lee...
bassist Tony Lee sometime during 1989. As the band developed and more musicians joined they began to release vinyl
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
EPs. Their first official release Raised By Insects...Bugview was issued in 1991, featuring production by J. G. Thirlwell
J. G. Thirlwell
James George Thirlwell , aka Clint Ruin, aka Frank Want, aka Foetus, is an Australian vocalist, composer and record producer...
and an early version of the song "My Sweet Milstar". The next year the band released Age of Drawfs on PCP Entertainment, which contained "Bleating Heart Incident".
Music
Motherhead Bug was known to incorporate elements of cabaretCabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
, big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
, marching band
Marching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
, nursery rhymes, gypsy jazz
Gypsy jazz
Gypsy jazz is an idiom often said to have been started by guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt in the 1930s. Because its origins are largely in France it is often called by the French name, "Jazz manouche," or alternatively, "manouche jazz," even in English language sources...
, music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
, and even New York noise rock
Noise rock
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
music into their work. Zambodia has been described as as having a worldly and anarchistic sound, comparable to the French music group Les Négresses Vertes
Les Negresses Vertes
Les Négresses Vertes, formed in 1987, is a French music group that is best described as a fusion of world music and some aspects of alternative rock. Their tracks often feature acoustic guitar and accordion, as well as some tracks containing many other 'traditional' instruments such as piano and...
. David Ouimet has attributed his background in classical as well as his work in the New York underground as being influential to his music. Martin Bisi, who produced the album, has discussed the bands importance as the first rock ensemble to fully incorporate eastern european influences into their music, preceding bands such as Gogol Bordello
Gogol Bordello
Gogol Bordello is a Gypsy punk band from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, formed in 1999 and known for theatrical stage shows and persistent touring.Much of the band's sound is inspired by Gypsy music...
.
Release and reception
The album is currently out of print, however it can be purchased in mp3 form from online stores such as amazon.com.Music writer Piero Scaruffi
Piero Scaruffi
Piero Scaruffi received a degree in Mathematics in 1982 from University of Turin, where he did work on the General Theory of Relativity. For a number of years he was the head of the Artificial Intelligence Center at Olivetti, based in Cupertino, California. He has been a visiting scholar at...
praised the album, calling the band "the Penguin Cafe Orchestra
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
The Penguin Cafe Orchestra was a collective of performing musicians created by classically trained British guitarist, composer and arranger Simon Jeffes...
for the new generation". He gave it an 8 out of 10 and placed it at #9 on his "Best Rock Albums of 1993" list. One Trouser Press
Trouser Press
Trouser Press was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow Who fan Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" ...
critic described the album as follows: "The instrumentation and Ouimet's theatrical vocals lend a decadent grandeur to Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
-esque numbers like 'Demon Erection' and 'My Sweet Milstar
Military Strategic and Tactical Relay satellite
Milstar, originally meaning Military Strategic and Tactical Relay, is a constellation of communications satellites in geostationary orbit, which are operated by the United States Air Force, and provide secure and jam resistant worldwide communications to meet the requirements of the Armed Forces of...
.' It may be burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
, but it's still pretty scary stuff."
Track listing
All songs composed by David OuimetDavid Ouimet
David Ouimet is an American musician and artist. He was a band member of Cop Shoot Cop, Motherhead Bug, Firewater, and Sulfur but has since moved on to interests other than music....
Accolades
| Year | Publication | Country | Accolade | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | OOR Muziekkrant OOR Muziekkrant OOR is the oldest currently published music magazine in the Netherlands. The name "OOR" is the Dutch word for ear.-History:The magazine was first published on 1 April 1971, being founded by Barend Toet . Of the first issue 20,000 copies were printed and paid for by Berry Visser, one of... |
Netherlands Netherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... |
"Albums of the Year" | 177 | |
| "*" denotes an unordered list. | |||||
Personnel
Motherhead Bug- Jez AspinallRailroad JerkRailroad Jerk was a New York-based indie-rock band of the 1990s, specializing in a hard-driven punk blues sound. Their lineup changed frequently, but the stalwart members were Minnesota native Marcellus Hall and North Carolina-born and Trenton, N.J.-bred Tony Lee...
– drums [mid], vocals (Track 9) - April Chung – violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca... - Jim Colarusso – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Julia KentJulia KentJulia Kent is a New York City-based, Canadian-born cellist who is best known as an original member of the all-cello group Rasputina, and later on as a member of Antony and the Johnsons....
– celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is... - Tony LeeRailroad JerkRailroad Jerk was a New York-based indie-rock band of the 1990s, specializing in a hard-driven punk blues sound. Their lineup changed frequently, but the stalwart members were Minnesota native Marcellus Hall and North Carolina-born and Trenton, N.J.-bred Tony Lee...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
(Track 10), design - Cyril Mazard – drums [low]
- Steve McMillen – guitar
- David OuimetDavid OuimetDavid Ouimet is an American musician and artist. He was a band member of Cop Shoot Cop, Motherhead Bug, Firewater, and Sulfur but has since moved on to interests other than music....
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
, illustrations - Steve Ovenden – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussion, backing vocals - Joe Ben Plummer – saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
- Tomoyo T.L. – pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, gongGongA gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
, design
Additional musicians and production
- Michele Amar – backing vocals
- Martin BisiMartin bisiMartin Bisi is an American producer and songwriter.He is known for recording important records by Sonic Youth, Swans, John Zorn, Material, Bill Laswell, Helmet, Unsane, Cop Shoot Cop, White Zombie, Boredoms, Angels of Light and Herbie Hancock's Grammy-winning song Rockit,In 1979, Martin Bisi...
– productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, backing vocals - Reilly Bones – glockenspielGlockenspielA glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
(Tracks 4 & 11), xylophoneXylophoneThe xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
(Tracks 4 & 11) - Chris Gehringer – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
- Brenda Nasse – accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
(Track 4) - Adam Nodelman – bass (Track 4)
- Murray Weinstock – accordion (Tracks 4 & 9)
- Norman WestbergNorman WestbergNorman Westberg is a New York City guitarist best known for his work with Swans. Present through almost the entirety of the band's existence, Westberg was brought on for Swans' debut album Filth and appeared on every album through 1991s White Light From the Mouth of Infinity...
– guitar (Tracks 1 & 2)
External links
- [ Zambodia entry at allmusic]