Moga

Moga has been together with various members and under different names since 2007. Now they have honed their sound and play a mix of what some call rock, psychedelic and folk music. In the Boston Survival Guide Band Round-up, these guys were compared to the Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Brian Eno, and the Flaming Lips. The members are Alex Pendergrass, Greg Mallozzi, Max Fisher & Oliver Williams. They currently have an EP out and have just finished a full length album.
Moga will play from 1:30 to 2:30pm in Burnside Park. - Indie Arts RI

I spend a great deal of my life looking for answers, seeking meaning in what I see and experience. Things must have a purpose, some utility, some significance, however idiosyncratic. All serve that underlying premise, more than half forgotten, that an answer must exist.

But an answer to what? What if I no longer remember the questions? What if I'm seeking out of mere inertia and boredom? Does it actually matter or merely founded on the same secret premise (that there is an object to be sought), leading into a never ending circle around myself, never reaching a conclusion?

I may not be able to feel confident in my own search, but I'm still able to identify the need and sincerity of other people's quests and questions. Many of the artists that move me and were covered here are seekers, some more readily identifiable than others. Some, like Providence, Rhode Island's Moga, may deserve a category of their own.

I've been struggling with myself these past few weeks to try and "tag" them, to call their true name and posses them. Instead, I now confess my inability to do so; it is I who is being possessed by the unknown and marvel at their own questing and seeking. The sound is unique, no doubt. But I think it is their own secret premise that hooked me, something wild and free, moving from joy to tears and back again, something primal. Something good.

In their MySpace Moga lists "Shamanistic Cultures" under 'Influences'. It is no lie.

Check out Moga on MySpace for more tracks and videos. Their album is set to be released later this month. - Laughing Evergreens

GoLocalProv's Timothy O'Keefe scouts local bands, listens critically to their MySpace songs, and brings you the ones you need to know about... and listen to... online as well as live. This week he reviews Moga, a folk/electronic band from South County.



Moga’s music elegantly combines folk and electronic elements, producing a signature sound that is both genuine and inspired. Hailing from North Kingstown, Moga started in 2007 as a group of friends who shared a love for music. It wasn’t until 2009 that they officially formed into the band they are today.

Songs like Canopy capture Moga’s brilliance, opening with an atmospheric sweeping Moog-like drone, a muted electronic kick drum, and a beautiful organ-like synthesizer melody awash in a spacious reverb. As the track builds, a pulsing acoustic low tom and tambourine become locked into the beat, grounding the rhythm and finding the shortest distance between all of the song’s expansive elements.



In Mountain Top, Moga pulls back on the electronic elements, pursuing a more traditional folk feel. Even without the electronics, the atmospheric aesthetics of Moga are still present in the spatial qualities of Oliver Williams’s vocals and Alex Pendergrass’s organ, both treated with a healthy dose of big-room reverb.

If you ever wanted a to hear a folk record produced by Brian Eno, Moga may satisfy that desire. Check out their myspace at: http://www.myspace.com/muchomoga
Moga will be featured at Providence's IndieArts Fest in July. For Moga's schedule, go to their MySpace page or blog, here. - Go Local Prov

BY BY JAMES MEROLLA

MOGA (rhymes with ‘toga’ as in ‘party’).
They all met as fellow students at North Kingstown High School.
Cool.
Post-graduation, they started out their musical life in various band incarnations, under the names: UFOS, Tapir and Wart-Hog Duo.
So, they could only go up….
Meet MOGA – an arbitrary word for a distinctly unusual folk and psychedelic rock band that websites like Go Local Prov, among others, have hailed as a group that “elegantly combines folk and electronic elements, producing a signature sound that is both genuine and inspired. If you ever wanted to hear a folk record produced by Brian Eno, MOGA may satisfy that desire.”

MOGA (rhymes with ‘toga’ as in ‘party’) is made up of four North Kingstown alums. The ‘M’ is for Max Fisher, who originally hails from Buffalo, N.Y.; the ‘O’ is for Olive Williams, who hails from Northampton, Mass.; The ‘G’ is for Greg Mallozzi of Providence; and the ‘A’ is for Alex Pendergrass, who hails from Pawtucket.
The group already has a growing following in the R.I. area, playing clubs and caves, and they recently returned from a gig with two other bands in Philadelphia.
They are up-and-coming and young; quite young. Each is 22, except Greg, who is 21.
Some of them took music lessons briefly as kids and some didn’t.
“We were all into/brought up on different styles of music when we were younger. More or less came from families that liked good music. Al is all self-taught on keys, Greg, more or less, self taught, Ollie took jazz band and choir in high school and Max took drum lessons and was involved in school band, etc. We all dabbled in various rock bands when we were kids, too,” said the group collectively.
Unlike many 1960s and 1970s groups, they didn’t start out in some parent’s garage. More like a basement.
“We had a keyboard that we would try to re-create video game music with. Then we found an old guitar that Greg would somehow make sounds out of without any knowledge of the guitar,” said the group. “Then, Max came into the mix and brought over a synth and a drum set. Al proceeded to make sounds out of the keyboard and synth (also without any knowledge) and Max would bang on the drums.
“Then, at some point, a bass got thrown in the mix. We recorded weird experimental stuff for a while under the name "UFOs.” A few friends came and went. Then, Oliver came by one day with some good bass playing and singing. He instructed us how a ‘song’ should be formed, so we followed his lead and continued with it.”
The group has covered everything from Creed to Creedence Clearwater Revival.
The cultists are forming.
“We have a following of trolls and druids who come to most of our shows when we play in caves. We also play in a lot of the great local Providence venues (AS220, Firehouse 13, The 201, etc.) and we have a great group of friends who always come out to support us. In the last year or so, we've been seeing more and more unfamiliar faces at our shows, though, which is great,” said MOGA.
Word of mouth helps spread the joy, but so do websites like MySpace, Facebook and Tweeter. While they get bigger, MOGA still prefers to play smaller venues.
M-O-G-A all take turns writing their songs and they say it’s hard to pick a favorite. They have a new LP called “Jamboree,” on which they say they are all “very proud of every song. They are really equally great to us.”
As for the best song they have covered, they defer to a song called “Long Distance Operator” from The Basement Tapes with Bob Dylan and The Band.
“It's a great funky blues track that we find suits our style very well,” said MOGA.
Anyone who would like to give a listen to MOGA can find them here:
*Thursday, Dec. 23 at AS220 in Providence with Ana Mallozzi and Sean Kennedy.
*Wednesday, Dec. 22 at The Middle East in Boston
*January 14 at The 201 in Providence
*January 15 at Plough and Stars in Boston
For more information, go to www.myspace.com/muchomoga. - RI Central

I first mentioned Rhode Island-based Moga last March, and in the meantime, they’ve released their debut full-length album, Jamboree, a cornucopia of psychedelia, banjo-pickin’ hillbilly folkiness, bluesy gospel, and early Eno quirkiness; with some little Grateful Dead jams, doo-wop harmonies and calypso percussion added in for good measure. If it sounds wacky, it is, but it really works.


The proceedings start off weird and whimsical with banjo and Dr. Who rocketship synth – not your typical instrumentation. And that’s what makes Moga interesting. Friendly front-porch banjo and guitar picking throughout, but with a deliciously subversive psychedelic glaze with little outer space touches, and Oliver Williams’ vocal style, reminiscent at times of early Brian Eno. Or at least, that’s the way it begins.

There’s a touch of Beatles (”Norwegian Wood” popped into my mind) in “The One That Got Away.” Besides The Beatles, Grateful Dead, and Brian Eno, there’s a plethora of other influences, so expertly assimilated that while you’ll catch a brief whiff like a vague scent wafting in the air, ultimately Moga is wonderfully unique.

The sleepy nursery rhyme riff in “Wakey Wakey” really gets stuck inside your head, and some serious space music transitions it into the crazy caribbean-flavored “Red Box,” a mind-melting gumbo of seemingly discordant parts – banjo picking, a little Grateful Dead here, some calypso percussion there – and yet it sounds just right.

“Pray For Rain” juxtoposes light and fanciful honky-tonk piano, doo-wop/folky harmonies, and guitar pickin’ with a narrative that starts with a sweet story about the rain and ends with the tragic tale of a young child’s drowning. “Little Darling” is bluesy with a touch of southern gospel and more of those oddly misplaced but perfect doo-wop vocals. “Billy Pen Blues” continues with a soulful shuffle. It’s as if a totally different band walked into the middle of the album.

The start of “Emmaline” made me burst out laughing with its goofy whistling and 50’s-style harmonies, and then the Tin Pan Alley honky-tonk piano, and in comes the trombone… ah man! Crazy, playful and sweet. It might have come out of a different era, were it not for this vague swirling… something in the background midway through.

If I were to tell you: banjo, guitar, synth, piano, bells, wood block, trombone, southern gospel, 60s pop, 70s space music, calypso, honky-tonk… you might be like “wtf?” but it’s the way in which these various elements come drifting in and out in sometimes startling and surprising ways, yet at the same time blending together so perfectly, that makes this album a masterpiece. Totally schizophrenic. And wonderful.

Meandering guitar riffing in “Wakey Wakey (Reprise)”, dissolves into a noisy gathering before slowly coming back to the music and then returning to the multiple conversations. Nutty, but again, it all melds together quite well. The party continues into “Ragtime Jamboree” which is exactly as it sounds; more of that superb barroom piano, tambourine and end-of-the-night, bluesy vocals. And of course, what were we missing? The trombone. Naturally. A little guitar picking and more percussion gets added to the mix as the party wears on. So good. It finishes off with a crazy band intro., and I sincerely hope this wasn’t really a live performance, as the chatting never stops!

One reviewer said “If you ever wanted a to hear a folk record produced by Brian Eno…” I would add to that “in the jungles of Tahiti, during a New Orleans-style funeral parade, on pleasant hallucinogens.” That should give you a clear picture.
- Musings From Boston

RED HOT, RIGHT NOW - Moga are purveyors of a dizzying array of musical influences and styles which they delightfully combine into a satisfying and fun gumbo. There's a hillbilly vibe of acoustic guitar and banjo picking, with subversive synth sounds mixed in. A little calypso, a bit of blues, a touch of gospel. A New Orleans style funeral march. Honky-tonk piano. Grateful Dead jams. Doo-wop harmonies. And trombone. Vocals that sometimes conjure The Beatles or The Band; othertimes Brian Eno. Sounds crazy, but it works.

[Editor's Note: it's hard not to hear a little Delta Spirit or maybe The Walkmen in today's song of the day, "The One That Got Away," it immediately won me over!]

Moga released their debut album, the aptly titled Jamboree, last year. It's a remarkable achievement on a first release, to bring together so many styles and influences, and have it glide along so naturally as it does, sounding just right. I very much look forward to seeing these guys live and partaking of what Rhode Island clubgoers have been enjoying for some time now.


- Ryans Smashing Life

Imagine the most pleasant and calming melody you can think of. Now channel those dulcet tones through the plucky strum of a banjo and toss in what can only be described as the twittering of robotic birds. It’s pretty much impossible to imagine that sound from scratch, isn’t it? If you’re wondering how someone can craft such a combination, you need to talk to the boys behind the opening track, “Experiment” from the Rhode Island band Moga’s full-length, Jamboree. Alex Pendergrass, Greg Mallozzi, Oliver Williams and Max Fisher are a couple of guys who have been friends their school days in Providence, where they formed after they graduated high school. Two years after that 2008 formation, the band came out with Jamboree, their record debut and by our standards, not a bad way for a band to make an introduction. Jamboree features an obvious influence from the well loved sound of bands like Creedance Clearwater Revival and The Band, along with hints of Eno-inspired production coming through an otherwise placidly flowing combination of banjo, guitar and drums. Quirky kicks of woodblock and frolicking bass lines accompany the band’s folksy style to create a ‘dueling banjos at the beach’ sound that is sunny and bright enough to make us forget we’re living through the hellhole of winter here in Chicago.
Jamboree is available for $10 on the band’s Bandcamp, and if that’s too rich for your blood, we recommend that at the very least you stream the 13 tracks because Moga is a delightful little secret from the East Coast you need to be let in on.

The band took some time to talk with Reviewsic about Jamboree, their influences and the bands they wish they had listened to 10 years sooner.


Reviewsic: Can you give us a quick recap of what the band has been up to lately?

Moga: We’ve recently moved to an19th Century farm house in Western Rhode Island. We’ve been doing a lot of practicing as well as having friends come over to jam and record in our home studio. On top of that we’ve been booking dates for a January/February tour.

Reviewsic: What are your top three musical influences?
Ollie: 1. The Rolling Stones 2. Radiohead 3. CCR

Max: 1. Hank Williams 2. Animal Collective 3. Lead Belly

Greg: 1. The Band 2. The Beatles 3. The Grateful Dead
Al: 1. Van Morrison 2. The Band 3. The Bee Gees

Reviewsic: Is there any instrument you don’t play, but wish you did?

Ollie: Fiddle

Max: Saxophone

Greg: Sitar

Al: Harp

Reviewsic: What are the last three albums or bands you listened to?

Ollie: 1.The Rolling Stones- Some Girls 2.CCR – Willy and The Poor Boys 3.The Black Keys- Brothers

Max: 1.Floating Action – Self Titled 2.Animal Collective – Feels 3.Dr. Dog – Takers and Leavers

Greg: 1. The Band: Rock Of Ages 2. Grateful Dead: Dicks Picks Vol. 19 3. Grateful Dead: Ladies and Gentleman: Grateful Dead Live at Filmore East 1971?

Al: 1. The Band- “The brown Album” 2. Eric Clapton Unplugged 3. Muddy Water in Woodstock

Reviewsic: If you could work with one person in the music industry (musician, label, producer etc), who would it be and why?

Ollie: As a producer I’d love to work with Danger Mouse

Max: Robin Pecknold from Fleet Foxes

Greg: My friend Dennis Glasberg

Al: Joaguin Phoenix

Reviewsic: If you could book a tour with any 3 bands, past or present, who would they be and why?

Ollie: 1. The Band: I’ve always wanted to open for them, just so I could watch them afterwards. 2. Phish- They have such a great following and it would be cool to have some of the same people see you night after night. 3. Dr. Dog- I think their fans would totally dig us.

Max: 1. Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes: I feel like they’re a great contemporary band with a similar musical perspective. 2. Al Green: Opening for the reverend would be a huge honor. 3. My Morning Jacket: A great rockin’ & rollin band with a huge following.

Greg: 1: The Band 2: Grateful Dead 3: Flaming Lips

Al: 1. See Above 2. See Above3. Leon Russell, Mad Dogs and Englishmen

Reviewsic: Lately we’ve been on this kick of revisiting bands we didn’t pay as much attention to in the past and wondering, “Why didn’t I listen to this 10 years ago?”- If you could go back in time and push 3 bands/records on your younger self, who/what would they be and why?

Ollie: 1. The Beatles- Revolver 2. Rolling Stones- Some Girls 3. Bob Dylan- Highway 61 Revisited. All 3 would have gotten me into playing more bluesy rock tunes and less sad acoustic music when I was younger.
Max: 1. Nick Drake – Pink Moon: I feel like this is an amazing singer/songwriter record that everyone should listen to. 2. Animal Collective: Any album by these guys is great. Their unique, experimetal song structures are something I would have recorded in high school. 3. The Harder They Come: This soundtrack to the film of the same name is a reggae classic.
Greg: 1: The Lovin’ Spoonful 2: The Allman Brothers 3: The Beach Boys
Al: 1. Definitely push more Frank - Reviews IC- Music that should be heard

Moga
Album: Jamboree
Released: August 2010
From: Providence, RI
Rhode Island's Moga bring a homey, rootsy take to psychedelia on Jamboree. They add banjos and piano to straightforward American rock and end up with something that sounds like music played in the parlor with family and friends. Songs like "Wakey Wakey" stretch into jam-band territory and would be right at home opening for Ratdog or Further. When their shades of The Band mix occasionally with electronic effects the result is something entirely new -- "ambient Americana," a sound that the boys from Moga should explore in more depth.
- The Deli New England