Never let it be said that C. Goff III makes "strange" music... well, maybe a "little strange", but not abominably so... it's actually "forward looking" music. This CD by "TMMS" is their 10th anniversary recording... C. Goff, of course, is a member, along with Michael Adams & Eric Matchett. Heavy electronic editing ensured that only the relevant portions of their electronic experiments made it onto the album. Strangely enough, it was track 5, "Turkish Coffee", that was my favorite ride - that may (or may not) have anything to do with my having been (nick)named "Cp'n Cappucinno" in an earlier time, but the energy levels on this particular piece (second longest on the album) approach the same 'igh eye get when on my coffee I.V. It's also the nearest to a piece that is "accessible" by the masses (not that that is a "goal" of "TMMS"... after all, accessibility is purely in the mind of the beholder). Another excessively odd (& eminently enjoyable) cut is "Deeple Speak", #3 on the CD... totally engaging (tho' if you're "normal", don't let yourself become too engaged, eh). I rate this a definite MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for those who are experimentally inclined!
review by Rotcod Zzaj, Improvijazzation Nation
fact: the tryptophan in turkey doesn't actually make you sleepy, it's a myth. unless you eat half of the bird, you're not going to get enough of the stuff to induce drowsiness. now that that's out of the way, this project consists of michael adams, charles goff iii and eric matchett.
the big part of the wishbone celebrated the ten year anniversary of this group on april 26th, 2007. they decided that getting together (eric's in portland, i believe that adams is in kansas along with charles) to have a day-long marathon recording session, would be appropriate. this disc sees that session edited down and occasionally spliced together to present the ripest fruits of their labor.
tmms opts for a lot more of a widely embraceable sound than goff's disism project. granted, that disc was nearly nineteen years old, but i need a base of a comparison. the results, i have to say, are rather mixed. one of the things that i'm taking the most issue with is the lack of restraint. too often throughout wishbone, i'll pick out certain elements that i really enjoy, but they'll pile on more and more different things, and more often than not, i find that these additional layers aren't congruent. it almost comes across as forced experimentation that mucks up the better structure. take the first track, for instance, it starts off with a real nice guitar riff, some ambiance in the background, and light electronic sounds fleshing everything out. while it's not really my thing, i could see this being something that a lot more people could get into. the focus will shift from the guitar (the great initial riff gone, as it finds itself mixed far too low) into more of a clamorous affair. not bad, but i think they missed out on a golden opportunity. actually, the second track is an even better example. it begins with multiple repetitious layers, i especially like the repeating bass chord (and.. is that a cowbell?), i don't even mind the vocal sample that pops up, but then it starts to go downhill when they just add way too much stuff to it. instead of letting it simply be a hypnotic electronic track, it almost sounds like a parody. if they would've just held off on the vocal sounds, the keyboard fuckery and that awful repeated sound of a baby, this would've been so much better. i dig that droning guitar, though. twelve minutes was way too long. the fourth track, is a great example of what they can do when they leave well enough alone (for the most part). beautifully bare in the beginning, with some good acoustic strumming. the droning guitar in the background is perfect as well. they will add some electronics towards the end, at first i was thinking, "no, NO!", but one of the two layers is really great. the other one sounds like a computer spewing forth a read out. i like the sixth track, quite a bit, and it's no big surprise that it's the most held back piece of music on the cd. just a really enjoyable track that centers around acoustic guitars. i could've gone for an album's worth of this...
turkey made me sleepy was far more accessible than i imagined that they would be. i love pop music, give me something catchy, that sticks with me and i'm happy. i just didn't like how some of the catchier elements were presented on this disc. the electronic ambitions as well as the samples (especially the phallic-obsessed ones during the last track) weren't doing it for me. it did have its moments.
review by avantgardening, smooth assailing
Mee-ster Goff (as in Charles
Rice) & his pals Mike Adams & Eric Matchett have stirred up some
stuffing you won't be able to wash away with any Pepto-Bismol, or Tums.
I'm reminded (greatly) of some of the earliest tape works I heard Bret
Hart doing in the mid to late '80's - in a very favorable way. The
sonics & all the little nuances are perfect for gobble-talkers, tho'
not for sleeping, I'd say. My particular favorite is track 3, "I
Dropped Science On The Taped Rug". Strange voices remind you rather
quickly that sanity is truly in the mind of the beholder... some very
interesting piano strokes (which I'm sure CRG III knew I'd be
interested
in), also combined with (what sound like) snatches from The Twilight
Zone shows. "Encounter At The Water's Edge" is also an earthshaker,
full of clanking bells, guitar buzz saws & some great percussion that
will (either) tear or mend the fabric of your brain... very
interesting.
As a warning, I must tell you that this is odd music (we wouldn't
expect
anything less from Mee-ster Goff & his associates), but for those
listeners unafraid to jump in, it will be a rewarding challenge. If
you're looking for something sonically different, you'll agree when I
declare it to be MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. If ya' ain't schizoid yet -
you will be after listening to "Six With Pix".
review by Rotcod Zzaj, Improvijazzation Nation
Click For Handwritten Greg Stomberg Six With Pix Review
Taped Rugs has a long tradition of hosting improvisational experimental jam sessions on July 4th of each year. In 1997, Turkey Makes Me Sleepy took on the traditional date by incorporating an outer space theme into the session, based on that day's landing of the Pathfinder Rover on Mars. Occasionals inputs from the live CNN coverage of the Pathfinder landing, random audio excerpts from science fiction story records, readings from Ray Bradbury's "Martian Chronicles", and a data inspired rendition of David Bowie's "space oddity" lead the jammers into an uncharted area. Contained on this cd is the experience, pretty much as it happened; an unrehearsed excursion into the cosmos. Best of all - it rocks.
Review by Patrick Parent, Red Neon
Turkey Makes Me Sleepy may well be my favorite Taped Rug project after The Magic Potty Babies. And no surprise given that Charles Goff III and Mikadams are one half of that band. The snoozy Turkeys are a trio and the lineup is rounded out by Eric Matchett. The songs on The Fluff Of A Feather Pillow were recorded between 1997-1999. "Sandman" consists of totally freaked out unintelligible vocals and spacey vibrating guitar chords against an electro rock beat with a semi-dancey feel. This would be a cool soundtrack song to use in Night Of The Living Dead as the zombie hordes are lumbering across the field. Throughout "Faith Healer" we hear a sample of what sounds like a Jim and Tammy Fay Baker type pair doing their PTL shtick. The music is ambient and floating - in an Alice In Wonderland kind of way - and we also hear dreamy oriental themes. But of course mucho weirdness makes its way into the mix in the form of bubbling UFO synths. The first several minutes of the 14 minute "Disquietude" consist of mindfuck music that I can only describe as Phillip Glass meets Dr Who at the Space Ritual for a cosmic alien jam in a psycho ward. The craziness never really lets up though the band does explore a warped form of floating space that is a soothing as it is disturbing. An excellent track, though I'd check with your doctor before listening if you take Prozac or any form of anti-depressant. "Edna Lena Loo" recalls the Residents' earliest fun tunes. "Silvertone Wires" includes guitar that has a Roger Trigaux sound, so that we've got this dark Univers Zero motif mixed with quirky dancing synths and other strange electronics. It's An odd combo that somehow seems to work well, making this the most thematic track of the set. I really dig the blend of intensity and whimsy. But after a while it transitions to more a peaceful sympho-ambient ride. "Nocturia" is another varied blend of styles, this time including free-jazz, Etron Fou organ, and mish mashes of prog rock. Like "Silvertone Wires", much of this has a composed feel and creates a dark and mightily intense atmosphere. Finally, "We're An American Band" is a drugged Bluesy cover of the Grand Funk classic, with hysterical screaming tongue-in-cheek passionate rock n roll vocals. An excellent set.
Review by Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations
A brave adventure into scary county with C. Goff III, Mikadams and Eric Matchett. This is an eight track album, that kicks off with the very, very odd Sandman, again it's in the Residents style. What I've found most striking about Goff III's work is despite the fact that he does produce music in a definite style, it's so varied. I'm constantly surprised how CGIII continues to amaze and stretch the limits of experimental music. The Faith Healer starts with an eerie layer of organ music with overlaid samples of religious ramblings, cheering and then we're off. The whole album's a really unsettling experiment on the marriage of sound and cut ups, dialogue and music. Tracks such as We're An American Band, Perry Coma, and Disquietude are all marvellously rich and at the same time unnerving. In many respects this album represents a totally new direction in not just music, but the moods it conveys. Dark stuff.
Dave Hughes, Modern Dance
A creepily insistent voice sounds like someone selling shares for Ralph Records, simple and place-creating bass behind a phased and metronomic drum machine figure, each 'song' is a psychodrama unto itself - perfectly in the very literate and equally edgy spirit of other Charles Rice Goff III projects and involvements...signal processing figures heavily across the board, with sweeping old flangers, diminishing echoes, and crusty fuzz and distortion crackling like overdone bacon. then, as here, waxing into an orchestral place, like an electronic chamber quartet, evoking feelings like those I get when experiencing paintings of the Impressionists. Co-released by Prion [email protected]
Review by Bret Hart, The Unheard Music
This firmly lurks in that magical void called "UNCLASSIFIABLE." On the one had, these are very definitely melodic "songs--sometimes in the vein of the Residents, and elsewhere like a mellow version of the Butthole Surfers with Tom Waits on Casio playing cocktail lounge Dada. The singer can really sing, but what a peculiar voice! -sort of a Spandau Ballet/Paleface Funk soapy style, but infused totally with that strange, malignant "on the edge-about to crack" quality shared with Norman Bates and the Residents--the psychotic zone where the anourak wearing nerds are far scarier than the testosterone fueled bruisers. Add on top of all this lush melodic tomfoolery, a huge truckload of out and out STRANGENESS (everything is always Bigger in America)--all sorts of other elements are thrown into the music--from jazzy textures to the all out pause button slurp frenzy to tonal acupuncture to even some good humored lifting from the Beach Boys. A totally unique mix that traverses effortlessly from the farthest reaches of the avant garde to the sing a long splendor of Casio Pop.
Review by Stream Angel
This kooky project is fronted by veteran home taper, Charles Rice Goff III. He also has a song project under his name but this is a wild ride with found sounds, electronic and acoustic jamming and just plain weirdness. Maybe this is sub sub genius.
Review by Don Campau, Best of 1998
Has this ever happened to you? While playing a droning answering machine message, reality becomes somewhat fluid and the tones begin melting and twisting (a la Salvador Dali). A thirty-second message stretches on for minutes upon minutes. If this hasn't happened to you before, you'll live the experience in Hall McGee and Brian Noring's "The Situation," the first track on the cassette compilation "Aberrations of Collaboration." Next comes the delightfully manic "Nocturia," sounding like the ToonTown orchestra warming up. It features live grooving from Dave Haney and some pretaped noises from Anthony Washburn and John Dent. The sounds become more ambient and psychedelic in "The League of Crappy Guitarists," which is a live jam from Stu Sands. "Sinister French Elves on Film," a live track by Dave Haney, is like a large hallucinogenic circus comprised of mechanized animals. In "Vain and Bitter," Stu Sands adds a heavy dose of nervous tension by combining surreal self-help vocal samples and manic keyboards and guitars. "Vincent Price Surrenders to Communism" is another effort by Hal McGee and Brian Noring, featuring electrified pulsing tones and out-of-context samples of Vincent Price, backed up by the ToonTown orchestra. The cassette ends with "The Last Days," an apocalyptic track featuring Dave Haney playing live alongside prerecorded material from Anthony Washburn and John Dent. With this sort of collected talent, you really can't go wrong.
Review by Craig Conley 5/1/99.
OTHER COMMENTS: "This fine review neglects to mention the members of the project who provide the backbone of sounds and the production for all the pieces on this recording. Turkey Makes Me Sleepy (Mikadams, C. Goff III, Eric Matchett) created these compositions by collaborating with the artists discussed in this review." --C.Goff III
TURKEY MAKES ME SLEEPY's music is almost as trippy and silly as its name. But not quite. Each member of the TURKEY triumvirate was responsible for one layer of this hazy calamity, though with Hoss Goff 3's pop spine to hang things from, you can guarantee it'll be engaging. The opening cut, "Sandman," is sung entirely in some bullshit fake language ("yulll yi yi yi, hee yull, na hi yulll hi" etc), with a drum program that's not a million miles removed from the ANDY PARTRIDGE demo "This Is The End" (who's with me here!?). "Edna Lena Loo" is a silly-ass bit of psychedelia...the vocal line sounds like a child's song, but lyrics such as "I heard a rumor you have a tumor, is it true Edna Loo," and "I know you've been out with a guy who works at the gas station..." make sure no children will ever sing this song. Though maybe they should. It's like a playground rhyme from a DAVID LYNCH film. I think. Later in the tape is "Inaugural Balls," which combines fucked-with samples of former presidents Bush and Reagan with grumbly sounds and a few bars of "Hail To The Chief." I'm not sure what it means, but I bet it annoys people who drive red pickup trucks with rebel flags in the back, which makes it punk rock in my book.
Review by Ian C Stewart
Avant crazies hit the record/play buttons and start up a Jacob's Ladder of hometaping. Bloop, bleep, and delayed vocal insanity do most of the work, though hints of melody find their way into mix occasionally. Similar Artists: Negativland.
Review by Kelly B., Listen.com
1) Who are the members of the band and what do they play?
Mike: Well, there's my solo stuff.. i only have a few tapes out, that's just me playing guitars, samplers, tape decks, toys. I usually multitrack myself using CoolEdit pro, or an old four track..Then there's "Turkey Makes Me Sleepy", which is me, Charles R. Goff III, and Eric Matchett. I mostly play guitar in "Turkey", but actually anything goes. We have guitars, synths, casiotones, lots of records and tapes, lots and lots of toys, Charlie has some homemade wind instruments, sometimes a saxaphone of trumpet or trombone gets picked up, handdrums, We're mostly improvosational, so it's an anything goes kind of thing.
2) How old are each of you?
Mike: Old enough to know better. We're all beyond our twenties, let's put it that way. I have to be careful about what i write down, Charlie's already pissed at me for saying on mp3.com that we met in jail!
3) When was the band formed?
Mike: We started about 3 years ago, i guess. Ive always played music, and i guess the same is true of Chas and Eric. Charlie has a pretty prolific tape label called Taped Rugs Productions. He has literally hundreds of tapes by now. He's the one who got me into the whole hometaping and trading thing. I highly recommend trading with him. His solo stuff is great. Same with Eric.
4) In your opinions what genre of music are you?
Mike: Individually we all hop genres. In Turkey we hop genres a lot too.. As Spike Jones once said, we are "dinner music for people who aren't very hungry." We sound like a broken Nintendo machine.
5) In which city are you currently residing?
Mike: Lawrence, Kansas, we call it Larry.
6)What label are you on currently, and which labels have you been on?
Mike: Taped Rugs Productions, Charlie's label, mostly tapes, starting to make a few CD's. I burn em at home though.. it's no big mass production.
7) Have any of you played in another band?
Mike: Tons of other bands, most notably Lipsmacking Kittylunch, a jazz punk combo..the hippies liked us cause we thought we were Zappa doing new wave. Charles has been in Herd of The Ether Space, Disism, -Ing, many other projects, Eric's solo project is called Gerbil Bliss. He's had some other things too, but I dont know the names of them.
8)Are you all in the process of recording an album or touring?
Mike: HA!!!! oh yeah.. you're serious? no.. Our recording consists mainly of turning on a tape deck and letting it roll.. or playing a game of pass the tape. that's always fun, and to my ears, usually more interesting when it's all done.
9) What is your favorite touring experience?
Mike: I went on a tour of the morgue once.
10) Which bands have you toured with?
Mike: We really dont do the rock star thing. We're old men who forget to take our medication. We opened up for The Beatles once.. okay, we didnt really, but we would have if they asked us and we were around then.
11) What are each of your favourite bands?
Mike: I can only speak for myself. I like The Residents (old stuff), Ween, Chas. Mingus, Zorn, Beck, the tv when it's on the nothing channel.
12) What was the last album each of you bought?
Mike: Ummm... Lemmee see... I guess it was the most recent Tom Waits disc. Coulda been David Shea's classical album, I don't really remember. I don't buy too much these days, I'm a poor student.
13) What is the weirest sex dream have each of you had?
Mike: It's chronicled on a Turkey tape called "My First Adventure Into 3-D" It's about doughnuts.
14) Which independant label do you think helps the bands in their roster the most?
Mike: Oh Taped Rugs Productions definitely, They give us Thorazine and tell us to shut the fuck up!
15) Which zine is your favorite?
Mike: Oh, man, I like zines, but I never actually buy them, I'm too busy with schoolbooks these days, sometimes i read em on the racks at the record store and put em back once I'm done, because, they are really cool in a way, but most of them suck and you cant read the text, and the bands are all people I've never heard of and don't care about..I like the ones on paper with the ink.. those are good.. yeah.
16) For all of our readers, are any of you single?
Mike: JUST ME!!! So if youre attracted to big hairy guys with no life, give me a call, Im excellent in bed.. oh yeah...
17) Are you sXe or normal people?
Mike:What the fuck are you talking about?
18) In your concerts, which songs by which bands do you cover?
Mike: We did "Nights In White Satin", it was a joke but we did it frighteningly straight... Um, we did a rap of "The Boxer", Eric did a great tape of imitations of musicians imitating other musicians, (Frank Sinatra does "So You Want To Be A Rock n' Roll Star" and Euro-gay disco version of "Freebird" among others, contact him, ask for it, its terrific!) and Charlie also has several cover song tapes, and does a lot of covers on his other tapes. hmmm. what else do we cover... Oh yeah, our best cover, "We're An American Band"!
19) In you had the chance, would you sign on to a major label,or stay independant?
Mike: Fuck all that lameass rockstar bullshit. Unless there's a lot of money involved.
20) Which Sesame Street Character is the best-looking?
Mike: I always found myself, even though I'm militantly hetrosexual, attracted to Mr. Hooper..
