Catapilla
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Music Lounge
Forum Description: General progressive music discussions
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=35164
Printed Date: April 02 2025 at 13:36
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Catapilla
Posted By: Kyle
Subject: Catapilla
Date Posted: March 06 2007 at 16:40
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Totally obscure group that knows how to jam. They released only two albums before splitting, and so little is known about them. Unlike most people who have heard both of their albums, I prefer the debut. The 24 minute epic, "Embryonic Fusion" is simply kickass. What do you guys think of this interesting group?
Also.... can anyone possibly get me anymore info on this group? For example, did they tour in the US? Where are the members today (in particular drummer Malcom Frith), anything. I'm aware of the Spanish Catapilla fansite, but I can't find info anywhere else.
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Replies:
Posted By: blazno
Date Posted: March 06 2007 at 17:10
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I only heard the their debut and I think it's great. It's true not enough people have heard them it really is a shame... Nice to see someone interested in them.  ------------- 
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Posted By: The Hemulen
Date Posted: March 06 2007 at 17:46
| Good for an ocassional spin but they're not a band I could listen to obsessively. That said, they had a unique sound that's well worth getting into. Also, I think the debut's superior too. So yeah... |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: March 06 2007 at 17:47
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Trouserdepress is back!!! ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: avestin
Date Posted: March 06 2007 at 17:55
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I was in this very small record store a year and a bit ago and the owner whom I konw tells me, try this it's good stuff and hands me two albums, one with this weird drawing of an eaten apple and the other of a some sort of lettuce leaf with a caterpillar eating it. So I put the first one (s/t) in the store's listening stand and drift away with the music and find out that I am enjoying this remendously. Problem was I already had 6-7 other albus I picked up and all were albums I had looked for a long itme already. So I decided to give one up (Sleepytime Gorrila Museum's first album) and take that s/t Catapilla (I got that SGM eventually) and did not regret that decision (as did my wife). However I never did manage to go back and get that second album... I hope to buy that cd one say.
Don't know much about the band sadly.
------------- http://hangingsounds.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow - Hanging Sounds http://www.progarchives.com/ProgRockShopping.asp" rel="nofollow - PA Index of prog music vendors |
Posted By: Froth
Date Posted: March 06 2007 at 19:32
| Ive heard of them and they sound quite good... i really like the cover for thier 1st album. i'd like to get to know the group but sadly theres just too much music i need to buy first... |
Posted By: seamus
Date Posted: March 07 2007 at 08:08
| Both albums are GREAT!!!! |
Posted By: Fassbinder
Date Posted: March 07 2007 at 12:23
I'm acquainted with their self-titled album (never heard the other one, however  ).
An excellent work
 , very intriguing and quite complicate, yet rather difficult to "digest". Indeed, it's hardly possible to listen to it several times in a row. |
Posted By: Man Erg
Date Posted: March 07 2007 at 12:26
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The second album is superb ------------- 
Do 'The Stanley' otherwise I'll thrash you with some rhubarb. |
Posted By: oliverstoned
Date Posted: March 08 2007 at 08:37
I feel the same. They're close to Gong, the second piece on "Changes" features killer whawha guitar and keyboards. |
Trouserpress wrote:Posted By: kingdhansak
Date Posted: March 08 2007 at 11:03
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Posted By: kingdhansak
Date Posted: March 08 2007 at 11:12
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Great group on Vertigo, not to everyone's taste though. I do know a chap who lives in London who saw this band live in 1972. However this was in a pub, so its unlikely they ever made it to the USA.
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Posted By: A Guy
Date Posted: March 08 2007 at 13:19
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I've heard of them before I think, but I haven't heard their albums. :( ------------- http://www.ericmushroomwilson.co.uk - My website Signatures are for people who can think of anything to put in their signatures. |
Posted By: Politician
Date Posted: March 09 2007 at 14:43
| A truly remarkable band. I've often described Anna Meek as "the first punk vocalist": her singing and lyrics on the first album in particular uncannily presage Johnny Rotten and the nihilistic "no future" ethos of the first generation punk bands. |
Posted By: chrisk
Date Posted: March 09 2007 at 17:38
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180 gram vinyl reissue was available from Arkarma in Italy - Don't know if it's still in their catalogue ------------- chrisk |
Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: June 12 2007 at 10:19
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not everyone will like the vocals of Anna Meek (who sounds like a female version of Peter Hammill on acid). but I personally really like their two albums (and prefer the first, because Meek sounds wilder on it)
-------------  A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Posted By: Kyle
Date Posted: July 22 2007 at 21:40
| Well over the months I've became an even bigger fan of this group. I also now prefer their second album to their s/t debut. The album "Changes" is not only much better produced, but it really does sound out of this world. I believe this group and their second album are among the most underrated Prog EVER. |
Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: July 23 2007 at 04:02
Since someone mentioned they sound like Gong: Their sax-player Robert Calvert (not to be confused with the Hawkwind singer of the same name) later played with the Gong spin-off Mother Gong. -------------  BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: Fassbinder
Date Posted: July 25 2007 at 18:45
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Finally I've managed to find their second album, fortunately. Unfortunately, I enjoyed it much less than the debut album, for some reasons... |
Posted By: Sean Trane
Date Posted: July 26 2007 at 05:15
Well Meek is in the Janita Haan, Sonja Christinson register (a belter that can't control the full spectrum of her voice) , but I find her singing adequate (but no more) for Catapilla.
Give it nother shot! I find them both pretty equal. ------------- let's just stay above the moral melee prefer the sink to the gutter keep our sand-castle virtues content to be a doer as well as a thinker, prefer lifting our pen rather than un-sheath our sword |
Posted By: Fassbinder
Date Posted: July 26 2007 at 20:17
Committed
 Just re-listened to both of them.Now I seriously wonder where my ears have been and what kind of a blackout has passed over me at the first listening...
 Because Changes is not less enjoyable than Catapilla, at least... if not even more.
Anyway, both albums are superb. The debut is somewhat rawer (or how do you say it in English?), the second one seems to be a little bit richer musically.
Utmost enjoyment
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Posted By: Dim
Date Posted: July 27 2007 at 00:42
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Are they on the site? ------------- 
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Posted By: Sean Trane
Date Posted: July 27 2007 at 04:34
http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=614 - http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=614 ------------- let's just stay above the moral melee prefer the sink to the gutter keep our sand-castle virtues content to be a doer as well as a thinker, prefer lifting our pen rather than un-sheath our sword |
Posted By: Kyle
Date Posted: July 31 2007 at 16:42
| http://www.progarchives.com/forum/member_profile.asp?PF=8605&FID=3 - Fassbinder , the same thing happened to me. For the longest time I liked their debut more, but on about the 7th listen to "Changes" I completely changed my mind. The song "Reflections" was not made on this planet, and the closer to the album, "It can only Happen to Me" is just pure beauty and melancholy mixed into one. You'd be hard-pressed to find sax work more stunning that what's layed down in that song. It still boggles my mind that this group isn't more acclaimed on this site. "Changes" may very well be the most underrated masterpiece in Prog history for me. I encourage all to get out and discover Catapilla!! |
Posted By: Tetragon
Date Posted: August 02 2007 at 17:17
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Hi all new here
Please note that Anna's sister Jo(Lady Jo) is the vocalist on Julian Jay Savarin's 'waiters on the dance' LP...Everyone should have this album in there collection.A tad better than Julian's first effort (Julian's treatment 'A time before this') Jo's not on that album but an Australian singer called Kathy Purden...
Actually Jo Meek was the original singer with Catapilla before handing over to Anna.
Please note that Catapilla Sax man Rob Calvert has nothing to do with Hawkwinds Rob...Also original drummer Malc Frith never toured with the band..
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Posted By: artartart
Date Posted: January 29 2008 at 14:59
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Hi
Just discovered this website. I was the drummer on "Changes", the 2nd album - and I'd just like to say it's good to see that people are still discovering and enjoying the music after all this time!
Regards
Brian
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Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: January 29 2008 at 15:20
but he is the Robert Calvert who plays saxophone on most Mother Gong albums, except for "Fairy Tales" and the "Robot Woman" trilogy ------------- A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Posted By: laplace
Date Posted: January 29 2008 at 21:58
Wow, hi. =) I have always wondered about how it must feel to a musician, to see enthusiasts writing about them and their work... ------------- FREEDOM OF SPEECH GO TO HELL |
Posted By: ClassicRocker
Date Posted: January 29 2008 at 22:08
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I agree with you Kyle: definitely like the first album better!
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Posted By: Kyle
Date Posted: February 07 2008 at 22:56
| Life is crazy! In the midst of trying to gather more information on this group, a Catapilla member joins in on the discussion!! Wow, this is definitely awesome! I've been trying for so long to hear from an actual member of the group. Brian, please check your private messenging inbox. |
Posted By: Kyle
Date Posted: February 07 2008 at 23:44
ClassicRocker, scroll up a few posts and see the one I posted on the 31st of July. When I first started this thread months back, I preferred the s/t debut. This past summer Changes became my new favorite for a number of reasons. It requires repeat listenings, at least in my case, but the more I listened to it, the more I got out of the album. Like I said earlier in this discussion, the song "Reflections" is otherworldly, and "It Can Only Happen to Me" has one of the most passionate, underrated guitar solos of all-time. Also, I prefer Anna Meek's smooth, haunting vocals on Changes compared to the more abrasive approach on the s/t debut. Graham Wilson is a very good guitarist, very over-looked. His solos on Changes are killer. The addition of a keyboardist in Ralph Rolinson provided an almost essential texture to the music. Brian Hanson, now a member on PA, is a very active drummer, and in my opinion, has a very distinctive style that I dig. Carl Wassard is a solid bassist, and adds to the creative fire. Let's not forget about Robert Calvert and his spacey sax playing on the opening song, and his beautiful playing on the closer. I think the Changes line-up was better from a technical stand-point, and even more unique otherwise. Also, the production values are of higher quality, especially when comparing this album to the debut.
Sorry for the big rant, but the whole time I've been a member of this site, I've been trying to get people to give Catapilla a spin. In the past year or so, I've become quite a big fan, and I've played the two albums to all my friends countless times. I also turned my Dad their way, since he's a Prog rock fan as well. It is just way too cool that a member of the group has posted here. This group is among my musical heroes, and I'm not just saying that for the hell of it!
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