Mahogany Frog

This is music made of big gestures joyfully subverted. A flash of progressive rock—in the narrowest, most virtuosic sense of the term—is figuratively taken outside to be administered a kicking. In addition and just for good measure, or perhaps in the interest of dynamic variation, a lyrical strain emerges when the music does get quieter and more reflective, which goes to show that this is also a band big on variation.

In terms of the overall context, the opening "G.M.F.T.P.O" is seemingly all gesture with its blustering, overdriven guitars, but it proves only to be a point of entry. This is just as it should be, especially when "You're Meshugah!" comes on rife with the nastier sounds it's possible to coax out of good old analogue synthesizers; the kind of fiercely diffident complexity reminiscent of Hatfield And The North in their prime along with a melody that's nothing if not catchy at around the two and a half minute mark.

Those big gestures referred to above come to the fore on "You're Not My Sugar," a title which if based on aural evidence alone, should have an accompanying exclamation mark. Again the guitar is overdriven to the point of distraction but thankfully not in the service of fingers flying over frets. It amounts to a whole lot of nothing anyway as this is a band dead keen on dynamics and the galumphing "Demon Jigging Spoon" which follows soon dissolves into a tricky interlude where the accelerator is eased off and the music gets a chance to breathe.

"Medicine Missile" pulls back even further, the music seeming at times to dissolve in a sea of echo which has the effect of lending significance to every note. Again, the virtuosic trope is wilfully undermined even when the tempo is upped and heads might indeed bang.

"Loveset" closes the disc out with neither a bang nor a whimper, but that's only a good thing as this is music in which contour has far greater importance than mere grandstanding. A reflective trumpet fanfare bears out, lending the piece a curious dignity and the album as a whole a kind of seamlessness; as if for its duration the listener has been privy to the evolution of a work in constant progress.

Track Listing: G.M.F.T.P.O.; T-Tigers & Toasters; Last Stand At Fisher Farm; You're Meshugah; I Am Not Your Sugar; Demon Jigging Spoon; Medicine Missile; Lady Xoc & Shield Jaguar; Loveset.

Personnel: Graham Epp: guitars, Micromoog, Farfisa organ, Farf Muff, ARP String Ensemble, Korg MS2000, electric and acoustic pianos, trumpet; Jesse Warkentin: guitars, Micromoog, Farfisa organ, Farf Muff, ARP String Ensemble, Korg MS2000, electric and acoustic pianos; Scott Ellenberger: electric and acoustic bass, conch, Briscoe organ, percussion, trumpet; J.P. Perron: drums, percussion.

Record Label: Moonjune Records | Style: Fusion/Progressive Rock
- All About Jazz

This is music made of big gestures joyfully subverted. A flash of progressive rock—in the narrowest, most virtuosic sense of the term—is figuratively taken outside to be administered a kicking. In addition and just for good measure, or perhaps in the interest of dynamic variation, a lyrical strain emerges when the music does get quieter and more reflective, which goes to show that this is also a band big on variation.

In terms of the overall context, the opening "G.M.F.T.P.O" is seemingly all gesture with its blustering, overdriven guitars, but it proves only to be a point of entry. This is just as it should be, especially when "You're Meshugah!" comes on rife with the nastier sounds it's possible to coax out of good old analogue synthesizers; the kind of fiercely diffident complexity reminiscent of Hatfield And The North in their prime along with a melody that's nothing if not catchy at around the two and a half minute mark.

Those big gestures referred to above come to the fore on "You're Not My Sugar," a title which if based on aural evidence alone, should have an accompanying exclamation mark. Again the guitar is overdriven to the point of distraction but thankfully not in the service of fingers flying over frets. It amounts to a whole lot of nothing anyway as this is a band dead keen on dynamics and the galumphing "Demon Jigging Spoon" which follows soon dissolves into a tricky interlude where the accelerator is eased off and the music gets a chance to breathe.

"Medicine Missile" pulls back even further, the music seeming at times to dissolve in a sea of echo which has the effect of lending significance to every note. Again, the virtuosic trope is wilfully undermined even when the tempo is upped and heads might indeed bang.

"Loveset" closes the disc out with neither a bang nor a whimper, but that's only a good thing as this is music in which contour has far greater importance than mere grandstanding. A reflective trumpet fanfare bears out, lending the piece a curious dignity and the album as a whole a kind of seamlessness; as if for its duration the listener has been privy to the evolution of a work in constant progress.

Track Listing: G.M.F.T.P.O.; T-Tigers & Toasters; Last Stand At Fisher Farm; You're Meshugah; I Am Not Your Sugar; Demon Jigging Spoon; Medicine Missile; Lady Xoc & Shield Jaguar; Loveset.

Personnel: Graham Epp: guitars, Micromoog, Farfisa organ, Farf Muff, ARP String Ensemble, Korg MS2000, electric and acoustic pianos, trumpet; Jesse Warkentin: guitars, Micromoog, Farfisa organ, Farf Muff, ARP String Ensemble, Korg MS2000, electric and acoustic pianos; Scott Ellenberger: electric and acoustic bass, conch, Briscoe organ, percussion, trumpet; J.P. Perron: drums, percussion.

Record Label: Moonjune Records | Style: Fusion/Progressive Rock
- All About Jazz

O grupo canadense Mahogany Frog vem ao Brasil pela primeira vez e se apresenta no SESC Belenzinho, em São Paulo, nos dias 25 e 26 de Fevereiro.

Formada em 1998, a banda possui a influência de uma variedade de gêneros como música eletrônica, rock progressivo, jazz, ultra-lounge do final dos anos 50, música ambiental, experimentalismo e referências de bandas como Pink Floyd, Tortoise, Mars Volta, Soft Machine, Frank Zappa.

Graham Epp (trompete, guitarra, teclado e sintetizador), Jessie Warkentin (guitarra, teclado e sintetizadores), Scott Ellenberger (baixo, orgão, trompete e percussão) Andrew Rudolph (bateria) irão tocar músicas do quinto álbum DO5 (2008) lançado pelo selo norte-americano MoonJune Records, que inclusive já foi resenhado no Progshine, leia a resenha e ouça o disco na íntegra AQUI. Também irão tocar faixas inéditas que estarão no próximo disco da banda, que será lançado ainda este ano.

Musicalmente falando, os quatro membros do Mahogany Frog tem a tendência a extrapolar da tênue linha entre o erudito e todas as fusões de uma maneira muito original e com DNA próprio. Ao vivo, as canções fluem naturalmente, criando um bombardeio constante de nuances de boa música progressiva, interpretações emocionantes, que exploram o humor em inúmeras ideias criativas.

Informações:
Local: Sesc Belenzinho - Rua Padre Adelino, 1000 - Belenzinho – São Paulo/SP
Data: 25/02/2012 & 26/02/2012 (Sábado e Domingo)
Horário: Sábado: 21h / Domingo: 18h
Ingressos: R$ 32,00 (inteira), R$ 16,00 (usuário SESC, +60 anos, estudantes e professores da rede pública), R$ 8,00 (trabalhador no comércio, serviços e turismo matriculado no SESC)
Fone: (11) 2076-9700
Site: www.sescsp.org.br/belenzinho

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- Progshine

O grupo canadense Mahogany Frog vem ao Brasil pela primeira vez e se apresenta no SESC Belenzinho, em São Paulo, nos dias 25 e 26 de Fevereiro.

Formada em 1998, a banda possui a influência de uma variedade de gêneros como música eletrônica, rock progressivo, jazz, ultra-lounge do final dos anos 50, música ambiental, experimentalismo e referências de bandas como Pink Floyd, Tortoise, Mars Volta, Soft Machine, Frank Zappa.

Graham Epp (trompete, guitarra, teclado e sintetizador), Jessie Warkentin (guitarra, teclado e sintetizadores), Scott Ellenberger (baixo, orgão, trompete e percussão) Andrew Rudolph (bateria) irão tocar músicas do quinto álbum DO5 (2008) lançado pelo selo norte-americano MoonJune Records, que inclusive já foi resenhado no Progshine, leia a resenha e ouça o disco na íntegra AQUI. Também irão tocar faixas inéditas que estarão no próximo disco da banda, que será lançado ainda este ano.

Musicalmente falando, os quatro membros do Mahogany Frog tem a tendência a extrapolar da tênue linha entre o erudito e todas as fusões de uma maneira muito original e com DNA próprio. Ao vivo, as canções fluem naturalmente, criando um bombardeio constante de nuances de boa música progressiva, interpretações emocionantes, que exploram o humor em inúmeras ideias criativas.

Informações:
Local: Sesc Belenzinho - Rua Padre Adelino, 1000 - Belenzinho – São Paulo/SP
Data: 25/02/2012 & 26/02/2012 (Sábado e Domingo)
Horário: Sábado: 21h / Domingo: 18h
Ingressos: R$ 32,00 (inteira), R$ 16,00 (usuário SESC, +60 anos, estudantes e professores da rede pública), R$ 8,00 (trabalhador no comércio, serviços e turismo matriculado no SESC)
Fone: (11) 2076-9700
Site: www.sescsp.org.br/belenzinho

Site
Facebook
Myspace

Leia outras notícias sobre o Mahogany Frog
- Progshine

Fotos da passagem dos canadenses pelo Brasil - Territorio da Musica

With an opening track like "G.M.F.T.P.O," which alternately sounds like Rush and Mahavishnu Orchestra, you might get the sense that with Winnepeg's Mahogany Frog, you will be able to place their influences, but sure as hell won't be able to predict what they will do with them. To wit: the very next song is a Krautrock-ish "T-Tigers & Toasters," that is long on the atmospheric buildup before kicking into majestic, Mascis-like fury. "DO5" is a record full of surprises, deliberate and by happy chance.

So we've got some prog, some punk and some fusion in this lively brew. And brew it does; all the tracks take a bit to simmer before revealing themselves. Rockers ("I Am Not Your Sugar") and more ambient tunes ("Last Stand At Fisher Farm") alike take their time, as if contructed to make the listener sit and expect something cool as payoff-and they deliver.

The kind of Jethro-Tull feel to "Demon Jigging Spoon" doesn't really work in the contexts of the other risks taken on "DO5" and the long intro to "Medicine Missle" only ends up revealing harmonic themes explored for the better on other tracks. No matter. Mahogany Frog have both head and heart, and this fifth release shows a mature, confident band ready to take even more sonic chances down the road.
- Music Emissions

On their latest album, DO5, Winnipeg’s Mahogany Frog seems to be aiming for a psychedelic bombardment of the senses. From the eye-catching, if somewhat visually overwhelming, cover art to the opening track’s initial burst of searing guitar noise, this album rejects nearly all notions of subtlety and instead revels in creating a dense cacophony of sound. However, if one listens closely enough there are moments of understated beauty to be found buried amidst the feedback and glitchy electronics. One of the best examples of this occurs on the third track, “Last Stand at Fisher Farm,” which features great horn section that could add some interesting depth to the album if used in more songs instead of being drowned out by distortion and synths. “You’re Meshugah!,” on the other hand, is damn near anthemic and probably as close as these guys come to writing a full-fledged pop song. It sports a simple yet dangerously catchy breakdown towards the end of the song – yes, handclaps and all – and shows how strong the band can be when they stick to the basics instead of getting too caught up with overrought electronic wizardry. The musicians demonstrate obvious technical proficiency on “Demon Jigging Spoon,” almost coming off like some wildly chaotic version of the Sun City Girls with its sparse yet intricate guitar melodies; this track is another one that benefits from a more understated style. Mahogany Frog loses few points for bravery; their mélange of fuzzed-out electronics, psychedelic guitar rock, and jazzy drumming techniques deserves kudos for its originality and passion. However, the quartet might benefit from a more cohesive and focused style instead of getting sidetracked noodling with their vintage synths and distortion pedals. Or who knows – maybe I just need drugs to enjoy DO5 at its full effect.

By Joni Sadler

- !Earshot

It’s always exciting to discover a new progressive rock band in your own back yard. Well Winnipeg Manitoba isn’t exactly my back yard, but hey, it is in Canada, and that says something. Turns out Mahogany Frog have been around for quite some time and this release Do5 is as the title implies their fifth full length release. And what a release it is. From the moment I put it on, I was hooked on the dense orchestration, the thick melodies and pounding rhythms. Mahogany Frog has a very unique sound and style. The music is the work of Graham Epp, Jessie Warkentin (both on guitars, MicroMoog, Farfisa Organ, Farf Muff, Arp String Ensemble, Korg MS2000, pianos), Scott Ellenberger (bass, Briscoe organ, percussion) and J.P. Perron (drums, conch, electronics). Both Epp and Ellenberger provide trumpet performances throughout as well. As you can tell, there’s a fair bit of “older” styled gear in the instrument list and that in fact is one of the hallmarks of the Mahogany Frog sound; the use it seems of as much tube styled electronics as possible. That and the willingness to turn things up to “11” just to overpower the amp! What this does is make for a very dense, at times even cacophonous sound pallet. But they make it work because of the strong instrumental melodies that rise to the surface.



Mahogany Frog’s musical style as already touched on is full, lush and many times overpowering. There are nine-tracks on Do5 ranging from 1:30 to 11:11 and a few of them run into the next giving the impression of longer works. Right off the top let me say this is music that’s quite similar to the style of Djam Karet. Compositionally Mahogany Frog injects more than a little progressive rock influence into the work, going from the descending crescendos of “G.M.F.T.P.O.” (1:30) to the subtle building tentative-ambience of “T-Tigers & Toasters” (11:11) or the almost Caravan-ish Canterbury influence of “You’re Meshugah” (3:46). The pounding, cascading prog crescendos return in force in “I’m Not Your Sugar” (2:28) in fact the progressive embellishments are everywhere. It must be said that a few of the tracks, like “Lady Xoc & Shield Jaguar” (8:55) do contain many softer almost jazz influenced segments where the instruments are heard clear and clean. Add to this all sorts of spacey electronic sounds and weird voice clips, some very effective trumpet solos and even some nifty sixties styled guitar sounds and you have a winning musical brew my friends.



It would be a serious mistake to dismiss Mahogany Frog as a band just making noise. In fact, the thing that appealed to me on first listen is how well crafted the melodies are for many of their compositions. The layers of instruments and sounds only provided a greater depth and longevity to my listening pleasure. Hey, if you love the music of the already mentioned Djam Karet and others in that style, Mahogany Frog is right up there and I’m willing to bet “dollars-to-doughnuts” that you’ll love this band. What a discovery, Do5 will be spending a long time on my players.
- Jerry Lucky

It’s always exciting to discover a new progressive rock band in your own back yard. Well Winnipeg Manitoba isn’t exactly my back yard, but hey, it is in Canada, and that says something. Turns out Mahogany Frog have been around for quite some time and this release Do5 is as the title implies their fifth full length release. And what a release it is. From the moment I put it on, I was hooked on the dense orchestration, the thick melodies and pounding rhythms. Mahogany Frog has a very unique sound and style. The music is the work of Graham Epp, Jessie Warkentin (both on guitars, MicroMoog, Farfisa Organ, Farf Muff, Arp String Ensemble, Korg MS2000, pianos), Scott Ellenberger (bass, Briscoe organ, percussion) and J.P. Perron (drums, conch, electronics). Both Epp and Ellenberger provide trumpet performances throughout as well. As you can tell, there’s a fair bit of “older” styled gear in the instrument list and that in fact is one of the hallmarks of the Mahogany Frog sound; the use it seems of as much tube styled electronics as possible. That and the willingness to turn things up to “11” just to overpower the amp! What this does is make for a very dense, at times even cacophonous sound pallet. But they make it work because of the strong instrumental melodies that rise to the surface.



Mahogany Frog’s musical style as already touched on is full, lush and many times overpowering. There are nine-tracks on Do5 ranging from 1:30 to 11:11 and a few of them run into the next giving the impression of longer works. Right off the top let me say this is music that’s quite similar to the style of Djam Karet. Compositionally Mahogany Frog injects more than a little progressive rock influence into the work, going from the descending crescendos of “G.M.F.T.P.O.” (1:30) to the subtle building tentative-ambience of “T-Tigers & Toasters” (11:11) or the almost Caravan-ish Canterbury influence of “You’re Meshugah” (3:46). The pounding, cascading prog crescendos return in force in “I’m Not Your Sugar” (2:28) in fact the progressive embellishments are everywhere. It must be said that a few of the tracks, like “Lady Xoc & Shield Jaguar” (8:55) do contain many softer almost jazz influenced segments where the instruments are heard clear and clean. Add to this all sorts of spacey electronic sounds and weird voice clips, some very effective trumpet solos and even some nifty sixties styled guitar sounds and you have a winning musical brew my friends.



It would be a serious mistake to dismiss Mahogany Frog as a band just making noise. In fact, the thing that appealed to me on first listen is how well crafted the melodies are for many of their compositions. The layers of instruments and sounds only provided a greater depth and longevity to my listening pleasure. Hey, if you love the music of the already mentioned Djam Karet and others in that style, Mahogany Frog is right up there and I’m willing to bet “dollars-to-doughnuts” that you’ll love this band. What a discovery, Do5 will be spending a long time on my players.
- Jerry Lucky