GARGAMEL: Watch For The Umbles

Cover	Release	Style
	2006-02-17	Progressive rock
	Label
	Transubstans
	Website
	Gargamel
	Contact

	Playing Time	Cat. N°
	58:04	Trans020
	Review by	Rating
	Edwin	7,5/10
nederlands	Review
I haven’t been overly impressed with the latest releases from the Transubstans label (who specialize in retro-prog rock), but I have to say this debut album from Gargamel isn’t bad at all. This Norwegian band was founded in 2001 and already put out an EP one year later. The response to this was encouraging and after some line-up changes, they recorded their first full cd, which is now being released under the ‘Watch For The Umbles’ title. This album is definitely an interesting release, clearly 70’s-inspired psychedelic and progressive rock, with touches of Van Der Graaf Generator, King Crimson, Amon Düül II, Eloy and the like. Apart from the usual set of instruments, Gargamel’s sound is quite rich - characterized by a multitude of different instrument, like saxes, flutes, hammonds, mellotron, glockenspiel, cello and a very distinctive jazzy piano. I’m not really fond of the vocals – they do diminish the quality of the album - but then a major part of this CD is instrumental, so this isn’t too distractive. ‘Watch The Umbles’ features five long, diverse and adventurous songs, of which ‘Strayed Again’ and the album closer ‘Agitated Mind’ are definitely the most interesting: here, the band manages to mix the best of what they’ve got into some fascinating gloomy atmospheres and appealing soundscapes. Retro proggers might want to check this one out.
Musicians
Tom Uglebakken: guitar, flute, sax Bjorn Viggo Andersen: keyboards Morton Tornes: drums, vocals, glockenspiel Jon Edmund Hansen: guitar Geir Tornes: bass
Tracklist
Ties Strayed Again Below The water Into The Cold Agitated Mind


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