Idiot Flesh
 

Precursor to Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, formed before Mr. Bungle, and all around amazing band, Idiot Flesh is effectively unkown to many people, including SGM fans. This is unfortunate, and needs to be rectified.

Originally formed circa 1985 after the demise of Acid Rain (which released only a demo, named We Were All Very Worried); taking a very "Zappa" approach to their music, their first release "Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death" was a bizarre conglmoration of styles, all while retaining a very experimental and avant-garde approach to the music. The core of the music was effectively rock, but each member played a seperate instrument; Cellos, Violin, Trumpet, Flute, Saxaphone, Piano, even non-instruments like Screwdrivers, Trashcan Lids and Bicycle horns, all in tune. Their self described "Rock against Rock" attitude made them one of the most pioneering avant-rock acts of the 90s. It's unfortunate that Mr. Bungle seems to overshadow everything Idiot Flesh has done, but thanks to the internet, that's becoming less apparent with time. Both are great, but Idiot Flesh deserves respect for their music.


The first album combined elements of Rock, Funk, Metal, Folk, Progressive, Pop with Avant-Garde sensibilities, Rock in Opposition attitude to music, Zappa-esque Humor and Resident-esque bizarreness. The homages in some of the songs border on the blatant: Thinking of a Number Above 17 is so Primus it hurts, Meditation almost mocks Jethro Tull. The album is ripe with incredible musicianship and replete with originality.

Their second release, "The Nothing Show" showed something a matured cohesiveness, without sacrificing the humor and outright absurdities of the music. The Nothing Show sported a rather carnival feel to it; although it had a less sporadic feel to it (the songs were more or less in the same vein), but again, retained the wonderful creativity that captivated me on the first album. Songs like Blue Head are downright amazing, and I've never heard anything like it before, and certainly nothing after.

Their third (excluding the Twitch EP) release, Fancy shows the tell-tale signs of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum in it's infantile stages; it was much darker and cohesive than previous releases. While still humorous, it was less obvious and much darker. Unlike the previous two releases, which were well within "Rock" in terms of colloqiual 'heaviness' Fancy was much heavier, and bordered on metal more often than not. Tracks like The Straw and Twitch were full of deliciousness heaviness contrasted to dissonance and bizarre chord progression. Easily one of my favorite albums from any genre, this album would most certainly sit well SGM fans.

Any other fans, after I've ranted?

Idiot Flesh is awesome. I only have Fancy and Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death but they are really cool records.

I'm so desperately trying to find a hardcopy of Fancy. It's frustratingly difficult to come across one that isn't being bid upon until it's well over 100 dollars.

It's unfortunate that so few people know this band; I'd put them up with SGM in terms of awesome...ness.

I love SGM and have wanted to get a hold of some of Idiot Flesh's music for a long time but I've had no luck finding it for sale anywhere. Is it still even in print?

Any of you guys listen to Book of Knots? That's another SGM-related band that kicks ass. I love their first album.

They certainly sound like they are worth a listen. Where is a good place to start?

I only have listened to Fancy, which was their final album, but it was good and I would definitely give it a try.

Will check it out. Sleepytime Gorilla Museum are another band I have'nt heard.

I used to love that band, if you can't find a cd by them, i'll up it for you.

Idiot Flesh? Yes please!

Magic
 

I created an account here just too send my small beacon. I am a DIE HARD Idiot flesh and Sleepytime fan... And im very very excited to know there are people who share this with me. Im in New zealand soo we dont get ANY good music EVER. But i guess thats why internet exists right. Oh i suggest Darling freakhead if you like listning to music and feeling violated and dirty at the same time.

Book of knots, Faun Fables, Skeleton Key, Darling Freakhead, Stolen Babies :) Love it Love it Love it LOVE IT!

****ing love Idiot Flesh. I honestly think they're very comparable to Mr.Bungle in terms of actual song-quality, albeit the production values on their albums are inferior. Then again, I don't think they had a whole lot of money to throw around for them. Albeit, I love Idiot Flesh's humor well more than Bungle's. I mean, it's really a shame that they fade into obscurity being considered a "bunglish band" considering the musical, and theatrical brilliance they seemed to have brought to the table as a band. Also, to the best of my knowledge, all members of the band where college trained composers.

Definitely a key example of a band that uses their education, knowledge, and wide variety of skills to their fullest. There are worlds of highly educated musicians who, once they jump out of school, dumb down their work to try to sell it. Idiot Flesh did the opposite, they used the fullest of their knowledge to create new, and interesting music. Purposely keeping their creative knives sharp and getting better album to album. Experimenting, and taking risks, while keeping tradition in mind.

Essentially, using their fullest of repertoire, and not caring whether they could make it into the mainstream or not being too "unfocused". Why? They ignored the mainstream entirely. They just did what they did, and wrote music they loved that they knew few people could understand not caring if they made a dime. THAT my friends is a value to be respected.