Zoinks! Here I am in Bangalore, hanging the 3-loads of laundry after a 10 day vacation in the jungles of the Western Ghats. Asked the girls what tunes they’d like to crank while we fold and hang and sort clean clothes… Jack Johnson? nawww…. KidTunes? no way! …how about Pat Metheny? uughh, Dad, that’s YOUR music! Chemystry Set? YES YES YES!!!! We LOOOOOVE chemystry set!!!!
So we are frolicking about doing laundry, looking outside at swaying palm trees and stinky rickshaws, with the triple Chem-album shuffle on at HIGH volumne!
THANK YOU ALL FOR YEARS of LUSCIOUS TUNES!!!!!! I treasure your gift of music to the world!!!
now we need to head out for masala dosas, and some other “essentials.”
love, Pablo
More Pablo blogage
King Crimson-style instrumental flourishes mingle with cheeky, simplistic Phish-like songwriting, all the while maintaining a refreshing undercurrent of humor that never fully descends into novelty.
– Christopher J. Ewing, Online Rock
Full Review
Cobblestone Below My Feet is a kick-butt extravaganza of expectations-defying, post-modern wonder.
The louder it gets, the better it gets.
– Steve Forrest
Cobblestone Below My Feet has a great communal feel to it. It is boldly genre-crossing and yields new discoveries with repeat listens.
– Chip Withrow, The Muse’s Muse
Full Review
The multicultural backgrounds – including German-born guitarist Sven Eberlein and mandolin player Baba Ndjhoni – comes through their music, which is rooted in the free-spirited traditions of their Bay Area forefathers (Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane). On their latest CD, The Last Real Experience, elements of world music – that’s “world,” meaning bluegrass, Middle Eastern, southern rock and funk – are added to the jammy mix.
– The Metroland, Albany
What a truly amazing band. Each one of the five of them is a master at their instrument & the combination of them all together is, well, inspirational. Their music makes me want to be a better musician, & without sounding too corny, a better person as well. There are just those times when you experience live music & it’s just so special, that it provides you with a catalyst that you’re able to take with you afterwards & apply it to your everyday life. Seeing them play live was like that, only more so.
– Scott Coldren
Blended into their unique sound are rock ‘n Roll as well as African influences, but don’t tell them we said that because the band shuns labels. About all we can add to that is go see them in person, for they totally rock!!!!
– San Francisco Liberation Radio
Chemystry Set is fun, intriguing listening and a highly recommended purchase. They surprise me with new details every time I listen.
– Steve Ekblad, AudioGrid.com (Full Review)
It’s very stylized, a very SF Bay Area urban earthy jive energy. Chemystry Set is very likable, not only because they play good tunes, but because they put out a sincere vibration of trust in each other and in the possibility for human understanding and compassion. Check them out!
– Kirstin Miller, The Psychic Reader
Beside the vocals, drums, guitar and bass, the six-member band features mandolins, piano, tamboura and kitchen utensils – whatever it takes to get the job done. It’s the sort of thing that prompts people to dance in public. There’s a trace of the spirit of bands like the Grateful Dead in their music, but it doesn’t cross the line into too much space jamming – though there’s definitely improvisation, with members feeding each others new grooves and things born from experimentation.
– Tony Hicks, The Contra Costa Times
Best show I’ve seen live in San Francisco – memorable!
– Elaine Duffy, Ireland
Great to knit by and thought provoking lyrics!
– Joel’s Aunt Be
Chemystry Set played last night at the Hotel Utah. I think they are one of the most phenomenal bands I have seen and heard in a long time. If you EVER get a flyer or hear about an upcoming show, I recommend you make plans to GO! They are VERY fun and all excellent musicians.
– Dominick Ulman of Ing, San Francisco
I just found you guys looking for local shows off of JamBase. I hit your site and pulled your tunes down. Great stuff. Me and the wife are in the middle of grooving as I write this. It is so refreshing hearing this from a West Coast band. We’ll most certainly check you out at an upcoming show.
– Marc Williams, San Jose
I am still very much enjoying your cd. The last song brings shivers down my spine and takes me back. I like that you can hear the band lifting the audience up. It also gave me inspiration to use some Zairian samples with my music.
– Serge Platel, Promoter, Brussels, Belgium
I’ve been listening to your cd with great enjoyment. The music engages me fully when I’m listening and at the end leaves me with the feeling of having travelled. I don’t know where this feeling comes from, but I do feel an opening up of space around me.
– Shanta Gokhale, Mumbai (Bombay) Maharashtra State, India
Chemystry Set dwells in the groove between hippie rock, jazz, bluegrass, and Congolese rumba, coming up with a tight, undulating mix that ’s sure to trip you out and make you want to traipse through those open fields with flowers in your hair waving your arms about, or whatever it is you tree-hugging peace creeps do.
– The East Bay Express
Beautifully said! I’m on your mailing list, and I’m sitting in the towers of this very wealthy corporation here in downtown SF ( a temp job) where anonymity, competition, secrecy and pretention are the way of this world. Last night I started reading this article in the most recent issue of UTNE reader, in which this writer talks about how he’s been traveling for a while, mostly in ” third world countries” and stopped back in San Francisco, his home town, to convalesce from an illness. He said he had full on culture shock and was astounded with the blatant wealth here. It goes along with what you all are saying about taking things for granted and well…thanks for reminding us all of a perspective, and an awareness that extends beyond our own entertainment centers….
– Carol Keiter, San Francisco
Best show in S.F. yet!
– Peter Callahan, S.F.
Fun! Wow! Great! Much grooviness & wild dance music, thanks!!
-Wendy Stevens, El Portal
Haircuts? We don’t need no stinkin’ haircuts.
-Amy, San Francisco
It’s rare to find a band of such a stylistic range with its very own signature. “Sounds from Underground” made me wear out the repeat button on my CD player.
– Hannes Perkunder, Berlin
What fantastic musicianship & what an eclectic style!
– Sue Sandlin, San Francisco
Beautiful sounds, man!
– Soma Honkanen, Fairfield, IA
I wanted to let you and the gang know what a great weekend I had. It was perfect. Those are the times that help you to remember why life is just plain fun. May there be many more to come. Please pass my love and thanks to the rest of the crew. See you all before too long.
– Brett Galimidi, San Francisco
It is comforting to get a note from y’all and have to stop and actually READ it. So much of the crap I deal with in communication from others is very bare-bones, and without a sense that sometimes it just needs to be taken to another level. Your writing demands full attention. Your selection of words and sensitivity to the present goes fully noticed and deserves note. Thank you Sven for being one of those unique individuals out in the great largeness of it all. One of the people in my life, that whether you know it or not, is burning brighter than many and can have a profounder effect on those around you than you are currently able to understand.
– Dylan Cardiff, Oakland
I read your email this morning, and kind of skimmed through it, thinking, “oh, it’s just another hippie rambling…” but I just read it over again and it resonated for me powerfully. My grandfather died somewhat suddenly a few weeks ago. I was very close to him and it’s prompted me to wonder why I am here and what my true purpose is…and all that other existential stuff. Anyway, I think that thinking and writing about these things gives more value to our lives, because as we set off our journeys we will do so with a consciousness and drive that we may not have had before…even if we don’t know all the answers.
– Tamar Tamler, New York