Meniscus Magazine - Is King Chubby
In the latest studio release from King Chubby, the band combines two distinct styles. The band is able to create beautiful, subtle and sensual sounds with the various reed instruments played by Robert Dick and Will Ryan. Then in a split personality decision, they will make a 180-degree turn and create intense, psyche-techno jams with heavily synthesized sounds, distorted vocals, and intense bass lines by Mark Egan.
In “Turn it On”, “Wandering Angus”, and “Rock Sand” the chanting vocals created by Ryan and distorted by master sampler Ed Bialek, can turn a peaceful woodwind arrangement into a mysterious, and almost disturbing, old world cry.
“Awaken” starts with drummer Michael D’Agnostino laying down a solo, and then is slowly overtaken by muffled chants.
While listening to Is, I can’t help but wonder if director Peter Jackson heard King Chubby before starting work on Lord of the Rings. The chanting and vocal distortions created by King Chubby are disturbingly reminiscent of Sauron chanting for the “one ring”. The power of the vocals is thrilling, enchanting, and unsettling. And to think, these guys look so normal on their CD cover.
All LOR references aside, Is can be defined as the ultimate in instrumental world fusion. They harness the sounds of the Middle East, Spain, Japan, and South America to create a new kind of jam music. The talented musicians that make-up King Chubby come from a diverse and unique background. Their originality can be heard on every track of Is.
For more information about King Chubby, visit www.kingchubby.com
ALL MUSIC GUIDE KING CHUBBY “IS” Review by David Jeffries
The members of King Chubby have played with folks like John Zorn, Pat Metheny, and Yoko Ono. They also all are involved with writing academic music books, inventing their own instruments, figuring out what multimedia project they should apply their Guggenheim grant to, or something of that heady nature. So King Chubby Is isn't going to be the type of record to groove to while driving with the top down, is it? Oh, but it is, in fact it's so groovy, so fun, so dubby, it could have been titled "King Tubby Meets Can and Tortoise Uptown" or something. Smart with genuine heart, King Chubby are the often promised, never delivered combination of loft jazz and jam bands come to life, whether they meant it or not. The moody "Microgrand" is the only thing approaching "difficult"; everything else moves to a beat, not always 4/4 but a beat you can dance to even if it's just a freaked-out space dance. Press releases make Robert Dick sound like the main man (he's the flutist who gave the world the awesome Other Flute album and invented the Glissando Headjoint doohickey), but King Chubby is a band, a band of equals with stunning communication. Drummer Michael D'Agostino and bassist Mark Egan are a rock-solid rhythm section that knows when to embellish and when to support, keyboardist Ed Bialek creates the atmosphere, while Dick and Will Ryan (reeds, percussion, narration, and just about everything else) supply the wandering — not noodling — melodies. W.B. Yeats' "Golden Apples of the Sun" poem, beat poetry, and studio banter are used as lyrics in a noncheeseball way and the bits of playfulness keep the listener from being totally spirited off the ground. Introspective, approachable, and filled with substance, the only bad thing you can say about this unclassifiable album is that it ends.
AMG recommended tracks: Turn it on, Rock Sand, Swaha
