Years ago, I convinced this guy in Switzerland, Angelo Gwerder, to draw some stuff for me. He ended up illustrating the Marco Minnemann Flying Saucer and the Doktor Zoltan Caret Drones T-Shirt. (I’m pretty sure he’s the one wearing my Bomb Hawaii! T-shirt in the photo below.)
I had no idea, but he is also a fantastic guitarist!
(I’d say I should be drawing HIS T-shirts, but at this point he’s better than me at everything, so, I give up.)
He recently sent me some finished CDs of his Swiss band, Oz Urugulu (no, I don’t know how to pronounce it), and I was blown away.
This band is somewhere between Steve Vai and Secret Chiefs 3. With a horn section! But what impresses me most is that — although their influences are obvious (they must listen to the same three bands I do) — its what they do with those raw materials that catches my ear.
My favorite piece on this album is “Concerto For Group And Espresso Machine Movement III.” They even include the avant garde manuscript in the CD packaging!
The most important thing here is that they are obviously having a lot of fun — everything is high energy and playful. And each of the musicians gets his moment to prove he knows what he’s doing. From the fusion bassist to the bizarre electronics-bending dance-beat freak, whoever he is.
Even the sections of random cacophonous banging are entertaining to me.
Now, what I want to know is: what will they do next? Here’s hoping they stay together and make more!
You can order their CD in my store: shop.carlkingdom.com/products/oz-urugulu-forgotten-archives-cd